They Live
Year: 1988 RUNNING TIME: 94 min RATING: R
Work. Consume. Obey. Sleep. Marry and Reproduce. Do not question Authority.
In 1963 a short story was written by Ray Nelson titled “Eight o’clock in the morning”. Simply, the protagonist, George Nada, was accidentally awoken from “a slumber” during a hypnotist show. The veil was lifted from he eyes and he could see the true faces of the those, the “Fascinators” that had absolute control over him and all other humans. George takes action to expose them and “wake” everyone up.
John Carpenter has directed, produced, written, composed and acted in dozens upon dozens of films. Some notably Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York(and L.A.).
In John Carpenter’s movie adaptation of the relatively 6-page short story, John Nada (played by the late pro wrestler Roddy Piper), a quiet drifter just looking for work. He meets Frank Armitage (played Keith David, who is also a great and highly established voice actor), a homeless day worker who has a “Wife and Kids” somewhere. Detroit possibly? The film does not delve deep into Franks character, but he does remind us multiple times that he has a family.
In a series of circumstances and John being curious, he is awakened to a vast conspiracy of manipulation and control. And he will not take it lying down. The societal message of the human condition, is relevant today, even in this simplistic interpretation. For example, greed, that is derived from experiences and taught. Or subliminally embedded by [SPOILER].
This is clearly in B-movie territory, but fun. In the many times I have seen this movie over the decades, have I come away with new nuggets to pull from it(although, the movie has been used for some not-so favorable messages).
The movie does not do well in the execution of its message. There are a few scenes of dialogue and events that attempt to express the theme. Although the film is definitely flawed it is a worthy watch, for what it is attempting to express, over thirty years ago, as the messages are indeed alive today.
Roddy Piper and Keith David
In Retrospect ★★★1/2 out of 5
