‘FLY’ AND GUTS

It is not fair for Wilmington to group “Aliens” with “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” and “The Fly.”

Although it shares some of the same elements (violence, suspense, scares), it is a very different film.

With the exception of two relatively brief scenes, “Aliens” is not a gory film “full of blood, entrails, and the body’s topography.” (It’s tame compared to the other two.) It does not “wallow” in sex (there isn’t any). Its obsession (if it has one) is not with death, but with the will to live.

And the violence perpetrated by the humans in “Aliens” is almost entirely directed at the alien creatures in self-defense, whereas in the other two films it is directed at other humans, often senselessly.

As for Wilmington’s assertion that more things stick in your mind after “Chainsaw 2” and “The Fly,” the only thing I was left with after each (especially “Chainsaw 2”) was a sense of revulsion.

PEGGY FUCHS

Burbank