Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

   
Directed by: Phillip Kaufman

Written by: WD Richter

Starring:

Donald Sutherland .... Matthew Bennell
Brooke Adams .... Elizabeth Driscoll
Jeff Goldblum .... Jack Bellicec
Veronica Cartwright .... Nancy Bellicec
Leonard Nimoy .... Dr. David Kibner
Art Hindle .... Dr. Geoffrey Howell D.D.S.


Special Appearances:


Lelila Goldoni .... Katherine Hendley
Kevin McCarthy .... Running Man

Release Date: Theatrical: December 20, 1978

 

 

Rating:

 

Filmy spores from outerspace lands on Earth in San Francisco from a rainstorm and then turns into some sort of exotic flowers.
At first people think they are beautiful looking but these flowers have gruesome plans for their earthly admirers as they slowly clone their bodies and then dispose of the originals.
A couple named Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) and Dr. Geoffrey Howell (Art Hindle) are also fascinated by the flowers but suddenly Elizabeth is noticing some not so nice changes in Geoff's behavior.
She goes to the aid of health inspector and friend Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) about this issue and they encounter people behaving strangely.
Suddenly they are fighting for their lives as the people they even trust are turning into these clones.

 

There's an interesting opening with a planet of things floating in space heading to Earth and then a rain storm happens and suddenly the particles from outerspace forms into flowers as the flick shows good shots of all this as well as neat effects.
Well focused situations on kids playing at a playground as well as spotting a preacher on a swing as the moments here looked strange and mysterious. These moments looked wonderfully well done while we spot Elizabeth Driscoll walking on her way home in which all of this drew me in while watching all of this unravel.
Then I spotted an effective scene that involves both her and Dr. Geoffrey Howell D.D.S. when he acts strangely and Elizabeth doesn't know how to cope with this. This adds more mysterious moments to the plot as I got a feeling that he has been a victim to what happened from outerspace. I wanted to watch more to see what will happen later on.
Impressive scene when our main health inspector Matthew Bennell goes to a kitchen of a restaurant and has the place busted as this was well focused for whom he was talking to.
Nicely focused in moment when Elizabeth talks to Matthew Bennell abour Geoffrey and not acting himself as well as talking to strange people in which there's nice brief flashbacks on this as this looked clever for a mysterious creepy moment in which it made me think that he is a clone by what was going on.
I loved the other moments when Matthew goes to his local drycleaner store and the owner discusses to him that his wife is not herself as this drew me in thinking that the terror is building up which works in perfectly.
We see a good discussion sequence between Matthew and Elizabeth together while driving in a car and suddenly a man runs in front of them which is a little startling acting paranoid that something is coming. This moment nearly made me jump as this is a nice pointer on breaking the still moments. We also see a great shot of others running and police cars and amublance's charging in the street. This for sure looked spooky to watch and a classic moment in the story.
We have a bit of an intense moment at a bookstore that involves both Dr. David Kibner and Katherine Hendley
crying acting out of control on what is going on. This moment seemed necessary due to what she was talking about as well as him being closed minded by not believing her.
A scene that stuck in my mind was a mud bath parlour with Nancy Bellicectdoing a body rub on a burly in which this was a scene that was hard to forget as well as some strange moments with customers hanging out there which makes you wonder if something creepy will unravel.
There's a great shot on Nancy Bellicect in a mud bath parlour when she spots a duplicate body with their eyes closed which looked spooky to watch as well as what this object does and a great close up shot on this as this was a nice surprising moment that will freak you out when you spot this moment.
Then we spot a good moment with Matthew sleeping in a chair and some fur suddenly wraps around his wrist and a giant flower is poking towards him forming several duplicates of himself as that is one of the scariest moments of them all and the best scene in the film too. This moment had very good special effects which still stands out in today's standards.
More spooky moments when Matthew calls the police and the person on the other line already knows his name as this almost has a Twilight Zone type of vibe to this moment knowing that he's in danger.
Perfect moment when Matthew, Elizabeth and Nancy pretend to be emotionless in order to survive but the silent moment breaks when a dog appears towards them as it's face isn't what you'd think it is as this psyched me out while spotting this too. Great bizarre horror timing. We also see great chasing scene's between Matthew and Elizabeth from the townspeople.
Perfect scenery with Matthew spying on people on a freighter with locals transporting seed pods as well as great action moments on him causing some explosions which was exciting to watch.
There's also a great scene with Elizabeth naked in some bushes speaking emotionless towards Matthew which also looked incredibly spooky to watch.
More suspenseful moments with Matthew trying to run and hide from the people after him as well as someone trying to shine a flashlight to see if they can find him which will make you cringe wondering if he will be found.
Niely done moment when Matthew is discovering the local town the next day with kids entering a schoolbus and sorts as well as some people carrying seed pods and things seem different which offered nice timing by making these moments look incredibly strange now that the world has changed.
Bottom line is that this remake was considered a better classic but however the story is a little rushed and hard to understand at first but yet is still enjoyable to watch for what it was. It is indeed an unsolved mystery at first but the pieces slowly come together towards the end of the film plus it was dark with very little humor in it unlike alot of horror films that you see.

The acting is terrifically well done with great energy involved. Donald Sutherland (Matthew Bennell) deserves a gold star as a health inspector and portrays his character very believeable. He offered a nice charming and witty attitude as well as getting to the point with stuff too. He for sure shows off a nice lighthearted behavior for whenever he had to behave this way. Shows a ton of energy and adrenaline when trying to survive the madness in which he made this attitude look totally believeable.
Brooke Adams
(Elizabeth Driscoll) does well playing opposite of him as a scared victim running away from these duplicates taking over the town. Offers a very concerned type of behavior as well as perfectly fearful too. She knew on how to cry or act emotionally frightened. Offers a nice versatality near the end of her performance acting creepy and mysterious.
Jeff Goldblum
(Jack Bellicec) had the most energy as with his role being believeably hyperactive trying to find out why this madness is happening. He knew on how to behave highstrung as well as acting aggressive and at times obnoxious whenever necessary. Really drew to the point with his role that he portrayed.
Veronica Cartwright (Nancy Bellicec) shows a nice calm and mellow type of behavior in which she pulls this off pretty well as a nice type of personality. She also does a great job with her lung power after spotting something terrifying as well as showing good fearful expressions too. Shows a good fearful type of behavior in which she always did a good job while behaving this way. Shows alot of good energy and spunk into her part.
Leonard Nimoy
(Dr. David Kibner) proves he can play another type of Doctor than Spock in Star Trek and pulls his character so differently and is good at being untrustworthy in his part. He knew on how to get to the point with what he was talking about as well as being short with what he does. Added alot of charisma within whatever he did here. Seemed to have a real effective supporting role.
Supporting actor Art Hindle (Dr. Geoffrey Howell D.D.S.) was wonderful as the mysterious one in the film and why he behaves strangely.
He shows great emotionless actions too as you know he's not normal anymore. He comes across as someone whom is unsafe by how he behaves and was a good horror character actor who stood out the most in his supporting role.

Brooke Adams stands naked in a couple scene's with her breasts briefly exposed.

A duplicates face is chopped in half

The music by Denny Zeitlin is very dark and spooky with intense violin playing as well as some music that is a little too dated for the 70's and sounded more 50's like but it's all good regardless. Also there's some great gloomy and low sounding beats in many parts of the story almost sounding like creepy heartbeats which fits in marvellously. Plus some low music here and there which makes the story effective along with low hissings and odd metal clapping too. The odd low rumbling sounds are found in the story which has a nice feel to what is going on. Terrific fast paced piano xylophone and trombone along with some nice violin music for the near final moments packing some great action into the story. In many spots there's some nice violin screeching and other types of dark noises which fits in superbly.

Elizabeth Driscoll: I have seen these flowers all over. They are growing like parasites on other plants. All of a sudden. Where are they coming from?
Nancy Bellicec: Outer space?
Jack Bellicec: What are you talking about? A space flower?
Nancy Bellicec: Well why not a space flower? Why do we always expect metal ships?
Jack Bellicec: I've NEVER expected metal ships.

Elizabeth Driscoll: Yep, Boccardo's pills. He eats it like candy... or used to. Take some.
Matthew Bennell: What are they?
Elizabeth Driscoll: Speed. They'll keep us awake.
Matthew Bennell: How many are you suppose to take?
Elizabeth Driscoll: It says take one.
Matthew Bennell: Take five.

Mr. Tong: No, no... she alright. She betta now. Much betta now.

Matthew Bennell: [dials his phone] I'll get the police.
Telephone Operator: Police.
Matthew Bennell: Officer, I'd like to report four bodies in my backyard.
Telephone Operator: Wait right there Mr. Bennel.
Matthew Bennell: How do you know my name?
Jack Bellicec: [Jack's eyes widen with fear] Hang up, Matthew.
Matthew Bennell: [into the phone] I didn't tell you my name.
Jack Bellicec: Hang up!
Matthew Bennell: [hangs up the phone] I didn't tell them my name!
Nancy Bellicec: That's because they're all part of it. They're all pods, all of them!

Elizabeth Driscoll: Matthew, we'll never be able to stop them!
Matthew Bennell: Yes, we will.
Elizabeth Driscoll: We can't! Look it, they control the whole city.
Matthew Bennell: We'll find a way somehow.
Elizabeth Driscoll: Oh, Matthew, I can't go on!
Elizabeth Driscoll: I wanna go to sleep. I can't stay awake any more.
Matthew Bennell: You have to. You have to stay awake.

Elizabeth Driscoll: [Matthew finds that she has fallen asleep and has become a pod] There's nothing to be afraid of. They were right. It's painless. It's good. Come. Sleep. Matthew.
[Matthew begins to back away]
Elizabeth Driscoll: Matthew. Matthew!