I hope everyone likes John Carpenter movies, because I like me some John Carpenter movies, and I'm closing out the first year of this blog with a marathon of John Carpenter movies. The next three or four reviews will feature some of the director's lower-budgeted lesser-viewed fare which, not coincidently, happen to be some of my favorites. Let's get the ball rolling with one of the best movies ever made starring a professional wrestler, 1988's They Live.
8 comments:
I really liked "They live" as with several of his movies. "The Thing" though is my favorite along with "Escape from New York", "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Starman."
I would like to add to Jeff's list with 'Prince of Darkness'. Man, in my teen years this one really kept me up at night! Creepy! Though this was well liked, 'The Thing' and 'Escape from New York' tie for first in my book.
Arrrgh! Maintaining my low budget shtick here means I don't get to do most of those movies for the blog. Which isn't to say I'm not going to watch them all again this year anyway, but when my wife asks "How many times are you going to watch that thing?" it would have been nice to be able to say, "But, honey, it's theological research."
Hah! They Live started out as a low-budget piece in a sci-fi horror comic book! It was a hypnotism act that opened the hero's eyes to the truth, but he was unable to do anything about it, thus leaving the reader to wonder ... "What if this is real?"
I didn't know that about the comic, I'll have to see if I can dig it up somewhere. Sounds like quarter bin material.
I have such a love for the original The Thing, I've never been able to bring myself to see Carpenter's remake, but I love Big Trouble in Little China, so I'll have to give it a shot.
You promised us They Live coincidentally, just as I was reminiscing about an old LucasArts video game from the 80s, Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders, which has a premise so similar, it's almost certainly dependent. I might have to see if I can rent They Live myself and try writing a comparison between the two.
The two versions of The Thing are one of the rare occasions where I love both versions, albeit for different reasons.
You can't beat the dialog and character interaction in The Hawks produced original, and I can't think of a single wasted frame in the whole movie.
Carpenter's version is the most near perfect exploration of nihilistic paranoia I think I've ever seen. (And much more faithful to Campbell's original short story which, believe or it not, I actually read.) You have to have a strong stomach, though; the goo factor is off the charts.
Speaking of video games, I'm not big into them these days; too time consuming. But last month a friend offered to sale me his old X-Box and a stack of games for $50 so I went ahead and took it. In the box was none other than The Thing, a sort of sequel to Carpenter's movie. It's interesting in that you not only have to shoot lots of creatures, but you have to be careful of your other actions or the NPCs lose trust in you and roast you with flame throwers just in case you're a Thing.
My stomach is cast iron, as indicated by my love of habanero sauce. Of course, on the other hand, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem very nearly had me in a fetal position at some points.
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