Review of They Live

He lives!

Votes

Vote!

They Live is another cult favourite from sci-fi supremo John Carpenter. Based on the short story Eight O’Clock in the Morning by Ray Nelson, They Live follows a homeless labourer who has drifted into Los Angeles in the search for work.

Set in a future where the divide between the rich and the poor is exacerbating at an extraordinary rate, unemployment and homelessness are common place. Finding temporary residence in a shanty town he soon stumbles on some seedy goings on in the local church who are scheming under the façade of a soup kitchen.

Before the protagonist has a chance to investigate, the church is raided by the brutal police force who soon turn their attentions to the rest of the shanty town settlement, bulldozing everything in their path.

It is not long before he finds out what all the fuss is about with a pair of sunglasses which have the extraordinary ability to reveal the chilling subliminal messages which litter every advertisement and packaging label in the city. More importantly, the sunglasses give the wearer the ability to witness a horrific alien race who have seemingly integrated secretly into human society.

It is not long before the previously calm and optimistic construction worker turns renegade in a bid to oust this vile scum from his planet! Cue some extremely memorable lines and a series of wild encounters with the totalitarian police force and various haphazard security forces and you have a thoroughly entertaining 80's action film that never fails to deliver.

John Carpenter, what a legend!

Added by Grand Assault 4 days ago on 11 May 2008 08:09

Comments

No comments for this entry have been posted