ALIEN or PSYCHO: which is better and why?

[ichab]

Yeah, same for me, they're just to different to really be able to compare them.

How about....

Alien vs Aliens
Psycho vs Halloween

I'd pick Psycho even though I'm a huge Halloween fan. And Alien would be my choice over Aliens.

 

[NCC-73515]

The script was written to be all male, casting Lambert & Ripley as women was an almost off-hand thing done fairly late in the process. Yes it was unusual and bucked the usual trope, but it wasn't baked into the material, just a sort of "wouldn't it be cool if we did it this way for a change?" flourish.

The Dallas character was never set up to be either heroic or even the focal character. It was an ensemble cast, all equally well developed, and deliberately presented that way so the audience would genuinely have no clue who (if anyone) was safe.

As I recall, the script actually said all roles can be male or female.
A small deception was showing Kane wake up first, suggesting he's the main character, only for him to die first. (Lesson: stay in bed a little longer )

 

[Reverend]

As I recall, the script actually said all roles can be male or female.

Yeah, and O'Bannon said he just added that in as a notation after the fact, not putting any great thought into it, just "because". So the point stands.

 

[somebuddyX]

Alien, because I've never seen Psycho so it wins by default.

 

[Mojochi]

Tom Skerritt was the top-billed captain. Janet Leigh was the 13th billed lead in large type.

Billing aside, Leigh was undoubtedly the focal character throughout the 1st act, right up to the point we're introduced to Norman Bates, who then consumes the rest of the film.

There's even accounts that Hitchcock's use of someone as famous as Leigh & her subsequent underbilling was a deliberate choice to further mislead the audience about her fate, & engender a greater impactfulness, as a result

Contrarily, Skerrit is almost dwarfed throughout Alien, by what is a legendary ensemble, in a film that's meant to convey the indiscriminance of a device that could take any or all of them. Hence, no one stands out above anyone else, as a focal interest

 

[JirinPanthosa]

For me both are movies I appreciate for their contribution to film more than enjoy. I’d give the edge to Alien from the enjoyability standpoint and Psycho from the influence standpoint. I’d much rather watch Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca, etc.

One of those cases in horror films where the poor decisions made by the victims undercut the suspense.

 

[Mojochi]

I’d much rather watch Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca, etc.

Always been kind of partial to North By Northwest myself. Cary Grant & Hitch just make for a wonderful time, on any occasion.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Always been kind of partial to North By Northwest myself. Cary Grant & Hitch just make for a wonderful time, on any occasion.

I like 80% of that film, but some of the most iconic scenes are too implausible for me.

 

[ichab]

Tom Skerritt was the top-billed captain. Janet Leigh was the 13th billed lead in large type.

Another bad analogy.

Tom Skerrit might have had top billing, but he was not a star the caliber of Janet Leigh, who was clearly used to market the movie....

When Janet Leigh died, it was shocking because stars didn't killed off in the first thirty minutes and she was the first to go. Tom Skerrit was just one of many who was offed by the alien, and he wasn't even the first to go. If it had been Al Pacino or Robert Redford dying first, then your comparison would work. And their picture would have been used to advertise the film.

 

[Vger23]

I watched Alien last night, as part of a run-through of the Alien series I've been doing (watched Prometheus and Covenant last week). It really is an absolute masterpiece. Everything about it is special. Virtually a perfect movie. Lots of people prefer the action and hyped-up style of Aliens (and wish the series had continued in that direction), but I'm not one of them.

Alien will always be a top film, from my perspective.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

ALIEN contains a subliminal blooper which is only visible in slower motion. So Ridley left it in.

Which is what?