So Bad It’s Good #8 : They Live (1988)

Guilty Pleasures that we enjoyed – even though we don’t quite know why.

Movie title: They Live
Released: 1988
Starring: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster
Directed by: John Carpenter

What is it? After the success of “Big Trouble in Little China” – and before that “Halloween” and “The Thing” – John Carpenter found himself in a pretty plum position – he was now able to do a film at least once a year, and despite studio backing, without anyone else tweaking his vision. “They Live” was his 1988 offering. Starring Roddy Piper (who Carpenter apparently saw on “Wrestlemania III” and thought he, er, kicked ass), the horror/action/satire told of a John Rambo-ish drifter (only this guy has no name – – though he is referred to as ‘John Nada’ – as in John ‘Nothing’ at times) who gets hold of a pair of magical glasses which enable the user to see whose an alien and whose not – not surprisingly, all the aliens are the suits, snobs and sickly rich of the world. Accompanied by new friend Frank (Keith David of Carpenter’s “The Thing” but also “Platoon” and later, “Men at Work”) our hero decides to eliminate the problem – by way of a shottie.

What’s wrong with it? Well, how do I say this – – its, er, lame? There’s nothing resembling a performance in it (Though I do like some of Roddy’s lines – the “I’m here to chew bubblegum and kick ass – and I’m all outta bubblegum” line is a classic!); the special effects are probably the weakest of any Carpenter film (still don’t get why, whenever we see through the magical glasses, it has to be black and white? –Carpenter has said that he purposely did those scenes in B/W as a way of stating ‘the aliens colourized us’); and the storyline, though intriguing, isn’t going to captivate viewers the same way, say, “Halloween” did.

What’s right about it? Its strangely entertaining. From its political and social subtext – arising from Carpenter’s own growing distaste with the ever-increasing commercialization of 1980s popular culture and politics – to the over-the-top violence (there’s quite a body count here!), it’s a lot of fun. Like most of Carpenter’s films, part of the appeal of the film is how cheap and nasty it is – this only cost $3 million or so to make, and the director revels in the shoestring production values he’s got available. But more so, the highlight of the film – and possibly the only reason to watch for many – is one of the best fight scenes ever! It’s a five-and-a-half-minute close contact skirmish between Piper and Keith – it’s dirty, it’s continuous and it’s so ridiculous you just don’t want it to end!

Why is it so bad it’s good? Because it’s entertaining junk. You don’t need to have an I.Q of 150 to watch it, and anyone can relate to its sub-text, but more so, who doesn’t love a good ‘blast ‘em away!’

– CLINT MORRIS