Oldie but Goodie: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Director:
Philip Kaufman
Starring:
Donald Sutherland
Jeff Goldblum
Veronica Cartwright
Leonard Nimoy
Brooke Adams

I just saw this film for the first time a few weeks ago and I was really surprised at how well it holds up today, and how relevant it is in today’s society. This is the first Invasion movie I have seen out of the three that have been made, including the original 1556 and the 2007 remake with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Whereas the first Invasion takes place in a small town, the 1978 version takes place in San Francisco and follows Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland), a department of public health worker, and his coworker Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams), as unexplainably strange things begin to happen around them, namely, that ordinary people are being replaced by alien clones.

What I found most terrifying about this movie was the characters’ inability to explain anything about the odd occurrences around them. Not only are their friends and family turning into emotionless zombies, but they are at a complete loss as to how they can communicate what is going on. Building terror in the movie, in large part, stems from the fact that those who know what is going on cannot explain it to anyone, and no one believes them. And as a viewer, you can see that something is wrong, so you feel their frustration as they try and explain to others what is going on and no one believes them. In particular, a good portion of the movie is devoted to convincing Dr. Kibner (Nimoy), a friend of Bennell’s, that something is going on that cannot be explained by psychology, but to no avail. Eventually, the small group of survivors find themselves fighting for their lives and trying to stay awake so that they are not turned into invaders themselves.

Taking place during the cold war, there are obvious themes of a silent take over and assimilation into an alien collective with no individuality. However, at the same time, there also seems to be a general distrust for authority figures, academics, and scientists. In this movie, those who are supposed to be the guardians of rationality and scientific advancement are the very same people who are trying to convince you that nothing is wrong and that there must be something wrong with you if you believe differently. It’s very scary to think that those who are supposed to make you better, both physically and mentally, are the very ones trying to turn you into a zombie “for your own good.”

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is still relevant today for some of the same reasons in struck a chord in 1978. In a post-9/11 world, we are told to fear the terrorist among us, the sleeper cells that are just waiting for the order to strike. They don’t look different than you or I, but could strike at any moment. At the same time, especially under the Bush administration, there is a fear that the government is taking over our lives, intruding into our space, eves dropping on our phone calls, all in the name of preventing an attack—in other words, “for our own good.”

But perhaps more important than any of the political of social reasons that make this movie relevant, is the fact that Invasion of the Body Snatchers is just a well made movie. It has a solid script and has some great performances from Sutherland, Cartwright, Goldblum and Nimoy—who deftly leaves Spock behind in a great nuanced performance. Overall, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a great thriller that keeps you guessing and delivers a smart story with good action and great suspense.