Have you ever heard some variant of the phrase, "I am here to kick ass, and chew bubblegum... and I am all out of bubblegum?" Do you know where that phrase came from? No. Not Duke Nukem. It came from They Live, a 1988 flick by John Carpenter. The line itself was spoken by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, of World Wrestling fame.
They Live (1988) is the story of a man called Nada, who drifts into town looking for work. Nada manages to find work at a construction site, and befriends a man named Frank. Frank leads Nada to a place where he can eat and sleep, basically a camp full of homeless folk just looking to get by. Nada's natural curiosity leads him to an abandoned church, where he finds what seems to be a chemical lab making, of all things, sunglasses. When the church is raided by a bunch of police, and the homeless camp next door is rousted, Nada scrambles to figure out what's going on... but he's missing one important clue. Once Nada puts on a pair of sunglasses, he finally finds out the answer to man's age old question... Are we alone in the universe? The answer is no, and they are already here, living among us! :-o
I caught this movie on Showtime Beyond, and it's truly a Halloween classic. Me and my buddy were just discussing this flick, comparing it to another John Carpenter movie, The Thing. I like The Thing over They Live, but only because I prefer creature features over semi-political action movies, which is how I categorize They Live. That's not to say there aren't creatures in this movie. The Aliens in They Live are breath-takingly ugly, looking more like rotting zombies in fancy clothes, but they're still at least mainly humanoid.
The acting in this movie was good, the effects excellent, the plot coherent and the story exciting. I've seen this movie at least a dozen times and I still love watching it. They Live stars Roddy Piper (now sadly deceased) as Nada, Keith David (not to be confused with David Keith) as Nada's friend Frank, Meg Foster as Holly (someone who works at a TV station), and George "Buck" Flower (also now sadly deceased) as a nameless Drifter, much like Nada. There are several scenes in this movie that I really liked, and I'd love to discuss them now that I have the time, so, minor spoilers to follow.
The first scene of this movie that I love isn't when Nada puts on the sunglasses, and sees all the subliminal messages in all the magazines and ads and on TV. No, the scene I like is when Nada needs Frank to put on the glasses, and Frank is absolutely determined to remain oblivious to what Nada is trying to show him. Frank doesn't WANT to know, and for Nada, that's a problem, because he needs help. Nada attacks Frank, and finds out that Frank is almost as good at kicking ass as he is. The two have a knock-down, drag-out brawl in the middle of an alley, and even after seeing it so many times, I still couldn't tell you who the real winner was. Frank is eventually convinced to put the shades on, and it's basically the climax of the whole movie.
The second part of the movie that I enjoy is when Drifter, who was living in the homeless camp with Frank, shows up in the alien compound. He's sold out, and all I can think of seeing it now is that old line, "There but for the grace of god, go I." See, Nada's young and idealistic, full of piss and vinegar, but he's still just a nameless drifter. And who's Drifter? At the beginning of the movie, he's an old bum living in squalor, and all I can think is, he might be either an older and wiser version of Nada, or maybe just a version of Nada who's been beat down by life... beat down to the point where he gives up, and gives in. Maybe they're two versions of the same man, or maybe I've just been hitting the bottle a little too hard today. Who can say? I also love the fact the Drifter manages to escape in all the chaos. If there's ever a sequel, I'd love to see him show up again (another actor would have to play him, obviously).
Anyways, "They Live" is on Showtime Beyond this month. I highly recommend it. Til next time, horror movie fans! :-D
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