A while ago, it came to my attention that there are people in the world who have not seen They Live.
This is understandable. They Live can sneak past you. It looks as if it ought to be a really, really terrible movie.
I mean, Roddy Piper is the 80's sci-fi leading man you hire when you can't afford Kurt Russell. And They Live shows on TV in terrible-movie timeslots. And a precis of the plot could easily leave you with the conclusion that the movie is just a Twilight Zone episode padded out to ninety minutes.
And a lot of its fans only seem to remember the big fight scene, and a quote involving bubble gum.
But They Live is actually pretty freakin' awesome. If you have not seen it, I really must insist that you do.
This subject came up on the excellent, though not terribly well confined to its stated purpose, Skeptic discussion list. Someone mentioned that if you like one sci-fi B movie with Roddy Piper in it, you'd better see another - namely, Hell Comes To Frogtown.
I have now seen that second film.
At first glance, Frogtown appears to have all of the same problems as They Live.
And at second, third and all subsequent glances... it still does. It's terrible. But quite funny.
Frogtown also continues the sterling reputation of the amazingly popular Vasquez Rocks shooting location. If you visit Vasquez Rocks and don't see a starship's away team and/or someone having an unconvincing fistfight with a man in a reptile suit, I think you may justifiably demand monetary compensation from the government.
I think I may manage to survive without seeing Frogtown's several inexplicable sequels, though. This despite the fact that, in the first sequel, the Roddy Piper role is reprised by the inimitable - and I use the word advisedly - Robert Z'Dar.
6 November 2007 at 1:26 pm
Another movie that's so bad, it's awesome is "Space Truckers"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Truckers
Dennis Hopper stars in this really cheesy scifi/comedy that includes square pigs, cyborgs, pirates and really terrible sets, costumes and special effects.
A must see. You'll probably hate it and want the hour of your life back but you'll be better for seeing it..
6 November 2007 at 6:02 pm
I was at someone's house when They Live's fight scene started on their TV. That pretty much ruined any hopes that I'd watch the full movie.
7 November 2007 at 12:27 am
I like "They Live", but I love "Space Truckers". I'll watch pretty much anything with Dennis Hopper in it. And yes, that includes "Waterworld".
Chut up!
7 November 2007 at 12:29 am
Hmmmm. I guess fake HTML tags are just ignored. Well, somebody will figure the quote out without them.
7 November 2007 at 4:28 am
Robert Z'Dar is *definitely* up there; his mere presence is a virtual guarantee of a bad movie.
If you liked any of his other flicks, I highly recommend "Soultaker", which has the additional benefit of also starring Joe Estevez aka "Martin Sheen Lite" -- lite on the acting skills, of course. It was also featured on MST3K -- a must for lovers of bad movies.
8 November 2007 at 10:39 am
So, this is where the "bad movies" discussion is? I figure none is really quite complete without a mention of Tracker 3. Mostly I just browse the list and look at screenshots, which is quite enough.
9 November 2007 at 6:24 am
I see your "They Live" and "Space Truckers" and raise you an "Ice Pirates" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/
9 November 2007 at 1:44 pm
I was young enough not to notice or care about the production values of They Live when I saw it, but the end scene when all of a sudden everyone can see the bad guys freaked me out big time.
25 February 2008 at 5:53 am
I went out and bought They Live at your suggestion when I first read this blog post, and it was superb. Then recently I obtained Frogtown through Netflix and now I understand that not only are you a genius but you are truly a psychopath as well. Bravo, my Aussie friend. Bravo.