Film · TMDB
7.3A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.
Released: 1988-11-0493 minDir: John CarpenterScience Fiction, Action, Thriller
Cast
- Roddy Piper as John Nada
- Keith David as Frank Armitage
- Meg Foster as Holly Thompsen
- George Buck Flower as Drifter
- Peter Jason as Gilbert
- Raymond St. Jacques as Street Preacher
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Key facts
- Directed by
- John Carpenter
- Screenplay by
- John Carpenter
- Based on
- "Eight O'Clock in the Morning", by Ray Nelson
- Produced by
- Larry Franco
- Starring
- Roddy Piper Keith David Meg Foster
- Cinematography
- Gary B. Kibbe
- Edited by
- Gib Jaffe Frank E. Jimenez
- Music by
- John Carpenter Alan Howarth
- Production companies
- Alive Films Larry Franco Productions
- Distributed by
- Universal Pictures (North America) Carolco Pictures (International)
- Release date
- November 4, 1988 ( 1988-11-04 )
- Running time
- 94 minutes
- Country
Key dates
- Published
- 4 May 1989
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Director
- John Carpenter
- Screenwriter
- John Carpenter
- Composer
- John Carpenter
- Producer
- Larry J. Franco
- Narrative location
- Los Angeles
- Filming location
- Los Angeles
- Duration
- +94
Article
They Live is a 1988 American science fiction action horror film written, directed, and scored by John Carpenter, and starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster. It was based on the 1963 short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson. Set in Los Angeles, it follows a working class drifter (Piper) who discovers that the ruling class are camouflaged aliens, which drives him on a quest to expose them to the world.
Having acquired the film rights to the story prior to the production of They Live, Carpenter used the story as the basis for the screenplay's structure, which he wrote under the pseudonym "Frank Armitage". Carpenter has stated that the themes of They Live stemmed from his dissatisfaction with the economic policies of then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, as well as what Carpenter saw as increasing commercialization in both popular culture and politics.