Lone drifter, George Nada, winds up in a recession ridden Los Angeles looking for work. Beginning to piece his life back together, George stumbles into a chilling conspiracy. Beneath the glitz and grime of contemporary Los Angeles, an alien species stalks among us, controlling humanity and the world in plain sight. Gifted with a pair of sunglasses that reveal the stark monochromatic truth, George is swept into a burgeoning rebellion for humanity’s future.
The critical and financial failure of Big Trouble in Little China caused director John Carpenter to split from Hollywood and return to independent film making. They Live is one of Carpenter’s films from his return to independent film, and from my experience his best so far. An action loaded thriller which does not take itself too seriously, They Live was critically panned upon its release for being a nonsensical thriller. Critics, just like they have done with other Carpenter’s films, were wrong. Behind the goofy appearance, They Live holds a message which should be listened to. The alien fifth column linked to the gaudy consumerism and rising human misery within the film is a critique of capitalist excess. Beneath the alien elite, the world is a grey world of oppressive control and conformity. George Nada, the man whose own surname means “nothing”, is the epitome of the everyman in this reality; a man who has been robbed of agency. The sunglasses not only reveal how little power George has, but the degree by which he is controlled by others. For all its apparent abundance, Carpenter sees democratic capitalism as a mirage draining most people of any real choice. Released in 1988, They Live’s message was muffled by the still ongoing Cold War. Yet by the 1990’s saw the sentiment of They Live echo into the mainstream. From the raging self-destruction of protagonist “D-Fens” in Falling Down to the rebellion of office worker Peter in Office Space, the 1990’s saw lone individuals realising that the system under which they lived ; be it society at large or their office was offering them nothing. Contemporary critics of They Live, just like the human population in the film, could not see past the surface.
Away from the film’s social and political message, They Live remains an enjoyable and engaging film, sporting the best parts of Carpenter’s style. The film has the pulpy adventurism of Escape from New York, while sporting the sharp humour and memorable quotes of The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China. There are a few events in the film’s first act which do feel like a leap, but They Live is overall a great story which cleverly and quietly loops back to earlier details in the background. Echoing The Thing, They Live is another ode by Carpenter to the sci-fi and horror b-movies of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The monochromatic reality and design of the alien infiltrators mimic the visual style of the genre. They Live is also helped by great performances from wrestler-turned-actor Roddy Piper as George and the great Keith David as Frank. The score, created by Carpenter and Alan Howarth, bears the classic sound of Carpenters work from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Overall, They Live is one of Carpenter’s lesser known films, but is certainly one of his best.
By Saul Shimmin
Title Roll Reviews 