They Live movie

It posits a world in which some of the monied elite or the yuppies are in fact aliens seeking to oppress the poverty-stricken lower classes through subliminal advertising in the media.John Nada (Roddy Piper) is a homeless laborer who falls in with a group of shantytown rebels who have invented special sunglasses that enable the wearer to see past the façade the aliens have constructed to prevent their detection. One of the film?s memorable scenes occurs when Piper?s character dons the glasses for the first time, and notices that a billboard for what appears to be a computer company now simply displays the word ?OBEY,? while another billboard featuring a bikini-clad model urges the viewer to ?MARRY AND REPRODUCE.? He also sees that money bears the words ?THIS IS YOUR GOD.? The messages are subliminal, causing people to become complacent about solving social problems, spend money, stay in debt, remain employed, and increase the population.ProductionThe idea for They Live came from two sources: a futuristic story, involving an alien invasion in the tradition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, called ?Nada? from the Alien Encounters comic book. This story came from a short story called ?Eight O?Clock in the Morning? by Ray Nelson that was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in the 1960s.

John Carpenter describes it as ?a D.O.A. type of story. A fellow is put in a trance by a stage hypnotist. When he awakens, he realizes that the entire human race has been hypnotized. Amongst us are alien creatures who are controlling our lives. He has only until eight o?clock in the morning to solve the problem.? Carpenter acquired the film rights to both the comic book and the short story and wrote the screenplay using Nelson?s story as a basis for the film?s structure.The more political elements came from Carpenter?s growing distaste with the ever-increasing commercialization of popular culture and politics in the 1980s.

All They Live trailers available on youtube

They Live Cast

• Dana Bratton
• George 'Buck' Flower
• Jason Robards III
• John Lawrence
• Keith David
• Lucille Meredith
• Meg Foster
• Norman Alden
• Peter Jason
• Raymond St. Jacques
• Susan Barnes
• Susan Blanchard
• Sy Richardson
• Wendy Brainard