Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
released 1956
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“Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” is an American, scifi, horror, mystery produced by Walter Mirisch and Walter Wanger and directed by Don Siegel. It was written by Daniel Mainwaring, Jack Finney and Richard Collins. It stars Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones, Jean Wills, Ralph Dumke, Virginia Christine,Tom Fadden, Kenneth Patterson, Guy Way, Eileen Stevens, Beatrice Maude, Jean Andren, Bobby Clarke, Everett Glass, Dabs Greer, Whit Bissell, Richard Deacon, Frank Hagney, Robert Osterloh and many more.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers IMDb webpage

“Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” is the story of an invasion, as the title suggests, in the small fictional, American town of Santa Mira, California where everything seems so picture perfect, life goes by so smoothly as if on rails. That tranquility of Santa Mira is soon disrupted after a psychiatrist Dr Hill from a town nearby visits a patient with a strange affliction. Dr. Miles Bennell, played by Kevin McCarthy, from Santa Mira soon starts to see surge in what looks like capgras delusion. The numbers of such cases reach mass hysteria proportions as the wheels of a strange transformation in the town are churning. As the cases of strange behavior mount Miles must figure out what is really going on and what to do about it.

“Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” Is a classic of American cinema if ever there was one. It straddles the scifi genre as well as the horror, action and mystery genres. Now it is worth mentioning that Hollywood at the time was sexist and racist and those problems do diminish a film but this is still a very good watch even after all these decades. There have been several adaptions made, like in 1978, but the first one is still the best, the most original. There are countless alien invasions stories but this was the first of its kind for moviegoers. The idea of a hidden, plant based invasion must have balled audiences back then over.

I loved the story, the hysteria of the main character, Miles and how it all happened in a small town where I´m sure nothing ever happens. The picture of a middle class from the 1950s is accurate but annoying to a more modern audience, for obvious reasons, but I guess you could say that it adds to the dated charm of the film. Yeah, people had no computers, cell phones or internet but they still managed to live their lives and run things. How did they do that? Go figure.

Let´s look at things from the alien life´s perspective. They are looking for a new home and it just so happens that one is floating by, within reach. Now the pods carry out their plan quickly, very quickly. That leads to a higher risk of discovery and being thwarted by their unaware hosts. What if the aliens carried out their plans over a longer time frame, say decades or even centuries? What kind of a story would that be? That sounds to me like a conspiracy styled tale of secret cults, hidden knowledge and powerful cabals. That sounds more like a TV series or miniseries though. Either way, it´s a great idea. In this day and age that´s all the rage.

Check out this old gem because it´s really worth the watch. It´s a classic.

John

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