Horror Hound Countdown Day #5

They Live
(1988)

It may seem odd today, but back in the day, wrestlers didn't get movie scripts thrown at them willy-nilly. You had to be truly great... or freakishly large before anyone would even think of putting you in a film... and even then it was often an excrutiatingly painful affair. Look at Hulk Hogan. He was the most famous wrestler of the 80s... probably the most famous wrestler EVER and his greatest film role was a cameo in Rocky III... as a character named Thunderlips. Sure he had Mr. Nanny and Suburban Commando, but even these abysmal turns as leading man came well after his former nemesis "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's career defining role as leading man in John Carpenter's They Live.

Piper was a perfect choice for the role of Nada, a working stiff trying to make his way in the late eighties' world of crass commercialism and yuppie entitlement. He exudes an everyman quality that makes him the perfect choice as the proactive underdog, struggling against extra-terrestrial rule. But more importantly, he has the butt kicking chops to hold his own in an all-out actioner such as this. The seemingly endless fight between Piper and Keith David is the thing of legend in nerd circles... mostly because you know that these two hulking men are actually beating up on one another a little bit. Each blow is filmed up close and personal and there's not mistaking the fact that these two actors are really right there in front of you, abusing one another.

Above everything else, though, the most memorable thing about the film is Piper's dialogue. Even more than his physical abilities, Carpenter really exploited his ability to deliver some vitriolic wit at the drop of the hat. It's been said that the famous "bubble gum" line was intended as a wrestling catchphrase that Piper never used, and it ended up becoming one of the most famous lines in movie history (how it got left off of AFI's 100 Movie Quotes list is beyond me). But personally, my favorite is when he tell the old lady, "You... you look like your face fell in the cheese dip back in 1957." A hateful non sequitur that makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Video Goodness!

They Live - Trailer

They Live - The "Bubblegum" Scene

They Live - The Infamous Fight Scene

The Fight Scene Mixed with the South Park Parody