Review of The Krays (1990) by Spangle — 01 Feb 2017

Characterized as an allegory for Jewish control of the media by neo-nazis, it is borderline comical to see how such great art has been misinterpreted. Guess that is what happens to those of us who are a few cards away from a full deck. As it stands, the film is truly just an inventive alien invasion flick that doubles as a social critique for how people sit back and do not question what they are told. This, again, is a problem that continues to today where people simply read or hear something and take it as the gospel truth because the person is on the news or sounds like they know what they are saying. They Live is a cautionary tale in this regard as people have been lulled into believing they are safe when, in reality, we are blind to the negative forces all around us that corrupt our minds. In John Carpenter's incredibly inventive and imaginative They Live, those negative forces are aliens.

Unaware of what is going on until he puts on some special sunglasses, John Nada (Roddy Piper) quickly sets out to help the resistance expose the control the aliens have achieved. Through cool gadgets such as those sunglasses of the aliens' watches, the film creates some great little science fiction touches that really only add to the experience. In particular, the former creates incredible anxiety. As John gets surrounded by aliens that know he can see, the film takes on an incredibly thrilling and terrifying tone. However, the same can be said for when he has the glasses off. Whenever he is in a tough situation and Carpenter does not immediately have him put on the glasses, the film is packed with tension and paranoia. The film manages to convince you that everybody and anybody could be an alien, especially when he lacks the glasses. When he loses them, the tension and anxiety to put them back on is felt by the audience as our heart races along with John's.

Action-wise, the film is incredibly strong. Each action set piece is incredibly strong and Carpenter knows his way around a gun battle. This is very much the case in They Live in which his battles are very similar to ones found in the very beginning of his career, except with more polish and better effects. On that note, the visual effects are very good. The film does a great job crafting the look the aliens and it feels like it is very similar in style in that area to Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!. However, it feels realistic and looks funny at the very least. Carpenter plays on this at the end when the aliens are revealed in bars, having sex, or on television. While comical in look and feel, the aliens do look pretty interesting and feel authentic and an interesting take on what aliens would like and do on earth.

They Live could also be categorized as Carpenter being very tongue-in-cheek with his fighting against criticisms towards his use of sex and violence. The ending highlights this with an alien on television saying that he and George Romero need to tone down both. Here, Carpenter essentially compares his critics to being mindless robotic aliens, incapable of formulating their own opinions. Instead, they opt to parrot what they have heard others say. This is unfortunately still prevalent today, especially in film criticism when a popular film or artist's reputation is quickly torn apart after one critic or person makes a short-sighted argument, which then gains steam and popularity. Carpenter had obviously been critiqued for both sex and violence, so he answers with a film built on testosterone and campy violence and action. Honestly, it is admirable to see him fight back in this fashion.

They Live is a truly entertaining and campy science fiction horror comedy about a man who wakes up to alien invasion taking place on Earth. While silly, its science fiction pieces are imaginative and truly engaging. It creates a world that is worthy of further looks and is truly fun to imagine the possibilities within this world, especially with the cool knick knacks introduced by Carpenter throughout the film. Action-packed, inventive, and simply a good time, They Live is another top-notch film from John Carpenter.