Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an all time classic science fiction disaster film. It is in fact a remake of an older film of the same name made in 1956 which was in turn based on the novel by Jack Finney. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldbloom and Leonard Nimoy and was directed by Philip Kaufman.

Unusually for a remake it was very well received at the box office and is probably more famous than the original film; this is most likely due to the brilliant cast and their strong performances. Some viewers found the story moved along at quite a slow pace, however, this does help build the tension and the realisation of the enormity of the scale this invasion has.

Interestingly, only Kaufamn, W.D. Ritcher (who adapted the film) and Sutherland knew the actual ending, in the final scene when Sutherland screams and points at her Veronica Cartwright’s reaction of cold fear is genuine.

The two leads characters notice that more and more people around them are acting in an unusually emotionless way; and what are the strange pods everywhere? As the protagonists realise the fate of the human race is sealed they desperately try to escape being converted themselves.

Cinema release 1978

Certificate PG

Available on DVD