Piper handles the action scenes better than he deals with dialogue, but he is well supported by Keith David and Meg Foster.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 13, 2024

It is a big, silly barrel of fun, with a delirious, tongue-in-cheek script...

| Feb 2, 2024

[It] provides moments of catharsis, not to mention a measure of gloating-at-somebody-else’s-trainwreck satisfaction.

| Oct 16, 2023

Both outlandish and prescient, Roddy Piper exudes charm and director Carpenter is fully confident in this crowd-pleasing, sci-fi dystopia.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 22, 2023

The best John Carpenter film ever made...

| Aug 17, 2023

The sunglasses in They Live are ideological. Meaning, they reveal the real message. When you don't wear them, a couch is a couch; when you do, a couch is just the same old boss.

| Jun 9, 2023

This is, if not Carpenter’s best film, certainly his most ambitious and interesting...

| May 21, 2023

A smart concept, a hilarious display of satire, and a tale that is resonating and outrageous in the best of ways, They Live, lives on.

| Nov 4, 2022

Nada is a throwback to a laborer of a previous era, physically toughened by hard experience, confident in a steady work history...

| Nov 3, 2022

They Live's greatest virtues result from its uncommon bonding of dedicated workmanship and stylistic self-assurance.

| Aug 12, 2022

They Live is pure Carpenter and a quintessential cult classic.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

A strong and smart premise is derailed by weak direction, acting and script. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 27, 2021

Hilariously outrageous action scenes and asinine dialogue ultimately overshadow the layers of political and social commentary.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 8, 2020

Whereas I saw an intriguing satire on '80s materialism and conservative economic policy, Piper saw a badass action movie being made by a director at the top of his game.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 4, 2020

A direct and effective direction that never gives itself to unnecessary trappings, 'They Live' has not lost a bit of the freshness that it already had three decades ago. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Sep 4, 2019

Carpenter eviscerates American consumerism and materialism, Reaganomics, as well as questions the vast class divide which exists in most American cities.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 29, 2019

They Live is a good laugh, I certainly enjoyed my time with it, but the sudden tonal shift and some poor acting does hurt it in the long run.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 7, 2019

They Live addresses what another character in it calls "the annihilation of consciousness." Carpenter means class consciousness, too.

| Nov 29, 2018

Ultimately, the biggest take-home from rewatching They Live in 2018 is how scarily relevant this 1988 effort still is to this day.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 6, 2018

A movie that used the horror genre to explore the nefarious nature of poverty, exploitation, consumer culture, and capitalism.

| Nov 5, 2018