They Live

Noted schlockmeister John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) tries his hand at social commentary, and succeeds ...almost. The storyline is primo satire: aliens are taking over Reaganland by offering the yuppie mentality an offer they can't refuse good middle and upper-level management jobs in key industries with regular salary increases and plenty of bennies, in exchange for their souls. When a blue collar worker (Roddy Piper) finds a pair of sunglasses and puts them on: he gets a major surprise-everything is in black and white, some people are walking around with no flesh on their skulls, and all of the billboards carry stark messages to "consume". With the help of a black fellow worker (Keith David), the two he-men (Piper is a professional wrestler) join an underground resistance unit to stop "them." The last half of the film becomes a routine crash-and-burn thriller, competently directed by Carpenter (except for one incredibly long and ridiculous fist6ght between Piper and David, lasting upwards of five full minutes), and reasonably exciting. The idea must have sounded very good on paper-and the scenes with the sunglasses are occasionally quite witty, even if the sunglasses themselves are never explained-but the joke wears thin after a bit, and simple action is used to replace a stimulating premise. Not recommended.