Dr. Ian Thorne

Dr. Ian Thorne

Background

Dr. Ian Thorne is an entomologist and ecologist. He lives near the town of Agoura, Michigan.

During the events of The Cremators (1973) played by Marvin Howard

Dr. Ian Thorne is making a recording of observations as he sits by the lake. He finds a rock crystal and puts it in a jar with another one he found. As he is driving to mail a package, the rocks crystals start to glow after he sees a bright flash. He arrives in town and says hello to Phil and Pete who greet him as well and then says hello to Phil's dog Millie. The next morning Ian, Merv, Pete and Dr. Reddick are staring at the burnt wreckage of Phil's car. Merv tells Pete he called him as soon as he saw the wreckage and Ian wonders if Phil managed to get away with Millie. Dr. Braddock tells Pete it looks like Phil was cremated and Pete gives Ian his package, which was the only thing that survived. Mack drops off Jeannie in his boat and introduces Ian to Jeannie, his niece. Ian and Jeannie talk and he tells her if she ever needs help to contact him on the CB radio. Jeannie sees on of the rock crystals and Ian offers it to her. Mason stops by Ian's lighthouse and shows him his injured cat. Mason tells him, he found his cat by the beach injured, and Ian tells him the cat is dead and offers to drive Mason back into town, but Mason tells him he will walk back. Before leaving, Mason asks Ian if he believes in reincarnation. As Ian is sitting outside he hears a dog whimpering and finds Millie. Ian operates on Millie and finds rock crystals embedded into her. Ian calls Mack and tells him to get the rock crystal back that he gave to Jeannie. Ian and Jeannie go out onto his boat and they talk about why he came back to town. That night they have sex and while he is driving Jeannie home, they sea a bright flash. They get out of the truck and Ian finds a piece of metal on the ground. Ian stops his truck and sees George's duffel bag and finds a rock crystal which he picks up and puts in his pocket. The next day Ian goes back out to the area he found the rock crystal and finds a burn patch in the ground. He hits a rock crystal with a metal tool and a shooting pain goes up his arm. Ian then gets Pete and Dr. Reddick and tells them how he found the George's remains. Dr. Reddick tells Pete, judging by the heat of the stone, any flesh would have been seared to the bone. Pete and Dr. Reddick think George died from getting struck by lightening, but Ian disagrees. Dr. Willy Seppel arrives at Ian's light house and asks where he found the rock crystals. Dr. Seppel tells him the rock crystals give off infrared and almost have an intellect. Ian shows Dr. Seppel the container he held the rock crystals in and how it was melted and tells him he thinks the rock crystals are connected to people's deaths. Ian suggests they keep the rock crystal in a pail of ice, but Dr. Seppel tells him the pail would melt before the ice did if it decided to radiate heat. That night Ian has a nightmare about a fiery orb. He wakes up and finds the two rock crystals missing and having burned a hole in the wood they were placed inside. He opens the door and sees two burn trails leading outside. The next day, Ian, Dr. Seppel and Pete are outside and Ian brings up the story of the Dune Roller that would wake up every hundred years and rolled a path of destruction. Ian then tells Pete that he thinks Phil and George were killed by the Dune Roller. Pete then tells Ian and Dr. Seppel that Mrs. Lacy saw some lights in the sky the other night. Mrs. Lacy tells Ian, Dr. Seppel and Pete that she saw something which she thinks might have been hippies around her place holding lights. Ian tells Dr. Seppel he thinks the Cremator fell to Earth years ago and is collecting its rock crystal children like a mother. Jeannie is out on her boat and she calls Ian for help. Ian asks her if she got rid of the rock crystal he gave to her and she tells him she gave it to Mack who then tells them he put it in a pail on the boat. Ian tells Jeannie to get rid of the rock crystal. Ian and Dr. Seppel go to the hospital and when Dr. Seppel goes to find out about Jeannie's condition, Mason tells Ian he thinks he knows what killed his cat and shows him his hands which started glowing the day he found his cat. Dr. Seppel introduces Cunningham to Ian. Cunningham tells them Jeannie was heading to the middle of the lake when they found her. Ian visits Jeannie and tells her he will see her tomorrow. Ian claps his hands and they glow like Mason's. Dr. Seppel then slaps his hands together and they also glow. Ian then tells Dr. Seppel he is worried the Cremator will come and attack anyone that has touched the rock crystals. After Dr. Seppel goes missing, Pete tells Ian and Jeannie that Cunningham and him are going to conduct a search for Dr. Seppel. Ian packs up the last of the rock crystals and goes to try and find the Cremator. Jeannie follows him and Ian places the rock crystals on the ground in a circle and they start to glow and move. He place explosives in a pit and then places the rock crystals on the explosives. The Cremator appears and as it goes to collect the rock crystals, Ian causes the explosives to go off, causing a large explosion and the Cremator disappears. A crowd gathers and Mason asks Ian if it is over and he tells him he hopes so and Pete says he is disappointed they couldn't learn more about it.