Best thriller movie questions of 1979

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Alien picture

Question: Question about the Director's Cut of the film. The scene where Brett is looking for Jones has been altered slightly - when he looks up at where the water is dripping from, you can actually see the Alien hanging motionlessly from one of the chains. Has Ridley Scott given an explanation as to why he added this new dynamic to the scene? It's easy enough to speculate why, but a link to an 'official' explanation would be appreciated.

Answer: According to the commentary on the DVD, Ridley didn't add this scene to the original cinematic release because he thought it revealed the true horror of the Alien too soon in the film. The scene is quite early in the film and he thought revealing the fully matured Alien at that time would reduce the viewer's fear.

I had watched Alien several times before I noticed the Alien hanging there.At this point the Audience have no idea what the Alien looks like, they're looking at pieces of science fiction equipment put in by the production crew that they can't relate to, so for all they know the Alien could just be a piece of kit hanging there.

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The Amityville Horror picture

Question: Who did the demonic voice that told the priest blessing the house to get out?

Answer: George Lutz.

How was it accomplished?

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Escape from Alcatraz picture

Question: When Frank is delivering books to inmates' cells, he reaches D block, but a guard stops him, and tells him they are not allowed in those cells. Were books really disallowed in D block cells?

Answer: Those were the solitary confinement cells, with no light and no luxuries of any kind. So yes, they did not allow inmates on that block to have books.

This is inaccurate as a light in each cell was turned on at 6:30 every morning in solitary confinement at Alcatraz.

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The Warriors picture

Question: Instead of trying to murder them, why didn't the Lizzies simply contact the Riffs and tell them they had 3 of the warriors and to come get them? They had plenty of time.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The Riffs had put out a hit on the Warriors via the radio DJ, meaning that it didn't matter if the Warriors were taken alive or not; the Lizzies probably figured it would be easier simply to kill the Warriors and collect the reward.

zendaddy621

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Moonraker picture

Question: If the nerve gas doesn't infect animals, what about people's pets? How would they survive without being fed if all the owners are dead?

Trainman

Answer: They would die or escape and go feral, as would zoo animals, farm animals etc.

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Mad Max picture

Question: Although we see that the biker gang has about 20 members when we first encounter them, why does Max only kill 7-8 bikers after his family is run down?

Answer: He kills the members of the gang directly involved in the attack on his wife/child, and the one who ordered it.

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Time After Time picture

Question: When Amy goes back in time to live with H.G. Wells, why did she choose to change her name to Susan B. Anthony?

Answer: She was joking, but it seems to imply that she intends to influence his political views regarding socialism, global war, women's rights, etc. which the real H.G. Wells wrote about.

raywest

Also, H.G. Wells' second wife was named Amy Robbins, the same name as the Amy in the film, which would further indicate she did not change her name to Susan B. Anthony.

raywest

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Answer: I just assumed that it was the plutonium on board. But I may be misremembering. It could have been uranium.

ChristmasJonesfan

Answer: The boilers explode due to water intake.

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When a Stranger Calls picture

Question: At the beginning, Jill tells the police that she believes the caller is watching her through the windows. Since he calls her, how is this possible since cell phones did not exist at the time this movie came out?

Answer: Sorry, editing my answer because I misunderstood the question. The caller is using a different phone line in the same house. It's possible to have multiple different landlines/phone-numbers in the same building. However, Jill doesn't realise this and probably assumes he's watching her from a different house using binoculars or something similar.

TedStixon

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