THEY LIVE 1988 (UNIVERSAL)

A great sci-fi film that also has very heavy political leanings.

John Carpenter was once one of the premier directors of action and horror films. Then he let his politics get in the way and it ruined his career.

This film deals with an alien race that has come to Earth and is slowly taking over. A drifter finds a pair of glasses that enables him to see the aliens and much more. The problem is he cannot get anyone to believe him until he manages to get a friend to wear them, but only after one of the longest and most brutal fights ever put onto film!

Not only can the wearer see the aliens as they really are but they can also see all of the propaganda that is being introduced into the human mind such as billboards that look like regular signs until you actually see they say things like "don't question authority", "marry and reproduce", "stay asleep", "obey", "watch TV", "no independent thought" and much more. Even the money says "this is your God".

Carpenter said that this film was his take on the Reagen administration in the 80's, but I see it as an excellent metaphor for the Obama regime. Anyway, politics aside, this is a very good film and one that any sci-fi fan should see. The cast includes Roddy Piper as the drifter, Keith David is the other human he finally convinces to wear the glasses, Meg Foster, George "Buck" Flower, and Raymond St. Jacques.

This film also contains one of the funniest scenes in movie history...when Piper first wears the glasses he goes into a small drug store and sees an alien woman and says lines like "you know, your head looks like it fell in the cheese dip back in 1957", "without these glasses on she looks like a normal person, but with them on she looks like formaldehyde face" or "Call the cops??? You need a Brazilian plastic surgeon."

Those lines always have me laughing out loud. I can't recommend this film enough. One of the best and sadly one of the last carpenter made that was any good.