History Film / InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers

* InformedAbility : While the pod-duplicates are certainly not as emotional as Humans, their claims of emotionlessness need to be taken with several grains of salt. If they are so, then why (beyond the plot and dramatic needs) do they taunt and gloat over the uninfected about the inevitability of their victory? The stepmother and Forrest Whittaker's replaced co-workers in 1993 almost seem angry or giggling over how they can't be beat. They're all more like recent converts to a movement, which is somewhat the point, but if you have no emotions, you don't need to say it so damned often.

* ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1978) starred DonaldSutherland as Bennell (now named Matthew instead of Miles) and transferred the setting to TheCity (SanFrancisco), working in an effective theme of urban alienation which, in some respects, actually reverses the theme of the original. At one point, a character expresses her paranoia that she keeps witnessing people ''recognizing'' each other, isolation being such a feature of city life that excessive human contact itself is suspicious. This version also focused on the "malaise" of TheSeventies and cranked up the BodyHorror; appropriately, three of the film's stars (Brooke Adams, Art Hindle and Creator/JeffGoldblum) all went on to do films with DavidCronenberg. Thanks to its critical acclaim and high performance at the box office, it is considered one of the best horror remakes ever made, with many people ranking it up there with -- if not ahead of -- the 1956 original.

* INeverToldYouMyName
* ItWasHereISwear!

* ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1978) starred Donald Sutherland as Bennell (now named Matthew instead of Miles) and transferred the setting to TheCity (SanFrancisco), working in an effective theme of urban alienation which, in some respects, actually reverses the theme of the original. At one point, a character expresses her paranoia that she keeps witnessing people ''recognizing'' each other, isolation being such a feature of city life that excessive human contact itself is suspicious. This version also focused on the "malaise" of TheSeventies and cranked up the BodyHorror; appropriately, three of the film's stars (Brooke Adams, Art Hindle and Creator/JeffGoldblum) all went on to do films with DavidCronenberg. Thanks to its critical acclaim and high performance at the box office, it is considered one of the best horror remakes ever made, with many people ranking it up there with -- if not ahead of -- the 1956 original.

* FakeAmerican:
** British actress Dana Wynter plays Becky Driscoll in the original. They got around it in the script by saying the character had just returned to the US after having lived in England for several years.
** Another Englishwoman, Gabrielle Anwar, played the heroine in the 1993 version.

* PlayingAgainstType: The 1978 version. We're all used to seeing Leonard Nimoy [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries without emotions]], but it isn't normally this creepy.

* ExecutiveMeddling:
** The 1956 version ends with the cops catching the snatchers in the act, because the studio thought the original ending was too dark.
** The 2007 version had a particularly bad case of this. The original director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, turned in a cut that was, like the previous versions, a psychological thriller. The studio had wanted an action flick however, and hired the Wachowski brothers to refilm the entire third act.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The tension is significantly ratcheting up when Matthew and Elizabeth are trying to escape by acting like everyone around them. And in the middle of one of the tightest scenes in one of the best horror movies, we suddenly get Jerry Garcia on banjo and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2ah2mwo1oM suddenly this happens.]] No foreshadowing, no warning, no explanation, it just happens. And is never seen again.

-->-- '''Benell''''s last words.

Miles Benell is a doctor in the small town of Santa Mira whose patients start accusing their family and friends of being impostors. They can't explain their suspicions -- there are no physical or behavioural changes -- but they are still convinced that the people they suspect are [[NotHimself no longer themselves]]. Bennell and his colleague, Kaufman, initially assume this is merely mass hysteria, a diagnosis which seems to be confirmed when the patients start recanting their accusations.

However, Benell soon discovers that the patients were right. The people of Santa Mira are being replaced by alien doppelgangers, identical duplicates grown in pods, which replaced them while they slept. Behind their perfect mimicry of humanity, including emotions, is a soulless void. The pod people have no culture of their own, only what they have copied from humanity, and they have no goal beyond survival.

The film ends with Benell, who has just had to kill his love interest's doppelganger, screaming a warning to heedless motorists.

* ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1978) starred Donald Sutherland as Benell (now named Matthew instead of Miles) and transfered the setting to TheCity (SanFrancisco), working in an effective theme of urban alienation which, in some respects, actually reverses the theme of the original. At one point, a character expresses her paranoia that she keeps witnessing people ''recognizing'' each other, isolation being such a feature of city life that excessive human contact itself is suspicious. This version also focused on the "malaise" of TheSeventies and cranked up the BodyHorror; appropriately, three of the film's stars (Brooke Adams, Art Hindle and Creator/JeffGoldblum) all went on to do films with DavidCronenberg. Thanks to its critical acclaim and high performance at the box office, it is considered one of the best horror remakes ever made, with many people ranking it up there with -- if not ahead of -- the 1956 original.
* ''Body Snatchers'' (1993) was a {{gender flip}}ped (and teenage) version set on an Army base and starring a young [[Series/BurnNotice Gabrielle Anwar]]. More personally focused than the earlier versions -- significantly, the heroine's step-mother is one of the first to be duplicated, and the family dynamic plays a big part in the movie. The film also got some mileage from its military setting and the fact that the protagonist herself was already somewhat detatched from the community.

* BodyHorror: The 1970s remake answers the question of what happened to the people whom the pods replaced. [[spoiler:They melt.]]

*** In hindsight, maybe they had to for their own peace of mind, the original being too dark to just walk away from. This troper and her brother had nightmares for weeks even after seeing the amended 1956 version.

* ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1978) starred Donald Sutherland as Benell (now named Matthew instead of Miles) and transfered the setting to TheCity (SanFrancisco), working in an effective theme of urban alienation which, in some respects, actually reverses the theme of the original. At one point, a character expresses her paranoia that she keeps witnessing people ''recognizing'' each other, isolation being such a feature of city life that excessive human contact itself is suspicious. This version also focused on the "malaise" of TheSeventies and cranked up the BodyHorror; appropriately, three of the film's stars (Brooke Adams, Art Hindle and JeffGoldblum) all went on to do films with DavidCronenberg. Thanks to its critical acclaim and high performance at the box office, it is considered one of the best horror remakes ever made, with many people ranking it up there with -- if not ahead of -- the 1956 original.

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: You'll often see garbage men in the background and as the movie progresses they're throwing more and more of the black end result of pod transformation.

A relatively happy ending, in which it's implied that the FBI will stop the invasion, was added to the film by [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executives]], but is now usually omitted. In the original book, the pods eventually give up, frustrated by human determination, but in the film the ending seems truly hopeless.

Usually interpreted as a [[RedScare metaphor for Communism]], although some view it more as an indictment of [=McCarthyism=] and small-town insularity and conformity. There have been several {{homage}}s and three remakes:

''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1978) starred Donald Sutherland as Benell (now named Matthew instead of Miles) and transfered the setting to TheCity (San Francisco) and worked in an effective theme of urban alienation, which in some respects actually reverses the theme of the original - at one point a character expresses her paranoia that she keeps witnessing people ''recognizing'' each other. Isolation is so much a feature of city life that excessive human contact itself is suspicious. This version also cranked the BodyHorror; appropriately, three of the film's stars (Brooke Adams, Art Hindle, and Jeff Goldblum) all went on to do films with DavidCronenberg. Thanks to its critical acclaim and high performance at the box office, it is considered one of the best horror remakes.

''Body Snatchers'' (1993) was a {{gender flip}}ped (and teenage) version set on an Army base starring [[BurnNotice Gabrielle Anwar]]. More personally focused than the earlier versions; significantly the heroine's step-mother is one of the first to be duplicated and the family dynamic plays a big part in the movie. The film also got some mileage from its military setting and the fact that the protagonist herself was already somewhat detatched from the community.

''The Invasion'' (2007), another GenderFlip version with Nicole Kidman is regarded by most as being the worst of the lot - amongst many changes they dropped the idea of alien replacements entirely going for a simple ([[spoiler:and reversible]]) version of TheVirus.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The 1978 version.
* BodyHorror: The 1970s remake answers the question of what happened to the people whom the pods replaced. [[spoiler: They melt]].
* TheCameo: Quite a few in the 1978 film; the star of the 1956 version, Kevin [=McCarthy=], [[RemakeCameo plays a man crying, "They're here!"]] (just like the end of the 1956 film); the 1956 version's director, Don Siegel, plays a cab driver; Robert Duvall plays a priest near the beginning of the film; and [[TheGratefulDead Jerry Garcia]] can be heard on the soundtrack playing the banjo.

* CreepyChild: [[spoiler:Two of Oliver's friends]] in the 2007 version. [[spoiler:Both were infected by the virus]].

** The 2007 version had a particularly bad case of this. The original director, Oliver Hirschbiegel turned in a cut that was, like the previous versions, a psychological thriller. The studio had wanted an action flick however, and hired the Wachowski Brothers to refilm the entire third act.
* FakeAmerican: British actress Dana Wynter plays Becky Driscoll in the original. They got around it in the script by saying the character had just returned to the US after having lived in England for several years.

* PlayingAgainstType: The 1978 version. We're all used to seeing Leonard Nimoy [[StarTrek without emotions]], but it isn't normally this creepy.