Day two. Hoping for a little more terror, some horror or at least mild peril. Moving forward into the 80s, we chose They Live, an action/horror/sci-fi film starring ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper of old-school WWF (the wrestling one) fame and Keith David, whose ostensibly forgettable name makes him seem much less memorable then he actually is. Firstly, as a title, They Live (which would surely warrant an exclamation point in the current era) basically sounds like a horror film. Secondly, it sports a more-than-respectable 7.2 rating on IMDB. Both good signs.

I have come to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum.

Well… They Live is more of a horror film than The Wicker Man, but probably still errs towards being an action film with horror elements. The premise is fine, it’s generally good fun and in many ways it taps into the conspiracy-theory, lizard-people, chemtrail-type nonsense that seems still prevalent in the US. Essentially Roddy’s character (Nada) gets hold of some sunglasses which allow him to see beyond the apparent ‘reality’ of his existence. Then he gets hold of some guns. Shooting happens. There are explosions. Some people become very adverse to putting on sunglasses when asked to. There is a whole alleyway fight/wrestling sequence which goes on so much longer than it needs to. Then, when you think it’s finished, so much longer again. However, the film is alright. The horror might just be more like commentary on social inequality and capitalism, but it might be horror. These first two films have made me wonder if horror is actually a thing at all (perhaps I should watch The Thing next). But They Live is fine and probably horror.

So does it deserve it’s IMDB rating of 7.2? Probably not. It’s a pretty straightforward romp, but has some nice touches.

Is it worth watching? It’s a bit of fun. You don’t have to think too hard, or for too long (1hr34mins, boom).

What are the best bits (intentionally-vague slight-spoilers)? The whole sunglasses thing is good. Maybe it could have been expanded upon a bit, but still well done. The ‘OBEY’ message reminded me of Shepard Fairey’s Andre the Giant has a Posse campaign, particularly with Roddy Piper being a wrestler and the general ‘street’ feel of the film. Keith David is always great, although his voice sometimes goes to quite shrill places in this film (which, I admit, seems barely plausible).

What are the worst bits? The aforementioned long and entirely unnecessary wrestling/fight sequence. Nada’s action-hero one-liners are awful from every angle. Our protagonists make poor, and inconsistent, decisions as to when (or why) they choose fight, flight or hide.

But is ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper actually an actor? Yeah. He’s in loads of stuff and, other than the odd occasion where he seems to look the wrong way, can certainly do what he needs to do for this film. Fortunately, if there is ‘horror’ in this movie, his role is one of an uncomplicated man dealing violently with it. So eminently achievable.

In many ways a progression, although the ‘horror,’ whilst present, once again seems somewhat ‘background.’ I will endeavour to find an absolutely nailed-on pure horror film next time around…