Donald Sutherland

Brooke Adams

Leonard Nimoy

Jeff Goldblum

Veronica Cartwright

Art Hindle

Lelia Goldoni

Kevin McCarthy

Don Siegel

Tom Luddy

Stan Ritchie

David Fisher

Tom Dahlgren

Garry Goodrow

Jerry Walter

Maurice Argent

Sam Conti

Wood Moy

R. Wong

Rose Kaufman

Joe Bellan

Sam Hiona

Lee McVeigh

Al Nalbandian

Lee Mines

Robert Duvall

Michael Chapman

Philip Kaufman

Al Perez

Jeff Scheftel

Kevin Harris

Robert H. Solo

Douglas Stewart

W.D. Richter

Jack Finney

Mary Goldberg

Agnes Anne Rogers

Denny Zeitlin

Doug von Koss

Charles Rosen

Aggie Guerard Rodgers

Thomas R. Burman

Edouard F. Henriques III

Bob Westmoreland

Edie Panda

Alan Levine

John Nutt

Art Rochester

Ben Burtt

Bonnie Koehler

Russel Hessey

Dell Rheaume

David R. Ellis

Louis Niemeyer

Mary Elizabeth Still

Alice Tompkins

Science Fiction

Horror

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

United Artists

United States of America

Still one of the best alien invasion movies that exists. The newer ones tend to be about how many guns and explosions are needed to defeat the invaders, this one is a little different and has a strong cast and many moments of suspense that keep you interested. The dialog is perhaps weak in places and some areas do tend to drag at the start of the movie but thats all overcome later by the convincing characters and ever intriguing plot. It starts slow paced and almost doesn't give you enough information to work out exactly whats going on leaving it up to your paranoia and imagination to fill the void, this begins to change the movie into more of a horror with a scifi plot. The totally unforgettable ending will send chills down your spine and is one of the best cinematic endings I have ever seen. If you're all alone, at midnight and in the dark then stick it on but don't fall asleep...

When San Francisco is invaded by pod-people  

RELEASED IN 1978 and directed by Philip Kaufman, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" stars Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams as friends, Matthew and Elizabeth, who work at the Health Department in San Francisco. They increasingly suspect that people are somehow being duplicated and trace the problem to alien plant pods. Leonard Nimoy plays Matthew’s pop psychologist friend while Jeff Goldblum & Veronica Cartwright are on hand as a couple who run a mudbath parlour.

This could be viewed as a sequel rather than a remake. The entries in the series are as follows: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956); "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978); "Body Snatchers" (1993); and "The Invasion" (2007).

The first one is in Black & White and is probably too dated and tame for most modern viewers, but it's still worthwhile; it takes place in small town, California. This 1978 sequel switches the setting to the big city. The 1993 movie shifts to an army base in the deep south while the 2007 version switches back to the big city of Washington DC.

This rendition has a peculiar tone with a lot of the events taking place at night. There’s a subdued eerie and dreary air with paranoia morphing into conspiratorial and then ghastly reality. The 70’s atmosphere and cast are highlights, as is the score with its unnerving pieces. Brooke Adam’s has exquisitely sculptured facial features (eyes, nose, lips, teeth, chin, cheeks and forehead). The creepy pod-birthing sequence in the garden is cogently done.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 55 minutes and was shot in San Francisco. WRITER: W.D. Richter.

GRADE: B