Sci-fi horror ‘They Live’ was released in 1988 and became a cult classic almost immediately because of its innovative concept. The film tells the story of Nada, who, after stumbling upon a pair of glasses that lets him see the world as it is, starts to realise that a lot of things in it are wrong. He finds out that the government is being used to keep the people sad, but all the people from upper social classes are aliens in disguise with mind-controlling abilities. The film was directed by John Carpenter, a famous name in the horror genre, and sits at an affirmative 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Why it is not what people need
The story of ‘They Live’ was based loosely on ‘Eight O’ Clock in the Morning’, a sci-fi story by Ray Nelson, but was eventually very different from the short story and in 2010, producer Eric Newman (‘Children of Men,’ 2006) and director Matt Reeves (‘Cloverfield,’ 2008) were briefly in talks about a reboot of the film. Although the idea was never made concrete enough to be taken seriously, it would have been a huge mistake on their part to go through with it, even hypothetically. Why? Because the plan was to steer clear of the themes used in the original film and make it more similar to the ideas used in the Ray Nelson story.
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Another way to approach this project
The short story is very dark and psychological. It revolves around a man who is convinced that the people around him are all under mass hypnosis, while grotesque-looking creatures are commanding them all to obey the government. While ‘They Live’ is an anti-establishment commentary on society, the remake would be more of a psychological horror that might be fun to watch. Still, it will take away from the original film that was so ahead of its time and drew attention to the dystopian future we all might be heading towards. Perhaps if the project is ever brought up again and hopes to see the light of day, a better idea for the filmmakers would be to call it the second adaptation of Nelson’s short story rather than a remake of Carpenter’s ‘They Live.’
