They Live

There are likely to be a few threads of They Live inside Captive State's DNA. In this legendary classic from the 1980s, filmmaker John Carpenter declares that he knows every single author who employs subtext, and that they are all cowards! What does that mean? You have to watch They Live in order to find out.

In the story of They Live, a pair of special sunglasses exposes that our business leaders, politicians, religious leaders - and essentially every member of the upper-middle class and above - are gruesome skeleton-faced aliens that have implanted themselves into the power systems on Earth to manipulate the human race, particularly people who tilt toward the Reaganism of the 1980s in the United States.

As we just mentioned, the only way we can see through these aliens is to wear a special pair of sunglasses that reveal the aliens' actual faces and transform all billboards and magazine covers into the words "Consume" and "Obey." The film's high point is undoubtedly the infamous "sunglasses" battle, in which Kieth David and Roddy Piper beat each other to a pulp as Piper attempts to get David to wear these sunglasses, which David adamantly refuses to do.

They Live is an audible and plain picture that revolves around the ills of materialism and the power systems that sustain it. Catastrophic misinterpretations aside, this is a brazen, loud, no-fucks video that demonstrates to the audience that power manipulation is the best way for aliens (or anyone out there) to take over a particular society. It is, no doubt, among the best movies about aliens.

Year of Release: 1988

Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%