[Comboanalysis] They Live (1988)

The 80s, in addition to the late 70s and the dawn of the following decade, were an extraordinarily prolific period at the cinematographic level, particularly for large productions in the action and science fiction genres. At that time, the great sagas were inaugurated and originated, to the point that today commercial cinema continues, in part, to live off the income of that time. It was the time of films of the stature of Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), Terminator (1984), Robocop (1987), predator (1987) and a very long etcetera.

There was no doubt that fights, shootings and aliens were in fashion, but that other type of more independent cinema also had its moment, often classified as “B series”, with a much more limited budget, with what this entails in the means to carry them out, but not necessarily lacking in originality, talent and good ideas. In particular, I am going to talk about They Live (1988), known as They are alive in Spain or They live (a much more accurate translation) in Latin America. This film, based on the book Eight O'Clock in the Morning, by Ray Nelson, was directed by John Carpenter, a director with proven experience in the horror, thriller and science fiction genres with works such as halloween (1978) or The Thing (1982). It is also interesting to note that it was starred by the Canadian professional wrestler Roddy Piper, who recently died (on July 31, without going any further) at the age of 61. On this occasion, from here we will pay a small tribute to him through this joint review.

They live, we sleep

The story revolves around Jonh Nada, a worker who lost his job overnight as a result of the massive layoffs that followed the economic crisis that hit the United States in the late eighties, and was forced to become a vagabond, traveling the country looking for a job at all costs. After being coldly dismissed by an official who seemed to show total indifference to the plight of those who frequented the employment office, he had a stroke of luck when he was hired as a construction laborer on a construction site where his services were not rejected. He was particularly well received by Frank Armitage (Keith David), who became his professional colleague after being accepted for the position, and as such offered him accommodation in a vacant lot where they had built a modest and improvised camp for the homeless.

Jonh's attitude had never gone beyond serene resignation, and after finding a place to work and live he seemed satisfied, even though his situation was not exactly a summer retreat. When his friend Frank complained bitterly about the luxury of the rich at the expense of their misery, he seemed confident in the system and its ability to get ahead. Despite everything, his apathy was not so great that he had completely lost his sense of curiosity. When he observed suspicious movements of the staff of a church located right in front of his town, he decided to investigate and found an even more strange and disconcerting scene. The “choirs” that sang religious songs were not such, but were broadcast by a radio device, and the venue was full of strange electronic gadgets. Even more curious was the discovery of sunglasses, the most “normal” thing that could have been found in the premises, hidden in the wall. Clearly, that church seemed like a cover for some type of clandestine activity, but he did not have time to find out more, since he was forced to leave hastily when discovered.

That same night, their camp was forcibly dismantled by police riot units. The huts were razed by large bulldozers and those who resisted received a brutal beating, in particular the reverend of the church (Raymond St. Jacques), who already had problems with the authorities when he publicly denounced that "They have controlled us from the moment we are born until we die" and called on people to "wake up." Shortly after, our protagonist, who had managed to hide during the police operation, found that all the equipment that was in the church had disappeared, so it seemed to be something more than a simple raid on beggars. Fortunately, it seems that they had not noticed the glasses he had found the day before, so he carries the box that contains them and then puts some on and throws the rest in a trash can. This action, inconsequential only in appearance, constitutes the great turning point of the film.

As soon as he put on the glasses, he noticed that his vision altered much more than one would expect, going from color vision to black and white. Judging by his gestures, this was accompanied by headaches. It was only the beginning. He then saw that the numerous advertising posters that crowded the public road were not what they seemed. Under the images and slogans one could read with complete clarity concise, forceful and impactful phrases: “consume”, “buy”, “obey”, “submit”, “do not think”, etc., accompanied by low-frequency sound signals that were continuously intoned, as if it were a monotonous chant, the imperative “sleep”. These subliminal and numbing messages were everywhere, including newspapers and magazines and, of course, on money, whose true inscription was “this is your god.” As if this were not already alarming enough, those prodigious lenses brought to light that some people were not what they seemed either, when the ordinary face of a businessman was transmuted under the lenses into a hideous skull. But it wasn't just him, it seemed that many people, especially the wealthiest, as well as some police officers and the president of the United States himself, were actually members of that supernatural species.

The truth had been revealed to him in all its harshness. The political and economic elites were actually inhuman and monstrous creatures, most likely arriving from another world, who dominated humanity in a bloodless way through the mental control of subliminal messages, and whose secret technique also allowed them to hide their true appearance from the population. As a result of that conviction, he stopped being the peaceful protagonist we knew and became a “tough guy” (so common among action movie characters) willing to wage his own war against these “talking skulls.”

This is the beginning of the plot of a film that is original and bold in its approaches, which gives us a sufficiently functional combination of different genres, styles and approaches. It offers a dose of suspense, which becomes evident both before and after the encounter with the skulls, although it takes on an action film feel as the minutes progress from the development of said milestone, until it finally takes over. Of course, the imprint of science fiction is also noticeable from that moment on, and offers a somewhat fanciful output, although, in my opinion, not free of allegories and symbolism, of social problems of yesterday and today, expressed in a convincingly explicit way: social marginality and unemployment endemic in capitalism, revived during its economic crises, as well as the mechanisms of mass alienation, whose axis gravitates around advertising that is as aggressive as it is subliminal.

Both the treatment of the sequences (shots, mise-en-scene, etc.) and the editing are successful enough to offer narrative coherence, and, in particular, they exhibit their benefits when reflecting the decadent and anodyne environment in which a good part of the beginning of the film takes place, while at the same time offering us a range of details rich enough to require more than one viewing. Without a doubt this is among the film's strong points, and they largely compensate for many of its defects.

The special effects suffer from a lack of budget, in light of their inability to appear minimally convincing, making the “homemade” feeling typical of this cinema fully evident. As for the performances, they are far from being stellar, although in this case it is possible to assert that they sufficiently meet the needs of the script.

The music, in which Carpenter himself participated, is extremely simple, to the point of being reduced to just a handful of chords, and plays a discreet role in the film as a background setting. Of course, it does the job perfectly when it comes to reinforcing the atmosphere in the events to be highlighted, specifically highlighting the decadent and disturbing environments.

One of its most notable “weak points” deserves special mention, the uneven pace that marks the development of the story, showing notable ups and downs that cloud its final result. If the beginning of the film can boast of being well measured, taking its time in its scenes without suffering from parsimony or slowness, others are prolonged to extremes that border on the ridiculous (I am thinking of the famous fight scene, which was undoubtedly an extra for Roddy Piper to exhibit his skills in hand-to-hand fighting), while towards the end of the film the pace increases abruptly, no doubt due to the predominance of action to which I alluded above, which It has an impact on situations resolved somewhat hastily.

They Live It is, above all, a conglomerate of styles and influences that, without having been put together as harmoniously as they should, offer a result that is functional enough to be worth it. If its relatively small budget is felt in some special effects that were somewhat deficient even for the time, and the rigors of the ups and downs and the irregular rhythm of the action end up affecting it, the excellent staging and its original and suggestive approach largely compensate for these shortcomings. The atmosphere of thrillers, the action scenes whose center of gravity lies in the tough guy equipped only with his rifle and sunglasses; one of its most typical and old scenarios of the science fiction genre, the invasion by inhabitants of other worlds; and social criticism, focused on consumerist alienation and the class struggle intensified during the economic crisis, constitute pieces of a puzzle that may not be able to be assembled completely well, but at least offer an entertaining picture.

Rating: 7.5

Martin Fernandez

They Live is quite particular, as it tries to combine social criticism and extraterrestrial invasions, with a typical action movie starring "tough guys." In none of the three sections does it stand out completely, but the representation of society manipulated by subliminal messages seems very interesting to me, although the film does not go into too much depth about it, giving way to blows and shots.

Overall, I find it entertaining and enjoyable, worth watching.

Rating: 7

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Rodriguez Geyser

They are alive (They Live) is a brilliant critical hypothesis about an alternative world told under the sunglasses of a vapid, predictable and prototypical action character.

John Carpenter offers us a film of Thoughtful science fiction built on a very clever general idea, invites us to recreate a decadent world where nothing is what it seems; immersed in a worrying social inequality, in reality not even the richest are free from the yoke of the beings who truly govern. A story of how those beings They subjugate the first world as they treat the third world.
Harsh criticism of exacerbated consumerism carried out through an action story that leaves a lot to be desired, repleta de personajes planos, vacíos y extremadamente crédulos y descuidados. El personaje de John Nada (el luchador canadiense, Roddy Piper) en concreto, está encantado de conocerse, es el protagonista y lo sabe, con su pelo en pecho y melena voluminosa se configura como el prototipo de macho americano de los 80 y ese será el rol que ejerza durante todo el metraje con una interpretación del todo desastrosa.
Se salva Raymond St. Jacques cuyo papel de predicador invidente crea un anhelo al pensar como hubiese sido la película si todos los personajes estuvieran tan bien traídos como él. No obstante cabe destacar la música creada por el propio Carpenter, que aunque repetitiva a más no poder otorga un punto canalla a la mayoría de las escenas en las que a pesar de estar habitadas por personajes planos y para olvidar, nos ha dejado algunas frases del todo inolvidables y para reflexionar.

Calificación: 6,5