‘They Live’... again! Cult alien invasion movie to be rebooted, de-radicalized

By Robbie Graham and Matthew Alford

Silver Screen Saucers

They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They Live!

John Carpenter’s cult classic They Live is headed for special edition Blu-ray and DVD this November. The announcement comes amidst ongoing speculation that the movie is to be remade -- or rather rebooted -- in the near future by Cloverfielddirector Matt Reeves.

Based on Ray Nelson's 1963 short story Eight O'Clock in the Morning, Carpenter’s 1988 movie depicted a blue collar drifter (played by Roddy Piper) who finds a pair of sunglasses that allows him to see the stark reality of corporate America, where shops are covered with subliminal signs that say “Submit,” “Stay Asleep,” and “Do Not Question Authority.” The world is being secretly run in this Orwellian fashion by invading aliens who are allied with the US establishment -- the human elite having been promised tickets off-planet when Doomsday arrives.

Carpenter pulled no punches in describing the film's politics. “I looked at the country and thought we were in really deep trouble. This seems like fascism to me, the rise of the fundamentalist right and the kind of mind control they're putting out, the kind of presidency Reagan has had. We haven't got a chance.” 

Unfortunately for Carpenter, his film’s searing vision may have been a key contributing factor in its undoing at the box-office. They Live was pulled just two weeks after its November 4th, 1988 release date. While Carpenter blamed audiences who “don't want to be enlightened,” co-star Keith David had a more conspiratorial take on the film’s failure: “not that anybody’s being paranoid,” said David, “but it was interesting that They Live was number one at the box office... and suddenly you couldn’t see it anywhere -- it was, like, snatched.” 

They Liveopened at number one at the US box office and easily made its $4m investment back over its first weekend. By the second weekend, it had dropped to fourth place but still made $2.7m. It also received good reviews, with the notable exceptions of the two newspapers at the very centre of power -- the New York Times and the Washington Post.  

It’s easy to see why Keith David was suspicious of higher level involvement. As part of the film’s marketing campaign, the distributor, Universal Pictures, published an advert that showed a skeletal alien standing behind a podium in suit and tie, with a mop of hair strangely similar to that of the Vice President-elect of the United States -- the much maligned Dan Quayle -- who Carpenter elsewhere called “a prototype: mindless.” The ad was headlined: '”I know human beings. Human beings are friends of mine. You sir, are no human being!'” The Presidential election had taken place just a few days prior on November 8th prompting one major US paper to comment: “If the new administration is starting a list of enemies, Carpenter may have put himself at the head of the line.”

Regardless of the circumstances of They Live’s abrupt termination, it is clear that it was way out in the blue yonder politically, leaving it exposed and defenceless. Sponsors were unwilling to provide product placement, including Rolex, who Carpenter had asked to be associated with the wrist watch used by the aliens as a two-way radio. “We tried to use real advertisements; I wish I could get a little of that,” Carpenter said, “but it's a film that's anti-advertising; no one wanted to give their permission.”

So, will Matt Reeves’ rumoured upcoming They Live reboot face similar obstacles? Unlikely, as the director seems to be opting for a de-radicalized take on his source material, telling Deadline:

“I saw an opportunity to do a movie that was very point-of-view driven, a psychological science fiction thriller that explores this guy’s nightmare… Carpenter took a satirical view of the material and the larger political implication that we’re being controlled. I am very drawn to the emotional side, the nightmare experience with the paranoia ofInvasion of the Body Snatchers or a Roman Polanski-style film.”

A disappointing approach, perhaps, but a logical one. If the radical politics of Carpenter’s original vision struggled to breathe in the corporate Hollywood of yesteryear, today they wouldn’t stand a chance.

They Live Special Edition arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on November 6. For details, see here.

‘The Cryptos Conundrum’ review: spies, lies, and veiled threats

Silver Screen Saucers

Guest Review
By Shepherd Johnson

I've read The Cryptos Conundrum, it makes L. Ron Hubbard look like Hemingway; it really is that bad. The book glorifies the CIA. It's very tedious. Chase Brandon goes into a history of the CIA against a backdrop of alien visitation with some New Age theosophy thrown in. He also crams just about every conspiracy theory he can think of into the book: JFK assassination, Loch Ness Monster, the mystery of how the pyramids were built, etc. The book is clearly a public relations effort used to promote the CIA while exploiting the popularity of UFOs and aliens.

This is the first time the CIA has overtly expanded into using literature as a propaganda tool. Note that I said "overtly". Of course the CIA has acknowledged that they have cooperated with some movie productions, but this is the first time for a book. On the first page there is a disclaimer saying that the book was submitted to the CIA's review board so no classified information was leaked to the public. The CIA often does this when former employees write books, but in this instance, this is clearly a ploy to make the book more mysterious. Of course the CIA probably did review the book, but this is what is known as a limited hangout, which is essentially hiding the truth in a wrapper of lies. 

Chase Brandon

Of course there is no classified information leaked in the book, but the CIA and Brandon want people to think that there is a possibility that there could have been. It is interesting that Brandon chose Coast to Coast AM to launch his book promotion. So that says that the target audience is the conspiracy/UFO community. Chase Brandon was the CIA's Hollywood liaison officer. That meant that when a TV/movie production company wanted to shoot a scene in the lobby of CIA HQ they had to go through him and if a production company wanted CIA cooperation in return the CIA expected input into the script, production, etc. I'm willing to bet that this book has already been optioned for a movie, probably before the ink was dry on the last chapter. Chase Brandon is a CIA propagandist; any foray that such a person might take into the public sphere should always be looked at with suspicion.

Note from Silver Screen Saucers Editor Robbie Graham:

Brandon's fictional book -- which he has repeatedly insisted should be read “between the lines” because, he says, it contains a great deal of “truth” -- features a fleeting but intriguing sub-plot about a nosey journalist who begins investigating the activities of the book's protagonist, Chalmers (clearly modelled on Chase Brandon himself). The journalist is intent on blowing the lid off a conspiracy involving Chalmers. In his book, Brandon writes that the journalist “had run across the name of Jonathan Chalmers, a ‘senior government official’ who seemed to be a thread of continuity throughout whatever mysterious activity the federal government and the CIA seemed to be up to.”

Chalmers doesn't take kindly to the journalist's snooping and duly arranges to have him assassinated.

The name of the journalist... "Robert Graham".

Alford (left) and Graham (right)

My colleague Dr Matthew Alford and I are among only a very small handful of writers in the world to have published articles about Brandon since he left the Agency’s Entertainment Liaison Office in 2007. In 2008, we co-authored a major article on CIA involvement in Hollywood for The Guardian newspaper. The feature -- which was published as a cover story for the paper’s “Arts” section and which is now one of the most widely read articles of its kind on the Internet (Google “CIA and Hollywood”) -- discussed Brandon’s ties to the Hollywood screenwriter Gary Devore, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances in 1997. In 2010, we wrote another cover story, this time for Fortean Times magazine and with a much tighter focus on Brandon. That same year, we co-presented our research into Brandon at the University of Westminster at the Fortean Unconvention. We also spoke about him on BBC radio’s Movie Cafe show.

Brandon suggests that people read his book “between the lines”. Well, reading between the lines, it seems a certain former CIA operative is a little peeved at a certain British writer or writers. Anyway, moving on...

In addition to the above book review, Shepherd Johnson has also drawn my attention to a related photo essay he compiled in 2009, the subject of which is the CIA’s Camp Peary, “which figures prominently in Chase Brandon's book,” says Shepherd, “only he calls it “Camp McLeary” and locates it in “Virginia's Tidewater Peninsula area” and near Williamsburg, Va.”

Shepherd notes that “this is the actual location of the CIA's trade-craft school which he [Brandon] reveals in the book. The CIA uses the cover of the Defense Department and the site is officially called "Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity”. It's the site of the “underground Area 51” in the book [The Cryptos Conundrum] where they have taken the dead aliens.” 

I have posted three of Shepherd’s Camp Peary photos below. For the full photo essay, see here.

Shepherd Johnson's articles and photographs have appeared on various websites including, CBS News, Coast to Coast AM, Prison Planet and Cryptome. Print articles include Fate Magazine. Living in Virginia in close proximity to Washington D.C., he has covered many issues involving politics and national security. He is currently researching the various aspects of the U.S. government's involvement with UFOs.

Hollywood propaganda post-9/11

By Robbie Graham Silver Screen Saucers

With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks upon us, I thought it might be fitting to draw attention to a new book on the subject of post-9/11 Hollywood propaganda entitled Screens of Terror. Though not dealing with UFOs, the book should nevertheless appeal to anyone with an interest in media manipulation and Hollywood's depictions of controversial political issues in the post-9/11 world.

This from the publisher:


"Right from the first moment, the 11 September 2001 attacks and the 'war on terror' were closely associated with film and media. In an effort to 're-brand' US foreign policy, Washington consulted with the advertising and PR industries and within days of 9/11 - itself often described as being 'like a movie' - also consulted Hollywood. It seemed that film-makers might be about to cooperate with a major, long-term propaganda offensive, harking back to the films of the early Cold War era or even those of World War Two. Screens of Terror examines whether such expectations have been borne out. It asks:

� How far have the film and TV industries been supportive of the 'war on terror' and how far have they been critical of it?
� How has the war film genre developed since 9/11?
� How have other popular genres responded to the 'war on terror'?
� How have film and TV represented the enemy Other and the Western Self?

Ten years on, this volume brings together European and North American scholars working in politics and international relations as well as in literature, film, media and cultural studies to take stock and assess the shape and significance of the post-9/11 cultural moment."

Among the scholars to have contributed to Screens of Terror is my colleague Dr Matthew Alford, whose excellent book Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy is a must-read for anyone interested in the politics of Hollywood and the powerful interests working tirelessly to exploit this so-called 'dream factory', both from outside and within.

As for the topic of UFOs & 9/11, debate is currently stirring at the After Disclosure site, where Bryce Zabel and Nick Pope are asking to hear your thoughts on whether or not these two distinct and highly divisive topics should be mixed in the public mind. So, let your thoughts be known.

Related viewing:

Hollywood and the War Machine...

Related articles:

Lights, Camera, Covert Action: The Deep Politics of Hollywood

In the Parents' Best Interests: The Deep Politics of Hollywood

Michael Moore: I Was the Most Hated Man in America

Hidden power in Hollywood

By Robbie Graham Silver Screen Saucers

My frequent writing partner, Dr. Matthew Alford, discussed his ongoing research into the Hollywood/Washington machine earlier today in an interview for Achieve Radio.

In a 50-minute discussion with host James Martinez, Matthew looked at CIA and DoD involvement in Hollywood and the industry's pivotal role in catapulting pro-U.S. establishment propaganda across the world.

Also discussed was the subject of government involvement in Hollywood's UFO movies.

Matthew Alford's book, Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy is available for purchase through the publisher's website and through Amazon.com.

Matthew is currently working on a follow-up to Reel Power entitled: Puppet Masters of Hollywood, which will feature a chapter on UFO movies co-authored by myself.

Hollywood propaganda

My frequent writing partner Matthew Alford - a leading expert in the study of Hollywood propaganda - was interviewed recently on PsiOp Radio.

In a lively eighty-minute discussion with the show's hosts, Matthew covered a range of fascinating topics relating to the politics of Hollywood, effectively busting the myth that Tinseltown is, in any meaningful sense of the term, a "liberal" institution.

Corporate shenanigans and issues surrounding product placement are explored; so too Hollywood's symbiotic relationship with the US government in the form of the DoD and CIA. Also discussed in this latter context are Hollywood's UFO movies. You can listen to the interview at PsiOp Radio's website. It's eighty-minutes well spent!

Recommended book: Reel Power

If you're interested in the politics of Hollywood and the powerful interests working tirelessly to exploit this so-called 'Dream Factory', both from outside and within, then you should take a look at Reel Power: Hollywood Cinema and American Supremacy, by my colleague Dr Matthew Alford.

Though not about UFOs, the book nevertheless provides much food for thought for anyone intrigued by the notion of a 'Hollywood UFO conspiracy', shining a light on the corporations (including leading defence contractors as well as the parent companies of the studios themselves) and political agencies (including the CIA) that can and do influence the content of Hollywood productions on a regular basis.


Description from the publisher:

Hollywood is often characterised as a stronghold of left-liberal ideals. In Reel Power, Matthew Alford shows that it is in fact deeply complicit in serving the interests of the most regressive US corporate and political forces.

Films like Transformers, Terminator: Salvation and Black Hawk Down are constructed with Defence Department assistance as explicit cheerleaders for the US military, but Matthew Alford also emphasises how so-called 'radical' films like Three Kings, Hotel Rwanda and Avatar present watered-down alternative visions of American politics that serve a similar function.

Reel Power is the first book to examine the internal workings of contemporary Hollywood as a politicised industry as well as scores of films across all genres. 

No matter what the progressive impulses of some celebrities and artists, Alford shows how they are part of a system that is hard-wired to encourage American global supremacy and frequently the use of state violence.

If any of this appeals to you, then you should also check out the following articles co-authored by Matthew and myself focusing on the 'deep politics' of Hollywood:

Lights, Camera... Covert Action

In the Parents' Best Interests