Invasion Of the body Snatchers (1978)

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, released in 1978, starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy, is a remake of the 1956 classic film, which was based on the novel by Jack Finney. The original 1956 film, reasonably follows the events of the novel, but this version drifts far from the events of the novel, and stands more as its own work. The directors intention was to build upon the original film, and to re-imagine the film, and the director hadn't even read the book when he decided to make the film. The film also features many cameos from the likes of Robert Duvall, Don Sigel (director of the original film), Kevin McCarthy (one of the stars of the original film), as well as banjo parts written by Jerry Garcia. Overall the film has been hailed as a science-fiction/classic, and some have even sited it as one of the greatest films of the genre. As an adaptation it is terrible, but as an original work it is a great film, taking the source material more as inspiration, or suggestion rather than attempting to make a film of the source material. The film tries to tell the story of, what if, the "pod people" were to land in a major city like San Francisco rather than a small rural community, and I feel it does a reasonably good job at that premise. In the film the pods are created by an alien spore, that came to the earth through the vastness of space, and that they replicate the human host, turning the original person into an empty husk. The special effects of the film, were all done with practical effects, and were all created live on camera. There are also a lot of use of creative camera shots to create the disorienting feeling of the film. The film also aimed to capture the film noir feeling of the original, and they tried to do that through different camera shots and shadows. Overall it is a very beautiful film, that is artistically done and creative. I like that the film uses traditional methods of horror rather than relying on gross out method that films of this time were starting to use. The horror created is a more psychological horror rather than a visual horror, it is the horror of the monster that looks like us, rather than the one that looks like a monster. The film is also timely in that it was released soon after the Jonestown mass suicide, according to director Kaufman on the film's 40th anniversary: "That was a case of a lot of people from San Francisco, were looking for a better world and suddenly found themselves in pod-dom, and ti was fatal. I could not have been a more pointed reason for watching the movie." The film deals with the concept of individualism vs. conformity. The individual feels emotions, love, and passion, where the "pod-people" are all conformed to the sameness and have no need for those emotions. The main characters are fighting to keep their humanity and individuality. These are concepts that are common in literature and film, these are concepts that many of us contemplate as we are sent to schools, churches, and other institutions as children and taught to conform to societal norms, but how much conformity is too much, and at what point do we start losing our humanity and becoming like the pod-people. The cast was all perfectly cast, and everyone played their roles wonderfully, especially Brooke Adams who I feel was perfect for her role. Leonard Nimoy, played perfectly the infuriatingly obtuse psychologist, who refuses to actually listen to the people who are telling him about what is happening, he plays the role so perfectly that it is easy to hate the character. Jeff Goldblum's character is fun, he is a conspiracy theorist/poet, and is one of the most humorous characters in the film.

Would I recommend this film? Yes, this is another film that should be on everyone's to-watch lists. This is a classic sci-fi/horror film, that is really well done and thought provoking. Overall this version of the film is really well done and stands on its own very well. Some state that this film stands more as a sequel to the original film, while others call it more a re-make, and others a re-imagining, either way the film stands on its own very well, and is separate from the book and the original film and on its own is a beautiful work of cinematic history. So if you ever get a chance to see this classic film, don't miss that opportunity. It still stands as one of my favourites. This is also one of the films, that Stephen King mentions in his book Danse Macabre, as well as the novel that the film was based on, as one of the great classic works of horror.