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Article by Trey Paterson
In honor of the witching season, we’ll profile a new Halloween-centric title every day throughout the month of October.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS-1956
As a young boy I was not really a fan of scary movies. In large part this was due to my being far too easily frightened, and a rampant imagination that could conjure up monsters coming from any empty space that I could not see into. An episode of “The Twilight Zone” once had me terrified to enter any room without lights on. I don’t know at what point this changed for me, but it did, and some of the things that frightened me as a boy, became favorites of mine. Case in point, the 1956 film INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.
I first saw INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS when I was about 10 years old, right at the end of my being too frightened by movies-stage, and toward the beginning of my interest in classic sci-fi and horror movies (largely thanks to the Sci Fi Channel). I believe the film was on AMC. This was back when AMC was still a classic movie channel and rivaled TCM. I watched the movie on television, alone, in mid-afternoon, but it still scared me. Well, scared seems like the wrong word, it haunted me. I didn’t imagine the pod-people coming out of dark corners, or fear falling asleep or anything like that. It wasn’t a literal fear; it was the haunting fear of the ideas of the movie. It stayed with me for a long, long time.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS begins with small town doctor Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returning home from out of town business. Everything seems normal and idyllic in his sleepy little town, until a young boy runs across the street, narrowly avoiding getting hit by Miles’s car. After talking to the boy, Miles discovers that the boy was running from his mother, claiming that she was not really his mother. This proves to be only the beginning, as more and more of the townspeople come to Miles expressing fear that their loved ones aren’t really themselves. Though they may look exactly the same, have all the right memories etc., there is just something not quite right about them. It seems to be mass hysteria. But within a few days, the same townsfolk come back to Miles, and apologize for wasting his time with their silly paranoia.
Just as things seem to have blown over, Miles is called to his friend Jack’s house late one night. Jack nervously shows Miles what seems to be a dead body. The body is vague, like a mannequin, lacking detailed features, and has no fingerprints. Yet is seems to be a real human body. As the night continues Jack’s wife (Carolyn Jones the original Morticia Addams) is horrified to discover that the body is beginning to slowly but clearly resemble Jack, even down to a recent cut on his hand. From here, the story is off and running as Jack, his wife, Miles, and girlfriend Becky try to escape the horror that seems to have claimed everyone else in town.
The film was intended to have a dark, somewhat ambiguous ending, but the studio insisted on adding a framing device that would give a more positive ending, wherein the government discovers the truth, and calls in the Army. As a ten year old I found this ending to still be ambiguous. What could the Army do against this kind of invasion? How does that solve the problem?
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is generally considered a classic and for good reason. The film avoids using an over abundance of special effects to depict its alien invasion, which has helped it age well. The film has a real sense of tension, building dread throughout. The story and ideas are gripping, the movie is immensely entertaining, and because it was made in the 1950s, if you’re looking for a scary Halloween movie that you can watch with your kids (i.e. no gore, violence, sex, or profanity) this is an excellent choice. And even if you’re not looking for a family-friendly scare, this is still a great choice.
As with so many great scary films, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS has been remade, three times, most recently in 2007. The only INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS remake worth mentioning in the same breath of the original, is the 1978 version, directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Donald Sutherland. A fantastic example of what a remake can be when done right; it’s not just a good remake, but a good movie on its own.
The ’78 version takes what was great about the original, and not only maintains it, but builds on it. Shifting the action from a small town to San Francisco, the film expands the scope of the story, but maintains the intimacy of focus on its small group of main characters. The end is different, and completely unambiguous, but haunting none the less. With a cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and a truly awesome cameo by the original film’s star Kevin McCarthy, the 1978 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is a classic in its own right. Check out both versions if you’re fan of horror, science fiction, or film in general.
Note: The remake is a little less kid friendly; even though it’s rated PG there is a little bit of nudity towards the end of the picture.
COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN:
October 8th-“The Final Girls”–Click Here
October 7th-“Something Wicked This Way Comes”–Click Here
October 6th- “We Are Still Here”–Click Here
October 5th-“Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn”–Click Here
October 4th- “Phantom of the Paradise“-Click Here
October 3rd-“Poltergeist“-Click Here
October 2nd-“The Babadook“-Click Here
October 1st-“John Carpenter’s The Thing“-Click Here
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