They Live (1988)

A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Ray Nelson (short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning"), John Carpenter (screenplay) (as Frank Armitage)

Stars:

Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roddy Piper	...	Nada
Keith David	...	Frank
Meg Foster	...	Holly
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Drifter
Peter Jason	...	Gilbert
Raymond St. Jacques	...	Street Preacher
Jason Robards III	...	Family Man
John Lawrence	...	Bearded Man
Susan Barnes	...	Brown Haired Woman
Sy Richardson	...	Black Revolutionary
Wendy Brainard	...	Family Man's Daughter
Lucille Meredith	...	Female Interviewer
Susan Blanchard	...	Ingenue
Norman Alden	...	Foreman
Dana Bratton	...	Black Junkie

Storyline

Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.

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Plot Keywords:

brainwashing | alien | sunglasses | social commentary | materialism | 

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Taglines:

You see them on the street. You watch them on TV. You might even vote for one this fall. You think they're people just like you. You're wrong. Dead wrong.

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's They Live

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,827,000, 6 November 1988, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$13,008,928

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alive Films,Larry Franco Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After The Thing (1982), this is Keith David and John Carpenter's second and final film together.

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Goofs

When Nada takes Holly captive and forces her to drive, the passenger side door is unlocked, and then locked again, between shots.

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Quotes

Frank: Listen, man, I don't like anyone following me if I don't know why they are.
Nada: Well, I don't join up with anyone, unless I know where they're going.

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Connections

Featured in James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction: Dark Futures (2018)

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Soundtracks

Coming to L.A.
(uncredited)
Written by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth
Performed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth

User Reviews

Chilling Source Material, Dystopian Movie

The short story upon which this movie is inspired, Ray Nelson's "8 O'Clock in the Morning," should be read before completely understanding how disturbing the source material really is. Chilling and sparse, it is essentially a first draft of a plot, expanded cleverly by John Carpenter, with the same great ending. (Carpenter loves to end his movies with zingers, in case you had not noticed!) I would highly recommend fans of this movie read Nelson's story to get a different, darker, tale than the one Carpenter made, and with good reason: In the story, you are never really sure if its protagonist is really a nut or if he has been programmed to act the way he does, because it seems his grip on reality is tenuous at best, and so everything you are reading could be a complete derangement -- or it could all be true. People kill each other daily over just such obviously mad conclusions.