When I was about 15 years old, my dad worked up a list of several classic movies he thought I needed to see. Among these were films such as Cool Hand Luke and The Great Escape. There weren’t many scary movies on the list, but this one was actually close to the top of it. At the time I was a little bit cynical of “old” stuff. I had a stupid kid’s opinion that the special effects wouldn’t measure up and that it was all just cheese and dudes in monkey costumes. My life changed when I sat down with my dad and watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I think this film is responsible for hatching my love of scary movies in general. Before Invasion, they were just cool. After Invasion, they were, or at least could be, important.
Tonight we’ll actually be discussing two movies: the original Invasion from 1956 and the 1978 remake. There have been later versions but either I heard they were no good or there were two excellent films already so I didn’t care. Either way, I haven’t seen them.
Let’s talk about the ones I have seen, shall we?
You know how there were scenes in A Nightmare on Elm Street that made your eyes burn? That’s what happens when you really want to close your eyes but you can’t because if you do, you’re finished. Nightmare does that in a few scenes, Invasion does that through the whole movie. It really leaves you feeling exhausted, but scared to sleep.
The story centers around a small-town doctor who begins receiving reports from townspeople that their loved ones are emotionless and distant- that they’ve been replaced by exact physical duplicates. As he investigates this strange mass-hysteria, he and a few friends discover the truth- that an extra-terrestrial invasion is under way and that the invaders are replacing humans as they sleep. More and more people are turned until the protagonists no longer know who may or may not still be human, even among themselves, but they cannot rest because to sleep means certain death.
This is a truly frightening film and if you read enough reviews you will be told about all sorts of allegory and political stuff and how it was fitting for the times, etc. All of that is well and good and certainly true, but we aren’t here to talk about any of that. Is it scary? Does it hold up? Is it good? The answer to these questions is YES! This film is truly scary with no violence, no gore, and no special effects of any kind.
The Pod people will get you. They don’t have to hurry and they don’t care what you do in the meantime. Because eventually you will fall asleep.
So when you have the perfect horror film, it almost demands to be remade. So, in 1978 they remade it. And it, too, was awesome.
The remake follows an almost identical plot except that the story happens in San Francisco instead of a small town. Other than locale, it’s the same thing: Pod People replace you as you sleep.
So, what about the remake? It’s really, really good, it’s really scary, and it holds up too.
You know what I said up there about the original not having any violence or gore or any special effects? Yeah, not so much with this one. But in a rare form of filmmaker wisdom, they realized that the source material didn’t need to be “re-imagined” or improved upon. No, they stayed very true to the original; even going so far as to have multiple cameos from cast members and the director of the first film. The special effects and whatnot actually enhance this film. Late 70’s films, especially horrors were pretty hard-boiled and the embellishments were appropriate for audiences of the time. They explored the same ideas from the original in more detail and every bit of it worked to instill the same sense of hopelessness and exhaustion. And there was this guy:
I don’t think Donald Sutherland has ever been more frightening, though he has made a career of trying, than in the final scene of Invasion of the Body Snatchers:
So, that’s what I recommend you watch on your next movie night. Both films are excellent, both are considered classics, and both are genuinely frightening films. I highly recommend both of them.
Scarydad Review:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) ***** Five out of Five stars
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) **** Four out of Four stars
