Hollywood loves a good alien invasion story – the George Pal adaptation of War of the Worlds and Ray Harryhausen’s Earth vs the Flying Saucers are classic examples of this – but with Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers we don’t see any national monuments being blasted by rayguns or fleets of alien spacecraft filling the skies, instead, we get a more insidious type of invasion.
Based on Jack Finney’s novel “The Body Snatchers” this fairly faithful adaptation is set in the fictional town of Santa Mira and follows Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returning home after being away at a convention, only to find that several of his patients are suffering from the same peculiar delusion. They claim that their loved ones are not who they appear to be, despite these impostors looking identical to the original people. Initially dismissive, Bennell is puzzled when his ex-girlfriend, Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), tells him that her cousin Wilma (Virginia Christine) insists her uncle Ira is not her uncle. Good ole Miles is quite dismissive of this “irrational” belief.
“Wilma, are you on your period?”
As the days progress, the number of similar cases increases and Bennell’s friend, psychiatrist Dr. Dan Kauffman (Larry Gates), tries to reassure him that these are nothing more than “epidemic mass hysteria,” but while Bennell takes this placation in stride things are not adding up and he comes more aware that something isn’t right. The situation takes a terrifying turn when Mile’s and Becky’s dinner date is interrupted by a call from Bennell’s friend Jack Belicec (King Donovan) and his wife Teddy (Carolyn Jones) who have discovered an incomplete, featureless body on his pool table. The body has no fingerprints and is eerily similar in appearance to Jack, and later, when Jack nods off while “guarding” this disturbing find, the body slowly begins to resemble Jack more closely.
“It seems someone placed mass hysteria on your pool table.”
Fears are heightened when Miles discovers a duplicate of Becky hidden in the basement of her father’s home, forcing him to flee with an unconscious Becky in his arms, but when he returns with Dan Kaufman the “body” is no longer there and Kaufman tries again to placate Miles, explaining it all away as a form of hallucination. Needless to say, our hero will have none of that. Things finally come to a head when a backyard barbecue with the Belicecs reveals a greenhouse full of these duplicates, grown from large seed pods, and we soon learn that these duplicates will take over the minds and bodies of the original humans while they sleep, resulting in emotionless but perfect physical copies. Eventually, are two main protagonists are captured by Dan Kaufman, along with a newly podded Jack Belicec, and soon are hounded by the entire population of Santa Mira.
This is why I avoid visiting my old hometown.
What follows is a nightmarish chase with our heroes not only trying to stay one step ahead of the “pod people” but staying awake so the same thing doesn’t happen to them. Miles’s attempts to alert the authorities are futile and the two find themselves increasingly isolated. It is soon revealed that alien spores had drifted through space and settled here on Earth where they quickly began the terrible takeover – with trucks being loaded with the large seed pods and being shipped to places unknown – and the chance now is to flee Santa Mira and find help. In a harrowing sequence, that takes the look of the film into the noir genre, they are pursued by the alien duplicates through the town and into the countryside.
“I hope Robot Monster isn’t in here.”
The film culminates in Bennell running through traffic on a busy highway, shouting warnings to passing motorists: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next!” – a scene that has often been interpreted as a critique of societal complacency and a warning against ignoring creeping threats – but this ending was also considered to be too depressing by the studio and they insisted on adding a prologue and epilogue suggesting a more optimistic outcome to the story, leading to the flashback framing.
“Hey Kevin, knock it off, you’re scaring the kiddies.”
Stray Observations:
• Aliens taking over or “replacing” people was fairly popular in the 1950s, we’d previously seen it done in It Came From Outer Space and Invaders from Mars in 1953.
• The book’s original title “The Body Snatchers” was abandoned so as not to confuse audiences with the 1945 Boris Karloff film The Body Snatcher. Hollywood clearly didn’t have faith in the average person’s intelligence.
•
Dr. Miles Bennell and Becky Driscoll refer to having been college
classmates yet actor Kevin McCarthy was 17 years older than Dana Wynter.
Was Bennell left back that many times, and if so, how did he become a
doctor?
• Like any half-decent science fiction movie out of the 50s, this one utilizes the ever-present location of Bronson Canyon.
•
While in the cave waiting for Miles, Becky falls asleep for an instant
and wakes up as a “pod person” but this contradicts the entire premise
of the rest of the movie, in which humans are physically being replaced
by “pod person” duplicates.
“I have no emotions or scientific continuity.”
Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers excels in creating an atmosphere of pervasive dread and suspicion, and the black-and-white cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks amplifies the sense of unease, using shadows and lighting to great effect. The ability to turn the classic small town into a place of dread and fear cannot be understated and is one of the film’s key elements. The narrative’s pace is also quite tight, with Siegel’s direction ensuring that the tension never lets up and with the film’s relatively short runtime of 80 minutes it is packed with suspense, making every moment count. On the acting side of things, Kevin McCarthy delivers a standout performance as Dr. Miles Bennell, perfectly capturing the transition from skepticism to frantic desperation of a man witnessing his world unravelling around him. Dana Wynter, as Becky Driscoll, brings depth and emotion to her role, providing a strong counterpart to McCarthy’s escalating panic and while her character falls into the “Damsel in Distress” category, Wynter is able to elevate things towards the film’s haunting end.
These two have enough emotion for everybody.
It’s safe to say that Invasion of the Body Snatchers has had a lasting impact on popular culture, spawning several remakes and adaptations and its themes of identity, trust, and paranoia have remained relevant, ensuring its place as a classic of the sci-fi and horror genres. In the decades since the film’s release, the term “pod people,” which was inspired by the transformed characters in the film, has become a popular phrase signifying people who are emotionally and creatively dead. The film’s enduring impact lies in its allegorical nature as it was released during the height of McCarthyism and the Red Scare and can be seen as a critique of conformity and the loss of individuality. The idea that one’s neighbours, friends, and family could be replaced by soulless replicas resonates with the era’s fear of infiltration and subversion.
Overall, this adaptation of Jack Finney’s science fiction horror novel has cemented its place as a cornerstone of both genres and is a masterclass in building suspense while creating a pervasive sense of dread. Its exploration of identity, trust and societal paranoia remains as relevant today as it was upon its release. For fans of classic cinema, sci-fi, and horror, this film is an essential watch.
