Critics have always screamed 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers as an allegory against McCarthyism blindness at the time, but I only see that if I really bend over backwards to make the connection; unlike 1986’s “The Fly” as an allegory for AIDS devastation, the connection there was easy to see. Heck, 1978’s “Invasion” was a clear-cut allegory on New Age conformity and how the so-called maximization of human potential was to band together in groups. Themes aside, the most shocking thing about this classic original is that it takes place at a time when Kevin McCarthy’s caring doctor will actually see and evaluate patients pro bono without first asking for a PPO insurance card. It becomes terrific ham-and-cheese overacting…

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…

✅80%

 The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. I'm not sure it will ever be able to figure itself out. Everything else maybe, from the atom to the universe. Everything except itself.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a classic and iconic piece of sci-fi horror. This looked like a really fun horror film and I hadn’t seen a Halloween film from the 50s yet. This was basically every thing I expected it to be, it’s a surprisingly thought provoking film though. The plot is great it’s a classic and entertaining story. The idea of friends and family being taken over by aliens but looking the exact same is terrifying. It’s sort of a metaphor when you dig deep…

Geoff T's Hoop-Tober 6.0 Challenge
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

The 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a personal favourite of mine, but it’s earlier version had curiously evaded me for years, until now. While I can't deny my love for its remake, this 1956 original surprisingly (for me, at least) manages to be just as brilliant on its own merits, if not better in some ways, if not better. A widely intense sci-fi shocker that holds up better than most.

Santa Mira, California is an ordinary American town undergoing a very unordinary phenomenon, in which people are convinced that their friends and family aren't who they appear to be (or the 'Capgras delusion'). Dr. Miles Bennell is…

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…

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.…

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…

It'd been years since I last saw this, and although (of course) I remembered the story's loose outline, many of the smaller details startled me. A few thoughts on that:

• It looks and sounds exactly like top-shelf film noir! The sequences where Miles and Becky flee from "the police" are especially reminiscent of movies like Detour or Dark Passage, and even James Wong Howe could hardly have improved on all the headlights and flashlights slicing through the night. The film's photography progressively hems in its remaining human characters, penning them first in Miles' office, then beneath the slats of a mineshaft floor. Invasion is among the leanest, most suffocating nightmares in all of cinema.

• What if you didn't…

HoopTober #26 (4/6 Decades - 1950s)

I always thought "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was a poor title. Take this 1956 version for example. It's quite noir-ish, with a mystery element to it, but by nature of it's title, we already know what has happened.

It's a bit of a shame actually because the movie is great in the early stages where things are beginning to seem strange and yet its unexplained. Is it all nonsense? Is it delusion? Or is there a strange medical phenomenon occurring?

I love the beginning of this film, where Dr Bennell is going about his days in Santa Mira, but just the smallest things seem slightly off, and how that begins to escalate as…

On a purely superficial level invasion of the Body Snatchers has an interesting premise. The idea of friends and loved ones becoming something else entirely is disturbing. But I can't say the political subtext holds up under a modern viewing. FYI this film is impossible to review without getting political so be warned.

I had forgotten that this film was produced during the McCarthy era, and it makes total sense upon reflection. The fear of friends turning on friends was incredibly timely but I feel that it will come across differently to a modern audience. Dr. Bennell (who ironically is played by an actor named McCarthy) finds himself in new world where he no longer belongs, surrounded by people he…