Something is a little bit odd about the residents of Small Town USA in Don Siegel's tale of paranoia at its most paranoid. The Good Doctor. Forrest Gump-esque run. X-ray. Insurance salesmen are shady, if you don't believe me watch the Fargo TV series. Pretend Uncle? Ultra sexy Becky Driscoll. Pretend Mommy? The Lawnmower Man. Danny the Shrink. Jukebox dancing. Jack doesn't look like Jeff Goldblum. Cuckoo clock. The ultimate John Doe. Morticia Addams? It's alive? I've heard that line before. Badass doctors smoke cigarettes. I'm sacred of creepy basements. Body double? Nick the Cop. If you don't want fingerprints, find some acid. The way Becky Driscoll looks in her jeans. Cellar dweller. Speedy recovery. Bootleg photosynthesis. I wish my…

You will be assimilated

This 1956 science fiction thriller has a cool concept and is even more interesting taking into account all of the societal pressures responsible for its conception. It is also one of the somewhat rare examples of a film that has a remake that was far superior to the original, typical of sci-fi as seen with The Fly and The Thing. Its analogies to the Cold War paranoia of Communism are easy to see. It is about creatures from outer space that can assume exact likenesses to those around you, making it very difficult to distinguish your friends from your enemies. Just like that Red Commie Menace. Old Mrs. Everett next door could very easily just be…

Doctor ‘smooth-as-fuck’ Miles is summoned back from the medical conference he was attending because of the stream of patients that wanted to speak to him in his general practitioner office. When he returns, every appointment is cancelled, people don’t seem to go to restaurants anymore and, strangest of all, a handful of people begin to withhold their loved ones for complete strangers - something which the town’s psychiatrist explains to be caused by some kind of mass hysteria epidemic. But Miles and his sexy love interest Becky aren’t so sure about that explanation and with some friends they attempt to solve the mystery themselves, stumbling upon a much more shocking truth: an invasion of body-snatchers! The plot summary almost sounds…

Don Siegel's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is a horror film with very little onscreen horror. Instead, the horror is that of idea and of suggestion. It is the creeping horror of paranoia, of the fear that you or your loves ones are not what they seem. This horrific idea flows through Siegel's film, effortlessly gripping any audience susceptible to these fears.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" follows Kevin McCarthy's Santa Mira, California doctor as he is faced with patients complaining of loved ones acting differently or not being themselves at all. When the doctor pokes around the phenomenon, he finds that his town is under siege by forces turning the townsfolk into emotionless, soulless shells of their former selves.…

"They're here already! You're next!"

I'm back on the Moviedrome wagon, with just six films to go before I've finished season 1. Up next is Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Don Siegel's sci-fi classic about people in a small town being replaced by alien impersonators. To say that it's been influential on the genre is something of an understatement, but I was curious to see how the movie itself would hold up.

As it turns out, Invasion of the Body Snatchers holds up quite well. Since most viewers know the premise going in, Siegel's direction and the ensemble's performances immediately force the viewer to suspect every town member, and pay attention to background actors for any hint of passivity in…

(DVD)

(B&W Version)
I’ve owned this on DVD for awhile and finally popped it in tonight. I can see now how it is the known classic that it is.

What an excellent horror / sci-fi film and film in general. I was instantly impressed from the beginning. This has got great structure to it and the story and characters are a thrill to follow. The growing sense of paranoia, dread and fear is done with such control, the film almost seems ahead of its time in so many ways.

I can at times find it harder to get into older films when I do sit down to watch them but this genuinely held my interest from beginning to end. The…

Hooptober #2

Science fiction and film noir make the best mixture, I tell you what. This came at a time terrified of infiltration and forcibly becoming conformed, and the status of the previous utopian decade changing. It almost feels like the beginnings of the swan song of the era before the creative outlast and explosion of the 60s, which is kind of ironic since the characters fear the loss of love and expression, the two very things that change would bring about the following decade. While their fears of communist take overs would never come to fruition, and McCarthy wouldn't force us all into his version of conformity, all the other changes are ones we can be mostly glad for.…