Don't sleep. Never go to sleep, because when you close your eyes, they come. They come and snatch your mind away. And, you never wake up. Your memories come to life in another body that looks like you, and acts like you, but it's not you. It's a pod-person from outer space who has reproduced himself as you. This is the terror of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, one of the most dystopian, and original, science fiction stories ever written.
The DVD includes a 1985 interview with Kevin McCarthy, who says he never thought the film had any symbolism or allegorical message. "That came later," he says. He quotes author Jack Finney as saying he [Finney] never wrote it that way. I saw this movie in 1956, it is likely the first movie I ever saw in a theater, and never felt then or now that it has any symbolic meaning. It's a scary story that flat out rocks, and I recommend you approach it as such.
But, this does beg the question of all those comments about the aliens who don't need love or any emotion, who believe humanity is better off without them. Why are they in the script, and what do they mean? I want to suggest they are what makes the pod-people scary. The notion of assimilation is inherently scary, of course, and one could argue that no embellishment is necessary, but I think the story as a story is weakened without it.
There is a continuity error in this story that has bothered me for more than forty years. Spoiler alert, just in case. In the final sequence, Becky falls asleep, just for a moment, and wakes up a pod person, but that's not how the assimilation takes place. They come at night during sleep and snatch human memories that are migrated into a copy of the original body. Miles speculates that the original body simply disintegrates, and the soul perishes. Becky should have died, and another Becky with her memories should have appeared, but that body should never have regained consciousness as a pod person or human. A minor nit, really, that bothers me less now that I understand it is a nit.
The original movie does not contain the opening scene at the hospital, or the epilogue, also at the hospital. They were added because the studio felt the original ending was too depressing. Some feel these additions do not work, but I am not one of them. They add considerably, in fact, to the power of this story. Miles' face in the closing scene is a vivid memory I've carried for almost half a century. His reaction is a catharsis for him personally and his audience. It's a powerful vicarious emotional experience, and the movie would be not nearly as good without it.
Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter are outstanding here. Wynter is one of the most beautiful women ever to appear onscreen and her first entrance is stunning. Jean Willes and King Donovan are good in supporting roles. This is one of the best pictures of its year, of its decade, and dare I say it, of all time. 9 out of 10.
The DVD includes a 1985 interview with Kevin McCarthy, who says he never thought the film had any symbolism or allegorical message. "That came later," he says. He quotes author Jack Finney as saying he [Finney] never wrote it that way. I saw this movie in 1956, it is likely the first movie I ever saw in a theater, and never felt then or now that it has any symbolic meaning. It's a scary story that flat out rocks, and I recommend you approach it as such.
But, this does beg the question of all those comments about the aliens who don't need love or any emotion, who believe humanity is better off without them. Why are they in the script, and what do they mean? I want to suggest they are what makes the pod-people scary. The notion of assimilation is inherently scary, of course, and one could argue that no embellishment is necessary, but I think the story as a story is weakened without it.
There is a continuity error in this story that has bothered me for more than forty years. Spoiler alert, just in case. In the final sequence, Becky falls asleep, just for a moment, and wakes up a pod person, but that's not how the assimilation takes place. They come at night during sleep and snatch human memories that are migrated into a copy of the original body. Miles speculates that the original body simply disintegrates, and the soul perishes. Becky should have died, and another Becky with her memories should have appeared, but that body should never have regained consciousness as a pod person or human. A minor nit, really, that bothers me less now that I understand it is a nit.
The original movie does not contain the opening scene at the hospital, or the epilogue, also at the hospital. They were added because the studio felt the original ending was too depressing. Some feel these additions do not work, but I am not one of them. They add considerably, in fact, to the power of this story. Miles' face in the closing scene is a vivid memory I've carried for almost half a century. His reaction is a catharsis for him personally and his audience. It's a powerful vicarious emotional experience, and the movie would be not nearly as good without it.
Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter are outstanding here. Wynter is one of the most beautiful women ever to appear onscreen and her first entrance is stunning. Jean Willes and King Donovan are good in supporting roles. This is one of the best pictures of its year, of its decade, and dare I say it, of all time. 9 out of 10.