BA_Harrison Don Siegel's '50s sci-fi classic gets the '70s remake treatment, with Donald Sutherland starring as Matthew, a San Francisco health department inspector whose close friend Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) believes that her boyfriend Geoffrey (Art Hindle) has somehow been replaced by a duplicate devoid of emotion, and that others in the city are also not what they seem to be. Although sceptical at first, Matthew is convinced after he is called to examine a partially formed clone of his friend Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum). As more and more people are replaced by unfeeling doppelgangers, Matthew and his pals correctly surmise that the planet is under attack by aliens.Invasion of the Bodysnatchers is a lesson in how to do a remake properly: the film takes the basic premise of the original, but smart changes here and there keep things fresh and interesting (the most notable being the switch of location from a sleepy town to a major city). The result is a creepy, ominous and occasionally freaky film (the dog with the human head has haunted me for years) that is hugely enjoyable, even for those who are very familiar with the original. The movie also benefits from a terrific cast (Leonard Nimoy, as psychiatrist Dr. David Kibner, proves that there is more to him than a pair of pointy ears, and Veronica Cartwright is excellent as Jack's wife Nancy), an unusual but effective score, great special effects (courtesy of Tom Burman), and a well-developed sense of unease that really helps to crank up the tension.

meathookcinema A remake of the 1958 classic gets a 70s update.The premise is the same but the reasons behind it are different. It seems like each incarnation of this film reflects the unrest of each society it was made in.This film depicts the 70s swing towards pop-psychology and psychiatry that was popular at the time. The psychiatrist characters played by Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Goldbloom brilliantly convey this angle.But the film also shows American society and its people in disarray. Post-Watergate and post- Vietnam politics and the related disillusionment fuel the characters and general feel of this film. No one knows who to trust, what the truth is or who/what to believe in anymore.Paranoia is also a key component in this movie. This makes the film a very intense watch and quite exhausting at times. Whilst I love this film its a movie I have to be in the mood to watch. It seems like tiny nuances and interactions that characters would normally take for granted are given thought time, credence and then magnified. An example is when Brooke Adams character is bumped into. There is then a sequence in which Adams and this character are walking away from each other down a corridor but take turns to look at each other over their shoulders.There is also a sequence where Adams is walking around San Francisco and passes a bust city bus. Every single passenger is looking right at her. Is the camera capturing reality or the internal and paranoid thoughts of Ms Adams?The paranoia and suspicion escalates until we get to one of the most famous unsettling endings in movie history.Brilliantly acted, written and directed. This really is a prime slice of time capsule filmmaking then is strangely as relevant today as it was in the 70s. This is also one of the best San Francisco movies ever made. The city looks amazing and provides a gorgeous backdrop to the film's events. Added kudos for the mud baths locale.Look out for the cameo by Robert Duvall as a priest on a swing and the man-dog that suddenly appears who is a weird fusion of a banjo playing character and his dog earlier in the film.

OllieSuave-007 An eerie and creepy horror sci-fi movie of space aliens who invade Earth, particularly San Francisco, to make duplicate of humans' bodies and develop their new race in human form - with no emotions. The protagonists (Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Nancy Cartright) try to escape the aliens and find a solution to stop them. But, with them multiplying rapidly, it might be near impossible.Great acting and some dark moments. A fast-paced plot, with the problem and suspense starting almost immediately as the movie begins, grabbing your attention. A doom and gloom-feel movie for a dreary time.Grade B

Lary9 What do these people all have in common? Donald Sutherland ... Brooke Adams Jeff Goldblum Veronica Cartwright Leonard Nimoy Kevin McCarthy They all had roles in one of the most underrated sci-fi/horror films of all time. It's a pleasure to revisit it every time---and that has been often. 7.4/10.0 on IMDb and I concur. Notably, this 1978 remake of this 1956 classic, unfolds with almost ~zero~ soundtrack music to garnish the scenes or the dialogue. Occasionally some orchestral trumpets blare to accompany forthcoming shocks. I won't bore you with a plot synopsis. Who hasn't seen one of the versions of it? It's an iconic grandparent to many sci-fi offspring over the past 3 decades. BTW; just an aside...a young Jeff Goldblum has already begun to carve out his specialty niche in 'Snatchers-2'; e.g; the fast-talking eccentric whose free associating dialogue keeps the film moving at a brisk pace... (yet with no particular goal in mind.) Goldblum has this particular 'shtick' patented...reacting to scenes like they were Rorschach inkblots is a colorful additive. Alba's Real Science Ratings give it an acceptable RSR...i.e; it's realistic except for stretches the "MacGuffin" (the body snatching pods.)