Todd, I'm not entirely convinced it was this Dick Warlock guy. Look at his hair. He has very straight hair. Whomever cast the shadow had curly hair. I still think it was Palmer because of the appearance. I wish I could get those old photo comparisons we had on the old forums to back to this up.

It was actually said in one of the special features.

ITs Norris,when the dog enters the room you can see a turtle neck type thing from a sweater and when the shadow is turning around you can see curly type hair watch the clip and you'll see what i mean.

It was a stunt man. . .

Outpost Intruder, they said it was a crew member, but not specifically Dick Warlock, and I don't remember seeing him in the credits. Actually, look at the shadow again michael. It is clearly not a collared sweater being worn in that shadow and the shape of the face and curly hair resembles Palmer. :D

OK

Wait I Watched the Scene Again and the shadow looks like norris,watch it if you have the DVD.

We used to have a detailed comparison of all the character's shadows. It matched Palmer's the most, though with a lot of similarities to Norris. (They have the same curly hair) That and I think it makes the most sense story wise. But that's just me.

I believe it was mentioned in the documentary "Terror Takes Shape", in the specials section. So with that. . .Let's make one thing clear: YOU CANNOT USE THE SHADOW AS EVIDENCE Since it was neither Clennon (Palmer) or Hallahan (Norris) that was sitting on the bed, you can't rationally argue either way what the shadow looks like. It is Dick Warlock's shadow, so there's absolutely no logic in trying to use the shape as evidence.

That's like saying that Tom Hanks was Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan and that we cannot make any theories on him because it's Tom Hanks, not his character. Dick Warlock, or whoever was, was representing somebody. I think that's the point I try to make. To assume it was no one is rather self-defeating.

No, it's not the same. It's a shadow of a person. . . not their persona or acting or a picture of them or even a clue of who it could be. Look at how many people can't agree who's shadow it is; the shape of shadows are easily manipulative as it is. It doesn't necessarily look more like <insert name here>'s body more than <insert name here>'s, and I think it's more of people seeing what they want to see. I think if the film makers wanted to imply who could've been it, they would've left an oily cloth lying near by or a collared sweat shirt or something. It was purposely left ambiguous so as to keep the viewers guessing and in suspense. How boring would it be if they purposely revealed who the dog came in contact with? You would automatically keep your eye on that person, and after finding out they're an imitation, you're not surprised. Now, I'm not arguing that there was absolutely no way to figure out who the shadow belongs to, but just to use the description of the shadow as proof of who it is is impossible. And I do agree with you that it was Palmer :roll:

*sigh* Thus of what you just said is why we debate it. Anyhow, I think we both realize the other's point now.

I sit corrected
One of the things I love about this movie is the fact that I don't know it all and learn something new almost every time I watch it. Case in point, watching the cut version on AMC right now and yeah, that's Palmer's shadow on the wall, if we're going by character. I thought it was Norris, but I see what everyone was talking about as far as thinner face etc. It also makes sense because I think Jed was scoping out his prey by selecting the person people would least expect to be taken over (i.e. he acts a little weird any way so Palmer would be harder to notice). The most expendable goes first. Thanks for enlightening me folks! :)

From what I saw, I too thought it was Norris' shadow against the wall in the room the Husky-Thing was proceeding to enter. The shape and the curly hair is kind of a give-away in a sense, but shadows can be disorted (to my knowledge) to an extent that they differ from the person it originates from. Now that I think about it, it might've made more sense for it be Palmer over Norris. This is under the assumption that Palmer was a Thing when Norris suffered his heart attack (was assimilated) and turned on the group when he became a Thing. But then, with that Hour Long Power outage, Palmer might've been assimilated then as well. EDIT: Looking at it again... that Shadow seriously looks like Norris.

I personally think Palmer would be too busy rolling a fatty with Childs than just sitting there in the room by himself.