Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 film about a town that’s being attacked by aliens. However, the attack is not an all-out warfare, but instead slow replacement of town’s folks. Everything that makes us individuals is removed, and all that’s left is a souless husk. The body is replaced by a clone straight out of a pod, your memories are transferred - but your soul is gone. It can happen to you!
Yeah, it’s a commie horror. Guess becoming part of a collective was the worst the authors could come out with. I have not read the book, but the film let me down. I saw it ages ago, and it was OK, but I remember very little. Now I know why - the film is extremely forgettable.
The idea of being replaced by an identical clone, that is you but at the same time it missing what makes you human is very cool - in a scary way. But the film does nothing with it. Everyone in the town is slowly being replaced by pod people and only our main heroes are fighting for their individual selves. Even in the first act, where the replacement is just revealed, the characters don’t show many emotions. Hey, let’s put this strange body on our pool table. It will be good, don’t worry about it. There is no suspense, nor are there any interesting reveals.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a very basic classic horror. It’s not that it’s old, as the same year we got Forbidden Planet and The Day the Earth Stood Still is 5 full years older. But somehow, this film became a classic with endless remakes. Technically, the movie is great - the acting, the effects. But story-wise nothing stands out, nothing stays with you. And I’m always in for the story!