This is one of those questions like asking which hurt more when shooting a person in the head a 22LR or a 50AE... They both kill instantly (22LR bounces around once it penetrates the skull cause it loses power to penetrate a 2nd time) and that makes them both effective.
RE1 is the staple of the series, its the start, the birth of the series. It is a piece of art. It had all the elements a good survivor horror game needed. It had the original fix camera down, and it had a great back ground sound, and it was a great story, it had the architecture and everything needed to tie everything together.
REmake, took what the 1st game did and enhanced it to the best quality available, it expanded everything, and even helped tie things together, that Capcom had said in other games a publications (Weskers Report, Weskers Report 2, etc) It added in everything to help glue everything together, there was no unhealthy filler added. It also added with the enhancement more difficulty to make the game worth playing instead of just being a 're-release' of a game. The crimson heads, though a bother, were a well added touch. Just like the updated version of the aqua ring and the way they handled Neptune. Even making it where Richard dies trying to kill Neptune in Chris's scenario versus him killing Yawn in Jill's scenario.
With this to get a honest opinion people have to add in there bias, I am bias to Resident Evil Directors Cut, as it was the first game we got with our PS1, and its what started my whole adventure into the world of survival horror.
But I can't say a fowl word about Remake as its just as good of a game, but its not as close to my heart as the original one (But its second place to the original)
So at the end of the day, there both amazing and you need to play them both!!!!!