Double Feature: They're Living East Coast vs West Coast (They Live & They Look Like People)
It’s not uncommon for people to think that there’s some massive conspiracy going on behind the scenes to make us miserable and complacent. We see echoes of this in science fiction literature, horror movies, news channels of varying political leanings (re: all of them), and even among ourselves. There’s a strange sort of comfort in the idea, though it might not seem that way at first. If you have something else to blame, some elusive cabal pulling the strings, then there’s nothing you can do; you are at the mercy of powers far greater than any of us.
What we have in this double feature is two versions of this same paranoia. In one, there is a sense of resistance, a galvanized attempt to turn the tide of human entrapment. In the other, it’s one person against a force he feels closing in around him. These films take place decades apart on opposite sides of the country, and the differences between them are there in style, tone, and approach but what remains is the belief of a machination extending beyond our grasp, driving our actions, and giving us no choice in how we proceed.
They Live (1988, dir. John Carpenter)
I have often said that if I had the option to time travel, I’d go back to the eighties and convince John Carpenter to cast Kurt Russell in the role of Nada instead of the late Rowdy Rodder Piper. No offense to the Maniac but I think this movie would have benefited from a tenser, perhaps more somber atmosphere, like that of The Thing. But that’s neither here nor there.
What we have with They Live is still spectacular, though perhaps more campy eighties than my taste. Piper plays a hard-working homeless man who shows up in LA from Denver hoping to find gainful employment. He befriends Frank who’s in a similar situation and brings Nada to a shanty town serviced by a nearby church. Nada stumbles upon the underground operation happening inside the church, nothing more than a front, and walks out with a pair of sunglasses that allow him to see the world for what it really is: airborne cameras watching his every move, massive communications commanding people to ‘obey’ and ‘sleep’, and skull-faced creatures masquerading as human.
Los Angeles, am I right?
Nada becomes involved with the resistance to take back earth from this invading alien race. He and Frank (Keith David) make their way into the alien base and see how the global elite have made money off selling out their own people. They find the transmitter that’s broadcasting powerful rays to keep up the hallucination and illusion that the aliens want the general public to see. Nada destroys the transmitter as he is killed, and the veil drops, leaving skull-faced creatures exposed all across the world.
They Live has extended beyond just a movie at this point. Even people who haven’t seen it can recognize the look of the aliens and the all-caps “OBEY” on a blank white background. For some, it’s read as very literal: we are actually being controlled. For others, it works as a metaphor for consumerism and the state of induced panic wherein so many humans exist. Despite plenty of heavy topics – homelessness, rampant unemployment even for people willing to work hard, the upper echelons of society growing rich on the backs of the poor – They Live is steeped in comedy. It ends with a full-on joke and has a fight scene between Piper and David that goes on for over five minutes. Plus, this is the film that gave us the famous line: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.”
The world of They Live is very eighties, expansive, and flashy. Piper’s character goes from the slums to the heights to outer space in less than two hours. Everything about it is slick and polished, and digs into the gleeful greed of the decade with aplomb. Close to thirty years later, we get the second film in this double feature. Clearly inspired by They Live but in a different era, a different city, and a different version of the conspiracy.
They Look Like People (2015, dir. Perry Blackshear)
They Look Like People follows Wyatt (Macleod Andrews), a man of shaky lucidity who returns to New York City and reconnects with his old friend Christian (Evan Dumochel). Christian invites Wyatt to stay with him as they’re both going through tough emotional times having recently broken up with their respective partners. Unbeknownst to Christian, Wyatt believes he is being followed and contacted by demons planning a full-blown invasion on the city. He tries to discuss this with a psychiatrist but after their initial meeting, he determines that the doctor is also a demon and refuses to go any further with him.
Though most of They Look Like People is focused on Wyatt and his ever increasing psychosis, there is a whole storyline of Christian attempting to bolster himself and his position at his job by being assertive to the point of aggressiveness. Juxtaposed to Wyatt’s withdrawn and shrinking demeanor, Christian comes across as a bulldozer of a man. He eventually gets fired and one of his colleagues leaves a sticky note on his computer telling him that he’s an asshole.
Wyatt and Chrisitan spend a lot of time together acting like they’re children again and doing all the silly things they used to do as kids but now with the added adult influence of alcohol. In the middle of these lighter moments, we the audience know that Wyatt is stockpiling weapons in the basement of the apartment building and contemplating killing himself and strangers on the street he believes are demons. He receives calls from these demons in various voices (one of them sounding like Christian’s boss Mara whom Christian tried to date) and they tell him that the final attack is coming and nowhere in the city is safe.
New Yorkers, am I right?
As the date Wyatt was given approaches, he tries to convince Christian to leave with him. He sees what he thinks are omens of the coming apocalypse and tells Christian it’s too late, they need to hide out. In the basement of the building, Christian agrees to being bound in order to make Wyatt feel safer. Wyatt thinks Christian is transforming into a demon and is preparing to kill him with acid he purchased. Just as he is about to dump it all over Christian, Wyatt remembers that this is his friend and that maybe he is losing touch with reality.
What They Look Like People lacks in budget, it makes up for it claustrophobia. Most of the movie takes place indoors; be it the apartment, a sterile office, or the dark, dank basement. Even the outdoor shots are tight and closed-in like when Wyatt meets with the psychiatrist. We see that Wyatt is trapped inside his own head, and there’s nowhere to turn for him to get away from himself or the voices haunting him. This isn’t the ass-kicking action of They Live. Rather, it’s a quiet piece about two men unsure of their next step. Neither can trust their instincts since following those have led them to nothing good but they also know they can’t stand still.
The best moments of the film are the ones where Wyatt fully commits to his delusions: purchasing acid, showing off his stockpile to Mara’s friend, standing on the rooftop of the building and considering firing at people he thinks are possessed. It’s almost a shame to see by the end that none of what he’s experiencing is real because the supernatural elements are captivating, and outside of it is the relatively banal experience of being unsatisfied with one’s life. Which some might argue is the entire point of the movie.
They Live and They Look Like People cover similar ground but there is a sense of victory and optimism in They Live while the latter has a darker, sadder quality to it. Comparing them truly feels like comparing two very different eras (the pumped-up eighties versus the nihilism of the 21st century teens) of filmmaking, not to mention the differences between LA and New York.
One thing remains the same though: they’re both filled with freaks and monsters. As it should be.
