By Geno McGahee
I’m mostly familiar with the 1978 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS but had never seen the original, until now, and the approach of the 1950’s when it came to film always focused on the drama and suspense of it. This is the case with the 1956 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, a great suspenseful thriller that keeps increasing the tension minute by minute.
Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) arrives back home and meets up with his girlfriend, Becky (Dana Wynter) with the hopes of moving on with his life in a good way. Both he and Becky, both, have gone through divorces and are trying to build the one they are developing together. As they settle in, little strange things begin to happen.
Several people in the community are contending that relatives are no longer relatives. They insist that they look the same, know the same things, but are totally different. Something has happened. Bennell doesn’t know what to make of it but when he hears that there are a lot of these instances, he begins to think that something might be off and he’s not buying the mass hysteria explanation that Dr.Kauffman (Larry Gates) gave.
As I watched this, it became pretty clear that THE STEPFORD WIVES was influenced by this, taking various elements from it. From early on in the film, there is an ominous feeling of dread and I found myself hoping that Miles and Becky just left the town. Sure, a 20 minute version of the film where the main characters just run away might not be the classic this one became, but the tension was high.
Things get real when Jack (Jack Belicec) calls Miles with an emergency. When he arrives with Becky, they are greeted by Jack and his wife, Teddy (Carolyn Jones), and before letting them in, they try to prepare them for what they are going to encounter. Inside the house, lying on a pool table, is an incomplete human. Jack has no explanation but it fits into the stories that he’s hearing about potential human replacements. Upon closer examination, the body heavily resembles Jack. It is Jack’s replacement.
As Miles continues trying to figure it out, he worries about Becky and finds a duplicate of her in her father’s basement. When he brings the information to the police, they are quick to dismiss and the picture begins to come into focus. They are all in on it and now Miles, Becky, Jack and Teddy are looking to escape the town, but it won’t be easy.
The film pulls it into high gear as the entire town starts chasing down the remaining people not taken over. It is so intense. I found myself screaming “fucking alien cocksuckers.” Yes, it is probably not normal to scream that particular term…while alone…but those body snatching aliens weren’t nice dudes.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is incredible. It is well-written, suspenseful, and constantly cranking up the intensity with characters that are easy to rally behind. The only thing that I wasn’t overly sold on was the way it ended. Perhaps the 1978 ending of the INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS made my expectations too high, but despite the less than great finale of this, this film was tremendous and sits with you.
I highly recommend INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. It’s a near perfect film.
