By MICHAEL GINGOLD
John Carpenter fans will definitely obey the impulse to buy a new disc edition and merch for the classic sci-fi thriller.
Shout! Factory will release THEY LIVE, with Roddy Piper and Keith David taking on insidious aliens that have infilatrated our society, in 4K Ultra High Definition for the first time December 8 under the Scream Factory banner, packaged with the Blu-ray. Sporting a new 7.1 Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the 4K UHD will include all the previous special features:
- Audio commentary by writer/director John Carpenter and actor Roddy Piper
- “Independent Thoughts”: An interview with writer/director John Carpenter
- “Man vs. Aliens”: An interview with actor Keith David
- “Woman of Mystery”: An interview with actress Meg Foster
- “Watch, Look, Listen: The Sights & Sounds of THEY LIVE”: A look at the visual style, stunts and music with director of photography Gary B. Kibbe, stunt coordinator Jeff Imada and co-composer Alan Howarth
- Original EPK: “The Making of THEY LIVE”
- Footage from commercials created for the film
- Original theatrical trailer
- TV spots
- Still gallery
Also available exclusively from Scream Factory is a limited-edition (4,000 units) NECA 8-inch action figure of David’s Frank character, in a collectible retro box, and a limited-edition (2,500 copies) 7-inch record on exclusive bubble-gum pink vinyl from Sacred Bones, featuring THEY LIVE music composed by John Carpenter and recorded by John, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies. The A-side includes the 2017 version of the main title and the B-side contains a never-before-released recording of “Wake Up” recorded by the trio in 2019, and it comes in a slipcase with new art by frequent Carpenter collaborator Chris Bilheimer. Orders from the Shout! Factory website will include a limited-edition 18 x 24-inch rolled poster reproduction of the original theatrical release art while supplies last; all this THEY LIVE stuff can be pre-ordered here.
