Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Star Review

"They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next..."
Seeds hurled through space have taken root in a farmer's field, and one by one they hatch, disgorging replicas of the townsfolk who promptly kill the originals. Only brave Dr Bennell and his old flame, Becky Driscoll are free to tell their tale … but who will listen?
Tense, masterfully paced and unexpectedly disturbing, this is 1950s paranoia at its very best. As well as being an allegory for the creeping Communist threat, it also evokes the nightmare of small-town conformity; some have even seen in the pod people’s relentless harassment of our heroes parallels to McCarthyism.
One after another, the townsfolks’ minds and memories are stolen in their sleep, to be planted inside their vegetative doppelgangers. Stripped of all desire, ambition and faith, they retain their characters and their mannerisms - but not their souls. As the replications take root, director Don Siegel moves his camera steadily back, revealing the townsfolk marshalled like ants, and the horrific impossibility of escape. As the net draws ever closer around our heroes, the freedom they come to value above all others is the right to feel emotion; to love and be loved, and it is their relationship that gives the film its heart and its tragedy.
Apart from the pulsating, foaming pods, the action is light on special effects and sci-fi trappings; the pod people do not behave like crazed zombies; there is no Machiavellianism to their evil, only unnerving obedience. The terror comes from the nightmare of being unable to sleep, knowing that, if you do, a giant vegetable will wake up wearing your face.
Available for the first time on DVD in the UK, the film is also available as part of a 7-disc box set, which features a raft of 50s sci-fi classics, including The Thing from Another World, The Incredible Shrinking Man, This Island Earth, The Creature from The Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space and Tarantula.

Milo Wakelin on 11th September 2007

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Film Description

The quintessential fifties sci-fi movie in which the town of Santa Mira is invaded by alien pods capable of replicating humans and possessing their identities. A paranoid thriller that was widely interpreted as an allegory of Communist infiltration, Siegel's film still creates an intensely claustrophobic atmosphere punctuated with shocking moments.

Based on Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers, the film's unnerving message is that the enemy is among us and broadly indiscernible from those that we consider our friends.

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The superb evocation of a universal primal fear. Four friends discover the world has been invaded by aliens, who duplicate perfectly neighbours, friends, children and ... more >

The superb evocation of a universal primal fear. Four friends discover the world has been invaded by aliens, who duplicate perfectly neighbours, friends, children and family. And do so with a total lack of malice that is in itself quite terrifying. Featuring uncredited dialogue and a cameo by Sam Peckinpah, this can be read as anti-red tract or anti-McCarthyism with equal (and telling) plausibility. < less

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Film Details

Cast

Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter

Technical Details