Roddy Piper stars in this sci-fi paranoia film as a unemployed vagabound,
roaming the city looking for a job.  He eventually finds one on a
construction site, where he meets and befriends Frank (Keith David).
Intriqued by the goings-on at a local church, Piper investigates and finds
some bizarre things, but doesn't know what to make of it.  Then after police
in riot gear attack the church and nearby homeless park (where he had been
staying), Piper goes back to the church and steals a box.  He later opens
the box and discovers dozens of sunglasses.  But these are not ordinary
sunglasses.  While wearing them, the world looks much different to him.
Subliminal messages are everywhere - what were advertisements are now orders
to "OBEY", or "SUBMIT" or "MARRY AND REPRODUCE".  And even stranger, some
people don't look like people at all.  This leads Piper down a path of self
destruction as he tries to piece everything together, and once he does, he
must try to stop the powers that be.

It's an interesting story, and Carpenter does a decent job.  It's certainly
not his best work, but it is a lot of fun.  The poor are being controlled by
the wealthy, but in essence, the wealthy are aliens, lulling the public into
a living sleep state.  There's no mistaking it, though - "They Live" is a
B-movie, but it is a very enjoyable B-movie.

The main sense of enjoyment comes from Piper, the star of the show.  His
acting and one-liners are mixed with his mullet and wrestling abilities for
maximum effect.  One famous scene has him wrestling his buddy Frank for what
seems like an eternity just to get him to put on the sunglasses.  There's
headbutting, closelining, headlocks, biting, groin-kneeing and even
suplexes.  All that's missing from the scene is a referee!  And if that
doesn't make you laugh out loud, then there's always Roddy's wisecracks.  A
couple of favorites are "Life's a bitch, and she's back in heat" and "I'm
giving you a choice - either put on these glasses, or start eating that
trashcan."  But, the highlight of the film is Roddy's now classic delivery
of "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass.  And I'm all out of
bubblegum." before he starts blowing aliens away in a bank.
 
 

Quality: 4.0  Visuals: 3.5  Intensity: 5.5 Laughability: 7.5 
OVERALL RATING: 5.1