Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

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nInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

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nDirector: Phillip Kaufman

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nCast: Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams,nVeronica Carthwright, Leonard Nimoy

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nThere have been three remakes of the original Invasion ofnthe Body Snatchers (1956). The first one was this Phillip Kaufman version I’llnbe reviewing today, then there’s Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers (1993) which Inwill be reviewing soon, then there’s The Invasion (2007) which strangely enoughnwas as devoid of emotion as the aliens it was depicting, don’t even bother withnthat one. But I decided to revisit this 1978 version because I had not seen itnsince I was a child and wanted to see what I could get out of it now as annadult because my original reaction to it as a kid was one of pure fright. Thenidea that these aliens were trying to turn us into something we are not frightenednme immensely, my reaction was a visceral one; I hated these aliens with nonpersonality and emotions. But back then I was simply a scared little kid, frightenednby these notions, my reaction was based on fear, I didn’t really see the themesnbehind the film, or what the filmmakers where really trying to say, to me itnwas just a freaky movie. Upon my re-watch I discovered that this film is stillnfreaky, still highly effective as a horror/sci-fi hybrid, and filled withnsocially relevant issues. How did the film fare this time around, from an adultnperspective?

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nInvasion of the Body Snatchers is all about these aliennspores that make it to our planet by traveling through space. I loved how thendirector decided to film the opening sequences by using footage of micronorganisms (I have no idea what they really were) and made it look like theynwere the alien organisms infiltrating our planet. So anyways, these aliennorganisms arrive to our planet and attach themselves to plants which grow intonthese giant pods from which half formed humanoid beings pop out of. They waitnuntil you are asleep and then try to duplicate you. After they do, your bodyndecomposes and turns to dust, and then the duplicate takes over. The duplicatenlooks like you in every way save for one significant difference; you are now anbeing devoid of emotion! The main characters in the film realize this isnhappening and attempt to runaway in order to retain their humanity. But how farncan they run before the pod people catch them?  

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nInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the first film tonbring Jack Finney’s book to life was made during the 50’s, when Russians enemiesnto the Americans, so if we look at it within that context, the aliens probablynrepresented communism, which believe it or not was actually spreading itself rathernquickly throughout the united states. During those years, there was such anthing as a ‘communist party’ in America. Communists numbered in the manynthousands and where growing strong! The workers unions all got together tonfight for their rights, and many of these workers were foreigners withncommunism as their way of life. So of course Americans were trembling in theirnpants, capitalism as a way of life was in peril! So it’s safe to say that wencan see the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers as an allegory for that, anmetaphor for the ever spreading ‘menace’ nof communism, which threatened the American way of life. Was this 1978nversion addressing these same fears? Or was it about something else?

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nWell yes, this time around, instead of aiming its guns atncommunism, this version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is all about “losingnour humanity”, a theme that is emphasized all throughout the film. The main charactersnare fighting for their right to retain their memories, the right to feel, thenright to retain what makes them human. This theme brought to mind George Orwell’sn1984, which is a novel about a totalitarian government that prohibits all formsnof emotions. Everyone dresses the same; no one is more special than the other.nIn this novel everyone is loyal to the all powerful, ever watching government.nIf you go against them, someone will rat on you. And when this happens, you willnend up paying for your betrayal to the all knowing ‘Big Brother’. Individualitynis not encouraged in Orwell’s novel. But the main characters always fight fornit, even if it means death. Well, this version of Invasion of the BodynSnatchers is not all that different from Orwell’s novel. The aliens want you tonbe like them, or else. They are a race of beings who don’t show any emotion atnall, if you show emotion the point at you and give this other worldly scream innorder to alert all other aliens that you are not one of them. So this of coursencreates an intense feeling of paranoia amongst the humans who live in constantnfear of getting caught. The paranoia is extremely palpable in this movie; it’snone of those movies where the whole town is in on something, something that youndon’t want to be a part of. I drew similarities with Invaders from Mars, a filmnthat plays with similar themes. 

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nBecause this film was made in the 70’s, everything feels morenreal somehow. There’s no color filters, no computer effects, this is a filmnthat comes from an era when they actually shot movies with film and a cameranand real actors instead of CGI doubles and color correction. I love how the effects are entirely practical, so visceral, palpable. There’s even some gore in there! This film feels grittynand realistic; something I wish modern films would go back to. Even the actorsnare adult, which is something you don’t see a lot of these days either, nowadaysnmost films only use young people. Yet during the tail end of the 70’s films werenway more adult oriented. The actors seen in most films were adults, not teens,nnot twenty- somethings. Speaking of actors, this film has an awesome cast!nDonald Sutherland,  Jeff Goldblum,  Brooke Adams and Veronica Cartwright all do ansplendid job of displaying fear. Even Leonard Nimoy is hear playing anpsychologist! By the way, be on the lookout for cameos by Robert Duvall as ancreepy looking priest, director Phillip Kaufman and even Kevin McCarthy, thenmain actor from the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)!

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nSo yeah, closing statements on this film is that it’s solid,nstill creepy and filled with copious amounts of paranoia! It is also considerednone of the best remakes ever, some even think that it’s better than the originalnbecause it takes the concepts presented on the original and improves them andneven takes them to places that the first film never went, which is always ansign of a good remake. The worst thing you can get is a remake that plays outnexactly the same way the original did. So I guess this one can be placed in thensame pantheon of awesome remakes as The Fly (1986), The Thing (1982) and Nightnof the Living Dead (1990). Be on the lookout for subtle hints of paranoia throughoutnthe film. I mean, right from the very beginning, little things happen that letnyou know something is not quite right with people. The creepiest thing aboutnthis film for me is how fast the aliens spread, how effectively they organizenthemselves and spread their pods, you get this feeling that the aliens arenoverpowering, that they are in fact an unstoppable force which we cannot dealnwith and simply have to give into. A frightening idea indeed!

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nRating: 5 out of 5

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