The Making of 'They Live'

The Making of 'They Live' (1988)

*** (out of 4)

Eight-minute EPK special features John Carpenter discussing his film THEY LIVE. Roddy Piper, Keith David and Meg Foster are also interviewed here as every discusses what they're expecting out of the movie and what exactly they're bringing to it. These old "making of" featurettes were probably overlooked back when they were released but today they're interesting to watch just to see how the movie is being sold. Carpenter starts off talking about the connection that all of his movies have and then he talks about various parts of the picture including the now infamous fight. Both Piper and David talk about filming the fight scene and it's clear that this here is something that they were really selling the movie on. It's funny but today THEY LIVE is known for its political commentary yet this here really isn't brought up much in this documentary. It's clear why they probably didn't want to go.

Succinct press package, very short, but it's got the candid interviews and behind-the-scenes footage I'd love to see more of from "They Live". Obviously, the best part is shooting the epic alley brawl, but also getting to see a little bit of John Carpenter actually on set directing a scene.

I doubt I'd ever happen upon this were it not for YouTube, and for that, I'm grateful; it's a great artifact. As much as I want to see more, it does (re)whet my appetite for the movie, and that's always a winning feature.

8/10