BA_Harrison
Don Siegel's '50s sci-fi classic gets the '70s remake treatment, with Donald Sutherland starring as Matthew, a San Francisco health department inspector whose close friend Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) believes that her boyfriend Geoffrey (Art Hindle) has somehow been replaced by a duplicate devoid of emotion, and that others in the city are also not what they seem to be. Although sceptical at first, Matthew is convinced after he is called to examine a partially formed clone of his friend Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum). As more and more people are replaced by unfeeling doppelgangers, Matthew and his pals correctly surmise that the planet is under attack by aliens.Invasion of the Bodysnatchers is a lesson in how to do a remake properly: the film takes the basic premise of the original, but smart changes here and there keep things fresh and interesting (the most notable being the switch of location from a sleepy town to a major city). The result is a creepy, ominous and occasionally freaky film (the dog with the human head has haunted me for years) that is hugely enjoyable, even for those who are very familiar with the original. The movie also benefits from a terrific cast (Leonard Nimoy, as psychiatrist Dr. David Kibner, proves that there is more to him than a pair of pointy ears, and Veronica Cartwright is excellent as Jack's wife Nancy), an unusual but effective score, great special effects (courtesy of Tom Burman), and a well-developed sense of unease that really helps to crank up the tension.
ElMaruecan82
When the first "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" culminated with the image of Kevin McCarthy frantically alerting passing drivers that 'they' were coming', and the camera zoomed on his face with his fourth-wall breaking "You're Next!", I wished it was the point the film could fade out, it couldn't get any better or iconic than that. But the film was told in narration and we had to get back where we started and get a rather flat and uninspired happy ending. Don Siegel didn't intend to make a political allegory but wished it could end on that apocalyptic note, studio politics interfered. Those were the 50's... and thankfully, not the 70's. So when I started the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman, I knew similar mistakes wouldn't be made. What also enhanced my expectations is that I recently saw the two versions of "The Thing" and I thought John Carpenter transcended the low-budget B-movie feel of the original and made a moviein a league of its own. 1956 "Body Snatchers" was far superior to "The Thing" and the material even more promising because in the post-"Star Wars" era, the visual and sound effects had reached unprecedented levels of efficiency. Just like Carpenter or later Cronenberg, Kaufman didn't 'retell' as much as he enriched a story, amplified it.And it was the smartest move. Kaufman didn't ignore that viewers were familiar with the original concept: a small town, odd behavior, pod people spreading all over the territory. So the 'surprise' effect wasn't the priority, we knew what it is all about. But Kaufman doesn't care for the "what" but rather the "how". The opening credits, with the patience and meticulousness of a gardener, shows us the whole 'invasion', the way gelatinous alien creatures leave a planet at the verge of destruction to land on Earth, literally to be dropped on vegetation so that mysterious flowers with tentacle-like tendrils cover tree leaves. This is not only a triumph of special effects but a foreshadowing of the scenes that will show, step by step, and in growingly macabre detail the whole assimilation process. And then one of the flowers is picked up by health inspector Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) and the first to be affected is her husband. One day, he's cheerful, flirtatious, funny and cares about sports, the day after, he's dressed formally and doesn't let any emotion slip. We're confronted to the dramatic shift of personality, having a foretaste to these deceptive moments where characters we got used to got infected. Siegel told then showed, Kaufman shows then tells.One method isn't better than the other, each one fits the format of its respective film. The original starts with a mystery that can fit a small town, but San Francisco in the late 70's isn't obviously the likeliest place to spot these changes on a high scale... unless they escalate quickly. So, being more ambitious in terms of thrills and special effects, Kaufman had to get right to the point and once the suspicion is arised and Elizabeth's colleague and former boyfriend Matthew (Donald Sutherland) starts his investigation, the story picks up.And we get the cameo of Kevin McCarthy reprising his trademark role, warning drivers that they're still here. What happens to the man and the emotionless reaction of the onlookers leave no doubt that we're already in a critical situation and the countdown has started. There is just enough time to be introduced to the couple of friends played by Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy steals the show as the cheerful doctor ending all Mr. Spock at the end. And being aware that we expect new stuff, once the film gets too close to the original, Kaufman gets showy again in the "how" department. There is a moment that is too great for words, resembling that long close-up in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Matthew is sitting in the garden and slowly falls into sleep, his eyes keep open for such a while I thought the image was paused, and then he closes his eyes, and what we have is one magnificently repulsive creation or procreation moment, even more effective than "The Thing". Stop motion animation can be effective for practical effects involving quick and fast movements, but here we deal with vegetal livings and plants, their movements are smooth and slow and when a plant deflowered, the image was so disturbingly sexual I wasn't surprised by what came from it.The film features many moments like this that are both disgusting and scary yet visually hypnotic, one of the creatures start growing and moaning and then you realize it had a frizzy crop of hair, you've got to wonder if Sutherland's curly hair style wasn't chosen for that scene only. Kaufman gives the story a visual and scary edge, accentuating the level of horror and terror while the original was more in the realm of science fiction. And there's always this kinship with Carpenter's "Thing" in the way the horror is amplified, take that awful shrill sound whenever the pod people spots a human and point their fingers at him, just like pigs being slaughtered, take these awful jump scares involving dead, unfinished or "finished" bodies, hell, just take the ending. Of course, ending on a good mood would have been a bad move and Kaufman knew it. Personally, when I saw Mccarthy reprising his role, I knew Kaufman would be foolish to end with the same image with Sutherland, because it was too predictable and one tribute was enough, but gosh, I didn't expect it to end in such a horrific way. And when the most horrific part of a horror film is the end and it doesn't seem contrived or gratuitous, you know you've just had experienced high-art cinema. This is perhaps one of the greatest remakes ever because for all its replications, it had found an originality of its own.
