Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Rating:
Summary: "Whatever You Do, Don't Go to Sleep!"
Review: Based on the 1955 novella by Jack Finney, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is the definitive filmic allegory of 1950's McCarthyist paranoia and oppression, and it remains one of the most frightening Sci-Fi movies of its era. The tight script by Daniel Mainwaring--with uncredited help from Sam Peckinpah and Richard Collins--is both excitingly fast-paced and thought-provoking, and this is further enhanced through the excellent and innovative directing of Don Siegel and the beautiful black-and-white cinematography of Ellsworth Fredericks. Of course, the acting is pretty darn good, too, most notably Kevin McCarthy's riveting depiction of the mental unhinging of a respectable citizen who uncovers a deadly conspiracy but can't get anybody else to believe him. (Yes, the film's star is, ironically, related to the U.S. senator whom after whom the pernicious political philosophy of McCarthyism is named.)

Most fans of the genre are already familiar with the basic plot. Dr. Miles Bennell, a small-town physician in rural California, returns to his practice after attendance at an out-of-town medical convention only to discover that several of his patients are suffering from the delusion that their loved ones are being replaced by emotionless duplicates. He is at first skeptical, of course, but circumstances eventually lead him to believe that his "paranoid" patients are actually on to something. But has he learned the truth in time to save himself and warn the rest of the world?

Adding to the frightening fun for modern audiences are the appearances of several actors who would later make their own marks in the horror and SF genres. Included in this bunch is Whit Bissell, who went on to co-star in TV's THE TIME TUNNEL and appear in other genre films like 1973's SOYLENT GREEN; Richard Deacon, who would go on to greater fame as Mel Cooley on TV's THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, but who also made appearances in genre films such as Hitchcock's THE BIRDS (1963), the 1967 fantasy THE GNOME-MOBILE, and the 1978 JAWS rip-off PIRANHA; and most notably, actress Carolyn Jones, who became quite well-known to fans of horror as the darkly beautiful Morticia on TV's original THE ADDAMS FAMILY in the 1960s.

The DVD from Republic offers a beautiful digital transfer of this classic black-and-white thriller in its original aspect ratio of 2.00:1. The sound quality is good, and the disc also contains a pretty cool interview with star Kevin McCarthy that was conducted circa the mid-1990s.

Rating:
Summary: Original 1956 scifi cult classic (scarey film) now on DVD!
Review: This Black & White Scifi/Horror Cult Classic is still a very scarey movie to watch. This DVD is digitally restored and presented in a non-Anamorphic WideScreen Letterbox format. (This is presented with letterbox vertical & horizontal black bars & not enhanced for 16x9 Tvs). The picture quality is still excellent and the movie still delivers its disturbing message.

In Summary: a California town is mysteriously invaded by seed-pod cloning aliens. Our lead characters (Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter and Carolyn Jones)discover these pods and how they are taking over their town, friends & family members. They try to seek assistance to stop this alien take over but are also being pursued by them. They discover that the pods are secretly placed near the victim. Slowly a clone of the victim matures within the pod & becomes fully mature when the victim falls asleep. The key is to escape and remain awake! As the days go by sleep seem inevitable. What happens to our characters? Does the world find out, before it is to late? This is a nail biting, nerve racking story and it is indeed a cult 1950's classic scifi film.

This is one of my favorite scifi/horror movies of the 1950's. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" has been remade twice but the 1956 movie is the original & the best both in acting & thrills!

The Extra Features include an original trailer and an interview with Kevin McCarhty. Again the picture quality & sound are excellent.

So if you want a good scarey taste of cult classic history get a bowl of popcorn pull up a seat in the dark and watch "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Invasion of the MTV generation
Review: It is really a shame that most audiences today are not patient enough to sit through a black and white movie. If they were, they might be lucky enough to see such greats as The Big Sleep or Double Indemnity. However, in terms of horror movies, there aren't many better than most black and white films from the early days of Hollywood. Being restricted to shooting horror films in black and white was not a detractor but a very positive rule. The director could then make the ominous shadows that are so common in scary movies even more pronounced with the stark contrast between what is light and dark. Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a prime example of this. Made in 1956 by Don Siegel, this film stars Kevin McCarthy as a suburbanite convinced that his neighbors are slowly being taken over by some evil force, but of course no one believes him. As the soulless duplicates hatch from their pods and infest the town, Dr. Miles Bennell (McCarthy) is running out of time to do something. The intense storyline makes it obvious that such a movie should be, and was, incredibly lit providing deep meaningful lighting and cinematography.
The cinematographer, Ellsworth Fredericks, did an excellent job at creating an intense mood in this fantasy thriller. The predominant shadows, as in most film noir and other black and white movies of the 40's and 50's, defines the tone in which the viewer should read the characters. But what is most interesting about this film, is that only the main character sees the alien townspeople in this light when he is alone and they are attacking him. For the majority of the time, they are lit with high-key lighting, what is typically used in sitcoms today, to give the viewer a sense of perfection. They mow the lawn and walk around in the town square in an eerie brightness that it is almost uncomfortable at how normal they are trying to look. Of course when the sun sets, the mood of the same characters that were painfully boring suburbanites during the day is skewed to reflect their true purpose in the community. As Dr. Bennell hides in the neighbors bushes peeking into the basement of his "old" neighbors' home, the shadowing of him and the creatures in the house can only be described as creepy. The entire film progresses like this, continuously getting more and more shaded like a plague slowly devouring the neighborhood, until the end when Dr. Bennell is running on foot from the aliens in the street and the only light is from the chasing car's headlights. Unfortunately, for many reasons, this ending was deemed too depressing and disturbing for a audience at that time to handle, and Don Siegel was forced to add another, much brighter, scene to the end to put the audience at ease by reassuring them that everything would work out ok.
To say that modern films of today can even come close to the depth of emotion conveyed in a single shot in a film like Invasion of the Body Snatchers is preposterous. In pop culture today, people do not have the patience to try and infer what the director is saying with a certain type of framing of a shot, so therefore, any crucial plot points are written into the script, allowing the cinematography to take on a fast paced, MTV look with poorly constructed shots that simply funnel the ritalin deprived visuals into our head as quick as possible before we lose our concentration

Rating:
Summary: Now I lay me down to sleep...
Review: A classic sci-fi thriller made on a small budget with a relatively unknown cast and no special effects. A small American town is invaded by strange pods from outer space and the residents are replaced by soulless duplicates of themselves which hatch from the pods. Kevin McCarthy in one of his few roles as a leading man, stars as a doctor who tries to stop the silent invasion. The film's direction by Don Siegel is simple but effective: the sense of suspense and doom is created not by visual effects or elaborate settings but by consistently placing McCarthy where he has to hide in smaller and smaller and darker and darker places. At the end when McCarthy finally does break away, he bursts forth onto the freeway to warn the rest of the world before it's too late - one of the most famous moments in cinematic history. Originally the film was to end there but studio heads demanded a less depressing conclusion and a more conventional finale was added. The film has frequently been called an allegory for McCarthyism, but it can be enjoyed at face value as an excellent example of 1950s science fiction.

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Summary: Body Snatchers Invade Video Collection
Review: Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers proves to be a classic of the science-fiction genre. Usually bored to death of sci-fi films, I quite enjoyed this film of pods taking over and transforming themselves into the citizens of Santa Mira, while they sleep, in the hopes of soon engulfing the entire world. Brilliantly acted by Kevin McCarthy in the role Miles Bennel, and Dana Wynter as Becky Driscoll, with a wonderful supporting cast, the film is easily believable. With Milt Rice in charge of special effects, the entire collaberation is a marvel for its time. Upon returning home from a trip, Miles finds the Santa Mira townspeople to be acting a bit unusual, but little does he know that one by one the townspeople are being taken over by pods from another world. Miles and Becky, Miles' girlfriend, attempt to warn the town and save the others, but it soon proves to be no easy feat for them to save themselves. The two drive, and then literally run, for their lives through the California hills. If they can make it to the highway and then to the neighboring town, perhaps they and the world can be saved. With impressive cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks, notably the highway scene late in the film, and a striking musical score by Carmen Dragon, this film has quickly become one of my favorites. To occupy a place on the shelves amidst my usual favorites is not an easy thing for a film to do, especially for one that is science-fiction, but this brilliant sci-fi film, which hints a bit at McCarthyism, is a can't miss for any film lover.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT
Review: This is a GREAT transfer of the original film! The sound is good, the picture is good, it's simply a grand dvd! The film here has good acting and casting. Good story and good ending. What more could a sci fi junkie need? This film was made countless times after but this is the original and the best.Kevin did great as the main character here.

Rating:
Summary: "There's no need for hate now, or love"
Review: This classic sci-fi B-movie is one of the best alien invasion flicks of the fifties. But while most of these films depict aliens bringing death and destruction from above, this film is unique in that it depicts a gradual, invisible invasion from the inside.

Kevin McCarthy stars as Miles J. Bennel, a doctor who has just returned to his hometown of Santa Mira. Miles is just getting back to work when a number of Santa Mira residents start complaining that their loved ones are no longer their loved ones.

Initially dismissive of these claims, Miles is forced to take notice when a strange featureless body is found in the basement of his friend's house. It seems that imposters are being grown out of giant sea pods, placed in people's homes who then replace the originals in their sleep. The pod people absorb all of the originals' memories, looks, and features. There's just one difference; they have no emotions. Night after night, more pod people are grown. As their allies dwindle, it's up to Miles and his girlfriend Becky to get out of Santa Mira and warn the world of the invasion, before the whole world becomes a race of emotionless pod people.

Don Siegel's direction builds suspense slowly, but relentlessly. I liked Siegel's vivid use of shadows. As the film goes on, we the audience feel almost as tired as Miles and Becky do in their efforts to flee the pod people and stay awake.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is notable for being a film that tapped into the general paranoia beneath the surface of America during the fifties. With the fear of communism high, many saw this film as depicting the invisible spread of communism many believed to be happening. Indeed, the depiction of pod people being put to work in the greenhouses and the authorities tracking down humans resemble how people perceived the Soviet Union; as an Agrarian society composed of emotionless people and a secret police to track down non-conformists. On the other hand, this film could just as easily be seen as an allegory on the McCarthy era. America during the 1950s was an ultra-conservative society; any left of center causes were considered to be "communistic". The way the police track down the still free thinking humans with the help of the pod people resembles the way organizations like Joseph McCarthy's senate committee and the House Un-American Activities Committee harrassed anyone suspected of being a Communist with the help of ordinary citizens.

But perhaps I'm looking too deeply here, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" can be seen as an allegory on any extremist ideology whether it be Fascist, Communist, or just simply the dangers of mindless conformity.

However you see this film, it is highly likely that you will be afraid to go to sleep after watching it. As Miles prophetically tells Becky, "I'd hate to wake up one day and find out that you were not you."

Rating:
Summary: Bashful's DVD Summary #020
Review: Best:

1) It's a great example of a B-movie that became a genre classic. That alone makes it worth a look.
2) It shows how black & white filming can add elements of creepiness that's hard to duplicate in color.
3) It still makes you think about the possibility of "pod people" alien takeovers in real life (especially when one of your friends starts acting strangely).

Worst:

1) Although it's great 1950's fare, it's still low-budget and the acting was generally period melodrama. Older folks will appreciate it more than young people.
2) Aside from a short interview with Kevin McCarthy (for a talk show sometime in the 1990's) there are no special features at all. That's a real shame for this one, being that it deserves more discussion.

Recommendation:

Lovers of great oldies rate this one highly for it's nostalgia value. Others, however, may find it a bit corny by today's standards. Regardless, it's a must-have for any serious sci-fi/horror movie collector.

Rating:
Summary: Have You Checked YOUR Basement For Pods?
Review: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is a gradually mounting nightmare. A creeping rumor that grows into an alien takeover before your eyes. Kevin Mcarthy is perfect as the town doctor who slowly sees what is happening bit by bit to the citizens. People are just not themselves, in a way it's hard to discribe. They look the same, yet they're different somehow. Mcarthy discovers the reason in the form of gigantic pods that have been deposited in homes all over town. These pods develop into perfect copies of the residents when they fall asleep. Can Mcarthy stop this invasion? Can anyone be trusted to help him? The paranoia builds to a grand finale of dread! IOTBS terrified me as a kid and had me both checking under my bed for pods, and trying to figure out if my parents were REALLY who they seemed to be. Highly recommended...

Rating:
Summary: Its OK
Review: The main character is the only guy in town who seems to know what's going on here. Did nobody else in the town realize what was going on and report it to the authorities??