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An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/they-live-filming-locations-30-years/ [lamag.com]

In November of 1988, four days before George H.W. Bush was elected president of the United States, Universal Pictures released They Live, the story of covert alien suppression over the masses. The movie is, arguably, the most topical film of Carpenter’s four-decade career, which includes box-office hits and cult classics like Halloween (1978), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), and Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Thirty years later, They Live is particularly significant in America’s current social and political climates.

The sci-fi action film is based on Ray Nelson’s short story, “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” (1963), and Bill Wray’s subsequent comic adaption, “Nada” (1986). In Nelson’s story, George Nada awakes from being hypnotized and can suddenly see people transform into alien beings that are unsuspectingly controlling the human race.

https://www.theringer.com/movies/2018/10/4/17933020/they-live-john-carpenter-america-donald-trump [theringer.com]

Drones in the sky, conspiracies in our heads, militarized police in the streets, economic inequality in every corner of society, media that seeks to control our minds: The terror of They Live is more tangible and primal in 2018 than a slasher movie could ever be. Is that an overly grandiose way of describing a cheesy, semi-self-aware ’80s action flick? Am I projecting outsize cultural importance onto a cult classic starring a professional wrestler who utters awesome one-liners like, “Brother, life’s a bitch ... and she’s back in heat”? Have I been wearing these magical sunglasses for too long?

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