Deleted scenes that ruin a villain's mystery - do we need the backstory?

I used to love finding deleted scenes that explained why a villain turned bad, like that alternate origin for the Joker in Suicide Squad. But now I think some of those scenes actually hurt the movie by over-explaining things. Watching the theatrical cut of Terminator 2 without the chip removal scene keeps the T-800 more menacing. Which side do you land on - do deleted scenes add depth or take away the mystery?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancybailey18d ago

Oh I just read an article about that! It said the original Alien had that deleted scene where the space jockey was explained as a giant fossilized alien. But the theatrical cut left it mysterious. That made the whole movie scarier honestly. Sometimes less is way more with villains. Like the less you know about what made them snap the more terrifying they become.

emma_clark18d ago

Respectfully, I see it completely opposite. The mystery works for some movies but Alien gets less scary the less you know. The space jockey scene in the original cut wasn't about explaining everything, it was about showing this was part of a bigger, ancient horror. That fossilized alien with the burst chest told you this thing has been killing for millions of years. Take that out and the xenomorph feels more like a random space bug than a calculated predator. The theatrical cut actually dumbs it down in my opinion.