Other Titles • Invasion of the Body Snatchers • Die Körperfresser kommen (1979) • Terrore dallo spazio profondo (1978)
Synopses for Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
1.
Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel has been the basis of three big-screen adaptations, beginning with the 1956 chiller Invasion of the Body Snatchers and most recently as 1994's underrated Body Snatchers. This acclaimed 1978 version from director Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff) is every bit as creepy as the '56 original, and it fits perfectly into the cycle of paranoid thrillers that thrived in American movies of the 1970s. Kaufman stylishly directs from an intelligent screenplay by W.D. Richter, while Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams lead a distinguished cast (including Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and Veronica Cartwright) and must fight for survival as the population of San Francisco is systematically cloned by alien "pods" from a distant, dying planet. The atmosphere of dread and paranoia grows increasingly intense as the complexity of the alien invasion is gradually revealed, until nobody can be trusted to be who they appear. Finely tuned performances enhance the film's eerie atmosphere, highlighted by moments that will lurk in your memory long after the movie's over. MGM's DVD release includes a full-length audio commentary by Kaufman, a "pod culture" retrospective, Body Snatchers trivia, production notes, and the original theatrical trailer. --Jeff Shannon
2.
In this remake of the 1956 cult classic, terror slowly and silently strikes San Francisco as the city is mysteriously covered by alien spores that produce strangely beautiful flowers. Unbeknownst to the people, the flowers are the bearers of alien pods that make a spiderlike webbing that captures their victims as they sleep and replicates their human form. Although they still look human, the victims are transformed into emotionless creatures by a strange race of aliens out to consume and control humanity--and only four people are left to stop them. Donald Sutherland stars as Matthew Bennel, a Department of Health inspector whose close friend and coworker Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) is overwhelmed by fear and paranoia when she begins to suspect her boyfriend, Geoffrey (Art Hindle), of no longer being human. Together, with their friends Jack (Jeff Goldblum) and Nancy (Veronica Cartwright), they are out to stop the bizarre alien invasion before they fall victim to the alien pods. Leonard Nimoy costars as Dr. David Kibner, a guru psychiatrist who might not be whom he seems. This haunting parable of human paranoia is a creepy glimpse of a city overrun with robotlike yuppies threatening to wipe out all of humankind. Sutherland gives a knockout performance as the leader of the last four humans left in San Francisco in this terrific blend of B-movie science fiction and modern terror.
3.
When filmy sprees fall from space and take root in San Francisco, the city is beautifully transformed by spectacular and exotic flowers. But these lovely extra-terrestrial blossoms have gruesome plans for their Earthly admirers: to slowly clone their bodies- and then dispose of the originals!
4.
In San Francisco everyone can hear Veronica (Alien) Cartwright scream. In the ultimate urban nightmare, to sleep is to die, to be replaced by a soulless alien duplicate. Less a remake of the 1956 classic of the same name, more a fresh vision of Jack Finney's source novel, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the archetypal story of humans supplanted by unemotional "vegetable pods". A masterstroke is the introduction of SF icon Leonard Nimoy as a very West Coast relationships guru determined to explain everything in terms of urban psychological alienation, and the story does prove more unsettling on the big city's forbidding streets. This is very much an ensemble movie, with outstanding performances from Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams, and what proved to be the first of several key genre roles for Jeff (The Fly, Jurassic Park, Independence Day) Goldblum. With minimal effects and very little gore, but filled with unnerving camera angles and a underpinned by a chillingly effective score, the film is relentlessly suspenseful, culminating in a sequence of terrifying set-pieces and a truly spine-tingling finale. More resonant with each passing year, the story was reworked in 1993 as Body Snatchers.
On the DVD: While the print is more than acceptable there is a loss of detail and some shimmering artefacts in the very dark scenes. The disc is not anamorphically enhanced, which really should be a standard DVD feature. Still, the picture is considerably ahead of VHS and the stereo sound is highly unsettling. An eight-page booklet gives an intelligent overview of all three Body Snatchers movies, and director Phil Kaufman's commentary is packed with information. --Gary S. Dalkin
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