Current Events > The Thing>Alien

(+) Yeah! (+)

Terms of better horror movie

Yeah no shit

No lies detected.

Yup

Absolutely. I would also say Macready>Ripley, and I LOVE Ripley.

Basically the Ronaldo vs Messi of the horror movie world. That being said, I prefer The Thing.

Both are great but yeah I do like The Thing more.

What thing are you guys talking about

R1masher posted...

What thing are you guys talking about

You know the thing!!!

No.
People need to quit pretending The Thing is so great. I could literally list 5 dozen better horror films -- Alien included.

I disagree but both movies are basically at the top of the genre. I think Carpenter is a better director than Scott though.

cap

Wilford Brimley is just unsettling without the mustache.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Eattea? No you are supposed to drink it.. and besides we were talking the thing

I've seen both films twice in the theater.

I agree.

Topic title is correct.

Yep.

Both would make my top 3 favourite movies of all time, though.

heres the thing, an alien movie that is better than the alien movie

Was this supposed to be controversial?

Alien is usually considered the best horror movie

Darkprince21 posted...

Alien is usually considered the best horror movie

Eh, I'd say it's 50-50 on whether I see Alien on The Thing ranked higher, but they're almost always in the top 5.

This is going to sound crazy but hear me out:

I think that each film might actually do the thing the other film is regarded for better than the other film? But only for brief flashes or single scenes.

So, The Thing, highly praised as one of the greatest body horror movies of all time, used body horror all throughout to just straight up shock audiences and terrify the bejesus out of people. But I think that the chestburster scene in Alien is actually much scarier and more effective than most of the body horror effects in The Thing, due to its suddenness and how well the actors portray it.

Conversely, Alien is (aside from the chestburster scene and arguably the whole thing with the face hugger) pure psychological horror. It utilizes the tightness of the set design to make the audience feel claustrophobic and filled with suspense even when the alien isnt on-screen. Theres a tenseness to the entire thing that takes hold and never really lets you put your guard down. And yet, the blood test scene in The Thing is imo much more tense and stressful than anything in Alien.

Id say overall I probably prefer The Thing? But I tend to see them as almost apples and oranges within the horror genre. With brief exceptions where I noted, they are mostly trying to do very different things, and they both do them quite well.

MrToothHasYou posted...

This is going to sound crazy but hear me out:

I think that each film might actually do the thing the other film is regarded for better than the other film? But only for brief flashes or single scenes.

So, The Thing, highly praised as one of the greatest body horror movies of all time, used body horror all throughout to just straight up shock audiences and terrify the bejesus out of people. But I think that the chestburster scene in Alien is actually much scarier and more effective than most of the body horror effects in The Thing, due to its suddenness and how well the actors portray it.

Conversely, Alien is (aside from the chestburster scene and arguably the whole thing with the face hugger) pure psychological horror. It utilizes the tightness of the set design to make the audience feel claustrophobic and filled with suspense even when the alien isnt on-screen. Theres a tenseness to the entire thing that takes hold and never really lets you put your guard down. And yet, the blood test scene in The Thing is imo much more tense and stressful than anything in Alien.

Id say overall I probably prefer The Thing? But I tend to see them as almost apples and oranges within the horror genre. With brief exceptions where I noted, they are mostly trying to do very different things, and they both do them quite well.

Good post.

bobbaaay posted...

No.
People need to quit pretending The Thing is so great. I could literally list 5 dozen better horror films -- Alien included.

Alright, 5 dozen. Go. We're listening.

Ruvan22 posted...

You know the thing!!!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/7/8/AAfRsCAADium.jpg

Ryven posted...

Alright, 5 dozen. Go. We're listening.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Haxan (1922)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Freaks (1932)
Rear Window (1954)
The Blob (1958)
Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Blood Feast (1963)
Repulsion (1965)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
The Devils (1971)
The Last House on the Left (1972)
The Wickerman (1973)
Black Christmas (1974)
Deathdream (1974)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Blood Sucking Freaks (1976)
Carrie (1976)
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
House (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
I Spit on your Grave (1978)
Magic (1978)
Alien (1979)
Phantasm (1979)
Zombi 2 (1979)
Altered States (1980)
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Maniac (1980)
Motel Hell (1980)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Beyond (1981)
Evil Dead (1981)
Possession (1981)
Scanners (1981)
Der Fan (1982)
The House on Sorority Row (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
Videodrome (1983)
Day of the Dead (1985)
Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985)
Re-Animator (1985)
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
Hellraiser (1987)
Dead Ringers (1988)
The Church (1989)
Society (1989)
Santa Sangre (1989)
Child's Play 2 (1990)
Misery (1990)
The Reflecting Skin (1990)
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Candyman (1992)
Dead Alive (1992)
Cemetary Man (1994)
Tales from the Hood (1995)
The Manson Family (1997)
Audition (1999)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Trouble Every Day (2001)
High Tension (2003)
Let the Right One In (2008)
Martyrs (2008)
It Follows (2014)
The Lure (2015)
The Witch (2015)
The Love Witch (2016)
Raw (2016)
Get Out (2017)
Hereditary (2018)
The Lighthouse (2019)
Midsommar (2019)

I highlighted the important ones.

Im sorry, midsommar is not better than the thing lol. That whole wave of A24, 2 hour horror movies where nothing happens until the end, and the monster wasnt real. It was a figment of their imagination and really a metaphor for mental illness is not good

I've always wanted to see The Thing take over a Xenomorph and the humans come in and catch it in mid-transformation.

Theyre both excellent in their own rights.

Im genuinely surprised In the Mouth of Madness is not in that list in post 27.

Darkprince21 posted...

Im sorry, midsommar is not better than the thing lol. That whole wave of A24, 2 hour horror movies where nothing happens until the end, and the monster wasnt real. It was a figment of their imagination and really a metaphor for mental illness is not good

Midsommar was a fantastically directed and acted film, there have been slower horror films as long as horror's been around (and I don't even see how anybody says the Ari Aster films are slow? Especially when they turn around and say stuff like Halloween are their favorite films), and I don't know what film(s) you're referring to with monsters being a metaphor for mental illness other than The Babadook -- which isn't A24 and isn't that great of a film.

InTheEyesOfFire posted...

Theyre both excellent in their own rights.

Im genuinely surprised In the Mouth of Madness is not in that list in post 27.

If I had to pick a favorite Carpenter film it'd either be In the Mouth of Madness or Big Trouble in Little China -- but I don't think it's as effective or achieves its aims as well as the other films I listed.

I'm increasingly starting to view The Thing as a meme movie. Any direction you look in a horror discussion, there are just legions of people all tripping over themselves to tell you how much great of a movie it is.

The Thing is one of my favorite horror films.

But putting it against Alien...that's a toss-up for me.

i think alien is a much better shot, more atmospheric movie and probably a tighter story overall. the thing meanwhile has better special effects and a more interesting overall concept.

both are really good but if i had to pick one i would pick alien.

Vicious_Dios posted...

I've always wanted to see The Thing take over a Xenomorph and the humans come in and catch it in mid-transformation.

That raises an interesting question - who would win between The Thing and group of Xenomorphs?

Ruvan22 posted...

That raises an interesting question - who would win between The Thing and group of Xenomorphs?

The Thing, easily.

Just touching it will fuck you up.

High Voltage electricity and fire are it's main weaknesses, but it always escapes by removing itself from fatal danger so it's never completely dead. I don't know how it will fare agsinst acid, though.

https://youtu.be/3AOiEwYTOQc

Vicious_Dios posted...

The Thing, easily.

Just touching it will fuck you up.

High Voltage electricity and fire are it's main weaknesses, but it always escapes by removing itself from fatal danger so it's never completely dead. I don't know how it will fare against acid, though.

Yes the thing being able to detach itself is a problem, Its why despite fire being its weakness and it surviving being frozen, freeing it is actually the best way to stop it. It wont kill it, but it will incapacitate it long enough to be able to burn it without it being able to flee. Like stick its frozen body into a furnace.

Ofcourse you would have to be knowledgeable of the Thing in order to take it down, which would be really hard to do considering its tactics. IE The thing knew Macready was its biggest challenge and tried to frame him with the shorts.

Xenomorph can just be shot and thats that.

The Thing is classic but I don't think it's as seminal as Alien, nor does it have so much potential for being multimedia or its own fantasy universe. Alien is also more of a visual work of art, imo, though The Thing is a greater special effects movie.

They're both great

The Shining > both

The Thing has so many mysterious and intrigue to this day on exactly what happened and when it happened, and who did what etc.

Alien is a claustrophobic atmospheric horror in outer space. The Alien is a phallic anthropomorphic man hunting the crew who literally gets hard-ons when he stabs people with his tail, sometimes up their ass. The chestburster is rape allegory and pregnancy, and the mother ship is basically female anatomy. Its creepy and a huge psychological fear men have of being emasculated by a stronger enemy than us, but I prefer the mystery and intrigue of the Thing. You have to outsmart it, Like Macready plays chess against the machine and calls it a cheating bitch, thats the thing in a nutshell. A cheating bitch that has to be conquered.