QWhy couldn't They go into the light?
AAnother question that goes unanswered in the movie. One possibility is simply that They cannot tolerate light the same way we can't tolerate the extreme levels of heat on Venus. Another explanation, that makes sense if you think of Them as interdimensional creatures, is that darkness is how they get in and out of our dimension. This is clear in two scenes. When Julia hits one of the creatures, she can see its corpse laying on the roadside. When she flashes her flashlight on it, it's gone but there again when her flashlight dies. An another scene, the creature in the air duct leaps at Terry but disappears when the flames from the lighter fill the vent. In other words, They can't go into light for the same reason as we can't go into rock...They can't exist in the same space where light exists.
ABecause the movie never explains what They are or even gives a clear picture of what They look like, any explanation of what They really are depends upon which ending of the movie a viewer sees. Upon seeing the theatrical ending, viewers liken Them to monsters, demons, aliens, and/or interdimensional creatures. Using the alternate ending, They are simply fabrications in Julia's imagination. What most viewers do agree is that that's what makes the film so creepy... not knowing who or what They really are. The original script dealt with a group of four recent college grads who discover that Earth is actually run by a race of organic machines which allow the human race to exist so that they can kill them and harvest their corpses for 'spare parts' as Their bodies break down and deteriorate.
QIs there an alternate ending?
AYes Some DVDs also show the following ending: Julia wakes up in a hospital bed. She goes to the door, finds it locked, and looks through the small glass window. There she sees that all of the people in her story -- Dr Booth, Billy, Sam, Terry -- are patients in a mental hospital and her boyfriend Paul is a doctor. Suddenly, the window in her door breaks open and one of Them skitters through, but the window remains unbroken. It was all a delusion. As Julia stands in disbelief, notations from her chart flash across the screen: Patient number 202240: Julia Lund
Committed: 5-14-92 at age 16
Diagnosis: Paranoid schizophrenia
Recommendations: Patient rquires secure environment and constant medication.
Preview status annually.Apparently, there was a third ending filmed in which Julia convinces the doctors that she's okay, even though she can still see Them crawling on her walls. She goes home to her own bedroom, which is rigged up with dozens of lights. She sits with a flashlight in her hands as the camera slowly begins to move down the hallway, and the closet door starts to open. It's thought that this ending might have been for the test screenings. It doesn't appear to have made it into the theatrical or DVD releases.
Share this
