Never Too Old To Have Your Body Snatched

It's weird why some important or major movies have passed me by. I've still yet to see Grease or The Sound Of Music, but I intend to check them out when I can muster the enthusiasm. Far more surprising is why I've left it until now to see the 1978 remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. I'm not sure why but I'm very glad to have discovered it now.

The remake is directed with an experimental art-house vibe by Philip Kaufman who enriches the story of the classic 1956 original (love original stars Kevin McCarthy cameo). The suspense in this version isn't from whether there are aliens or not (that's answered in the opening frames) but from how fast our heroes will wise up to the fact they're being replaced by extra-terrestrials in their sleep, before trying to stop it, or escape from it. There's a great slow build to the film which gives the audience hope that the threat will be quashed quickly... but that gradually gives way to the snowball effect of the replaced population becoming the dominant intelligent species in San Fransisco.

The Commie threat of the original is subverted into a commentary about the brainwashing effects of our own capitalist society, whether that's from consumerism (as referenced by Leonard Nimoy's book sales) to mistrust of government itself (the alien seed pods are distributed from The Department Of Health). Although it came several years before John Carpenter's classic The Thing, this almost feels like a logical sequel to that film (aliens duplicating people to take over the Earth).

Great effects, excellent cast, a disturbing tone and a fantastic, dystopian ending, this is one film I regret not having seen earlier.