BrianKoller's Full Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is an interesting, intelligently scripted film, particularly for a 1950s horror film. However, the melodramatic score, heavy-handed direction and hammy acting make it more of a comedy than it was intended to be.
The plot has a Dr. Binnell arriving to town after a vacation and encountering a rash of people claiming that their relatives are no longer themselves. Later, these same people recant. Gradually, Binnell comes to believe that these people are controlled by aliens and that they are after him as well.
This film asks the questions: What if the people
closest to you were suddenly different. What if
they had some secret and evil plan? What if they
wanted you to join them, even against your will?
While the plot has these people's bodies
possessed by alien pods from outer space, the
screenplay may be a thinly disguised jab at cold
war paranoia in the U.S., and the general belief
that communists were around every corner and out
to subvert the country. Since screenwriters as
well as actors were blacklisted (see Woody
Allen's "The Front") and lived in fear of losing
their jobs during the cold war, any protest that
a screenwriter made would have to be between the
lines.
The "pod people" in this film don't act like the
controlled zombies you would expect them to be,
except in the group scenes. Taken one by one,
they just seem to be bad tempered. Often they act
quite human. More consistency for "pod people"
behavior would have been an improvement, as well
as greater contrast in personalities between
those converted and those still alive.
Binnell, who has somehow remained single and
unattached all these years, meets old flame Becky
Driscoll, also unattached. They are a couple for
the rest of the film. This begs the questions:
Why does a sci-fi flick have to have a love
interest subplot? Why can't Binnell and Becky be
cast as happily married rather than just reunited
long lost lovers? Is a relationship only
considered interesting if it is brand new?
The studio wanted to soften the ending of the
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers", so they put
additional scenes at the beginning and end of the
film. It can be argued that tampering with the
director's concept ruins the film, but a three
minute scene added to an eighty minute film
cannot significantly affect its grade.
Petty criticisms aside, "Invasion of the Body
Snatchers" is a good and original film that
successfully explores the paranoia that sometimes
lurks within us all. (67/100)
Don Siegel's cult masterpiece interpreted as an allegory of both McCarthyism and Communism is undoubtedly one of the screen's most disturbing evocatio...More at Family Video
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