Review of They Live (1988) by Rob C — 01 Mar 2011

Nada ("Rowdy" Roddy Piper) drifts into the city of Los Angeles and finds work as a construction worker, meeting a local worker in Frank (Keith David). Frank introduces him to a place shortly after, where he can bed down for the night and get some food. Nada soon starts to notice weird happenings across the street in a small church. After a riot by the local police, Nada goes to investigate the church and finds a box of sunglasses hidden away. When Nada dons a pair he begins to see the city and it's inhabitants for what they really are; aliens brain-washing the public eye with subliminal messaging in your TV, the magazines you read, the billboards you come across and the money we happily spend.

John Carpenter did not disappoint when he directed They Live (I see this more as a Sci-Fi Thriller than an actual horror film), and is also where "Rowdy" Roddy Piper does his best acting on. If you look closely at the props, you will notice a device from the film, Ghostbusters; no idea why that was included, though. But, it's the device that Egon uses to detect the celestial spirits they capture. They Live has an all-around great concept, surreal-like characters, interesting make-up effects and a long hand-to-hand fight scene between "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David. I wish they would have made a sequel to this film because the ending came off quite unpredictable; hinting on something more.