Invasion of the Body Snatchers

  When creating my schedule for the first six months or so of this endeavor (I’m scheduled through the end of 2020, with a handful of 2021 films scheduled) I knew I wanted to visit one of the Invasion of the Body Snatcher films (none of which I’ve seen) but I wasn’t sure which. I knew that the ‘78 version is probably the most well-regarded, but I’m kinda anal about watching things in the order they were released (and I’ll be having a lot of 70s/80s films in the coming months) so I decided to explore the original.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers was written by Daniel Mainwaring (The Big Steal, This Woman is Dangerous), directed by Don Siegel (The Killers, Dirty Harry) and was based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released on February 5th, 1956 but was largely ignored by critics at the time. However, over the years it has been reviewed extremely positively and has been remade three times (with a fourth reportedly in development). Invasion of the Body Snatchers was made for a budget of $416,911 and grossed approximately $3,000,000 (though, as per usual with some of these older films, an exact number is hard to come by).

Famously, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is about a town in which the residents are being covertly replaced by alien duplicates (or “pod people”). The town doctor Miles (Kevin McCarthy) discovers the plot and attempts to escape the town with a small group to warn the outside world of the invasion.

I quite enjoyed watching this film, it’s relatively straightforward and some of the acting is a little over-the-top but it’s fun nonetheless. The strength of the horror lies largely in creating a real sense of paranoia throughout and the film largely succeeds. It’s not at all surprising that the film was made during the height of McCarthyism, despite the claims by creators that it’s not allegorical (it totally is). Unfortunately the film is a little too simplistic in its approach and doesn’t ever take its premise far enough.

The biggest misstep in the film is the framing device, in which Miles is telling the story to someone in another town. In the end he is believed and the FBI is called, implying a happy ending. It felt very out of place with the tone of the rest of the film and, unsurprisingly, was included at the insistence of the studio who were wary of the bleaker ending intended. 

Ultimately Invasion of the Body Snatchers is fun enough, but never quite lives up to the potential of its premise. I’m excited to visit some of the other adaptations to see how they handle the subject matter.

Rating: 3.5 pod people out of 5

Other Observations

• Does the Dog Die? No animals are killed.

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: The reveal that Jack (King Donovan) has been replaced is really effective. 

• The dress that Becky (Dana Wynter) wears in her first scene is GORGEOUS!

• Next Week: Let’s travel to Russia and check out Viy.