Post by Quorthon on Apr 22, 2006 15:20:19 GMT -5
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Science Fiction Thriller
1956
Black and White
MPAA Rating: Predates MPAA, unrated.
Directed by: Don Siegel
USA
I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not (I'm kidding, I know I've mentioned it plenty), but I really love movies about paranoia. And since I was raised on a near-steady stream of 50's Horror and Science Fiction, I'd have to say I've seen a good number of paranoia films. As we all know, or anyone who loves movies knows, the 50's was rife with extreme paranoia and crazy Science Fiction films--all of them burying the fear of Communism or nuclear war heavily into their scripts. Take a film like this one, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, dice into it a thick paranoid atmosphere, and place it smack dab into Cold War paranoid 1950's America and you can easily see why this film was so instantly famous.
This is one of Science Fiction's all-time classic films. People suddenly aren't who they seem. Their character and nature, their freedom and humanity--poof! Gone! All that remains is an identical, though emotionless, freedomless human-like shell, now inhabited by something other-worldly. And all because they fell asleep. What's worse is, suddenly, these inhuman humans seem to be popping up everywhere. Finally, our heroes are left fleeing for their lives, with no where to run, and no one to trust.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--This film might have been moderately successful for it's story alone in the fifties--what with the paranoia and fear and all--but what really makes it shine is the immensely thick atmosphere. Suddenly, you don't just witness the paranoia--you live it.
--Helping along that excellent atmosphere is some dazzling cinematography. Sharp angles and even sharper lighting and shadows, it's edgy, tense, and gritty all at the same time. Very clear picture, not grainy or muddy.
--Above average acting for the time, and excellent for a B-movie, which is what this was originally intended to be.
--Tons of suspense, but this is a movie that builds tension and fear and compounds it with rampant paranoia, so it better have some great suspense.
--The story builds quite well. Very nice pacing.
--Nice sets and backgrounds.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--The music, thought dated, is still quite good. It's one of those key elements so necessary in a film of this nature to keep the suspense high.
--Above average special effects for the time. Though, really rather brief. This film didn't have a huge budget, nor did it depend on spiffy special effects. In the long term, this has probably actually helped out the film's notoriety. Without gratuitous dated special effects to hold it back, the film was allowed to age gracefully aided by the story and atmosphere.
--No nudity or gore. This is the 50's, man! Just good clean fun delivered in a scary package of total fear!
--Decent, above-average dialog for the time and style.
The Bad:
--The underlying "paranoia of Communism" theme, and the film's full impact, is likely to be lost on many modern viewers. Which is really unfortunate. Know your history, then watch this movie.
--Almost no character development. But then again, this movie is about people losing all their character and humanity, so...
The Ugly:
--The story might be seen as being unintentionally humerous by some of today's viewers. However, this relates to the film's actual impact. "Beware the pods!!"
--Scenes in moving cars--that background sure is whipping by!!
Memorable Scene:
--Seeing the people move en masse into the street for a single purpose.
Fun Facts:
--Originally had a much, much darker ending. One that reeked of hopelessness, doom, and failure. But those lousy film executives just had to go and ruin it and return some bit of hope to the human race!
--Remade in 1978 and again in 1993.
--Our hero in the '56 version has a cameo in roughly the same role in the 1978 version.
Acting: 9/10
Story: 10/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Character Development: 7/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10
Violence: 5/10 (just some fighting, but that's not the point of this film)
Gore: 0/10
Dialog: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Direction: 10/10
Cheesiness: 3/10
Crappiness: 0/10
Overall: 9/10
If you're a Science Fiction fan, or paranoia-horror fan, you simply have to include this in your viewing. It's as necessary as viewing Jaws, or Psycho, or Night of the Living Dead. You can't be a fan of Science Fiction/Horror without seeing it. All the better if you're a fan of paranoia flicks like John Carpenter's remake of The Thing or the SF film The Puppetmasters (not the Full Moon movies about killer dolls). Also one for classic and general "hardcore" film buffs. Highly recommended.
Science Fiction Thriller
1956
Black and White
MPAA Rating: Predates MPAA, unrated.
Directed by: Don Siegel
USA
I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not (I'm kidding, I know I've mentioned it plenty), but I really love movies about paranoia. And since I was raised on a near-steady stream of 50's Horror and Science Fiction, I'd have to say I've seen a good number of paranoia films. As we all know, or anyone who loves movies knows, the 50's was rife with extreme paranoia and crazy Science Fiction films--all of them burying the fear of Communism or nuclear war heavily into their scripts. Take a film like this one, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, dice into it a thick paranoid atmosphere, and place it smack dab into Cold War paranoid 1950's America and you can easily see why this film was so instantly famous.
This is one of Science Fiction's all-time classic films. People suddenly aren't who they seem. Their character and nature, their freedom and humanity--poof! Gone! All that remains is an identical, though emotionless, freedomless human-like shell, now inhabited by something other-worldly. And all because they fell asleep. What's worse is, suddenly, these inhuman humans seem to be popping up everywhere. Finally, our heroes are left fleeing for their lives, with no where to run, and no one to trust.
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--This film might have been moderately successful for it's story alone in the fifties--what with the paranoia and fear and all--but what really makes it shine is the immensely thick atmosphere. Suddenly, you don't just witness the paranoia--you live it.
--Helping along that excellent atmosphere is some dazzling cinematography. Sharp angles and even sharper lighting and shadows, it's edgy, tense, and gritty all at the same time. Very clear picture, not grainy or muddy.
--Above average acting for the time, and excellent for a B-movie, which is what this was originally intended to be.
--Tons of suspense, but this is a movie that builds tension and fear and compounds it with rampant paranoia, so it better have some great suspense.
--The story builds quite well. Very nice pacing.
--Nice sets and backgrounds.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--The music, thought dated, is still quite good. It's one of those key elements so necessary in a film of this nature to keep the suspense high.
--Above average special effects for the time. Though, really rather brief. This film didn't have a huge budget, nor did it depend on spiffy special effects. In the long term, this has probably actually helped out the film's notoriety. Without gratuitous dated special effects to hold it back, the film was allowed to age gracefully aided by the story and atmosphere.
--No nudity or gore. This is the 50's, man! Just good clean fun delivered in a scary package of total fear!
--Decent, above-average dialog for the time and style.
The Bad:
--The underlying "paranoia of Communism" theme, and the film's full impact, is likely to be lost on many modern viewers. Which is really unfortunate. Know your history, then watch this movie.
--Almost no character development. But then again, this movie is about people losing all their character and humanity, so...
The Ugly:
--The story might be seen as being unintentionally humerous by some of today's viewers. However, this relates to the film's actual impact. "Beware the pods!!"
--Scenes in moving cars--that background sure is whipping by!!
Memorable Scene:
--Seeing the people move en masse into the street for a single purpose.
Fun Facts:
--Originally had a much, much darker ending. One that reeked of hopelessness, doom, and failure. But those lousy film executives just had to go and ruin it and return some bit of hope to the human race!
--Remade in 1978 and again in 1993.
--Our hero in the '56 version has a cameo in roughly the same role in the 1978 version.
Acting: 9/10
Story: 10/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Character Development: 7/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10
Violence: 5/10 (just some fighting, but that's not the point of this film)
Gore: 0/10
Dialog: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Direction: 10/10
Cheesiness: 3/10
Crappiness: 0/10
Overall: 9/10
If you're a Science Fiction fan, or paranoia-horror fan, you simply have to include this in your viewing. It's as necessary as viewing Jaws, or Psycho, or Night of the Living Dead. You can't be a fan of Science Fiction/Horror without seeing it. All the better if you're a fan of paranoia flicks like John Carpenter's remake of The Thing or the SF film The Puppetmasters (not the Full Moon movies about killer dolls). Also one for classic and general "hardcore" film buffs. Highly recommended.
