(1978) ****"There's nothing to be afraid of. They were right. It's painless. It's good."
San Francisco in the 1970s. A mysterious mist is distributed across the city, settles on plant life, and threadlike tendrils sprout and grow pretty pink flowers. Meanwhile, an odd phenomenon begins to sweep the city: one after another, people are reporting the seemingly psychotic or paranoid belief that their loved ones are not in fact who they should be. The outward appearance is the same, but something important is missing.
I had seen the '50s version of this movie a few years back, and enjoyed it. This is a darker version, very well acted and directed (see Jordan's review for more detailed analyses). The horror is earned dramatically, not with monsters or gore. The sense of dread begins immediately and builds without detectable relief. The special effects were good, though not a huge component of the movie. Brooke Adams goes topless briefly (+ gratuitously, I say).
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a classic 1970s quality horror movie: I only wish I could have seen it on the big screen. Or even better, at a drive-in theater.
2 comments:
I have to see these "Invasion" movies.
Yeah. It's like, the 19th Century invented Vampires and Werewolves (in their current horror-story incarnations with the "rules" etc.) You can sit down and make a chart of these creatures and their "rules" and strengths and weaknesses and why they're scary. (For example, Vampires are scary because under their influence you lose control of your own desires; you cannot control what you want to do.) The 20th Century adds Zombies and Pod People (and the same parameters apply).
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