Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – Review

Invasion of the Body Snatchers – 1978 – Sci-Fi, Horror

Directed by: Philip Kaufman
Written by: W.D. Richter
Main Players: Donald Sutherland; Brooke Adams; Jeff Goldblum; Veronica Cartwright; Leonard Nimoy; Art Hindle; Kevin McCarthy; Don Siegel

Invasion 1978

Do you consider it true that if you think you are losing your mind, then you aren’t? What if someone you knew intimately was suddenly acting strangely? What if on the inside, there was something missing… emotions, feelings, and it was just not the same person you knew? Was this change real, or were you overreacting?

Well, in this movie’s case, there is a distinct lack of crazy, and the paranoia is likely real. Floating in on solar winds, alien spores have landed on earth and begun to take over via growing odd “pod people” and taking over human consciousness.

Health Inspector Matthew Bennell (Sutherland) diligently digs for rat turds in a French restaurant, meanwhile, Elizabeth Driscoll (Adams) is noticing her boyfriend Geoffrey (Hindle) is acting more than strange: he dressed in a suit, he is remaining calm and composed, is ignoring sports and is taking out the trash. What begins as a mostly normal day starts turning quickly as more and more odd events occur.

As Matthew and Elizabeth go out to Dr. David Kibner’s (Nimoy) party with friends Jack (Goldblum) and Nancy Bellicec (Cartwritght), debates continue to strike out over strange behavior around the city lately. Paranoia turns into panic as alien motivations are revealed, and anyone still human tries to stay that way. Fear runs strong, as does distrust.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers from the late 70s is more of a re-imagining, or a furthering of the story set-up in the 1950s original. It’s not really a sequel, nor is it really a remake, but it still fully works. It continues similar ideas, and moves the small-town setting of the original into a bustling and busy city. The results are the same, as the story is truly creepy, and makes you wonder what you would do. It may be a tad long, but explores additional material not in the original also.

See This If You Liked:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978); The Thing from Another World; The Thing (1982); Night of the Living Dead (1968); They Live; The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951); Bug; Slither

Score:

7.0

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