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Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones ... see more see more... , Whit Bissell , Jean Willes , Ralph Dumke , Tom Fadden , Virginia Christine , Kenneth Patterson , Guy Way , Eileen Stevens , Beatrice Maude , Jean Andren , Everett Glass , Dabbs Greer , Pat O'Malley , Guy Rennie , Richard Deacon , Harry J. Vejar , Don Siegel , Robert Clark

Don Siegel's classic exercise in psychological science fiction has often been interpreted as a cautionary fable about the blacklisting hysteria of the McCarthy era. It can be read as a political metap... read more read more...hor or enjoyed as a fine low-budget suspense movie, and it works well either way. Kevin McCarthy stars as Miles Bennel, a doctor in the small California community of Santa Mira, where several patients begin reporting that their loved ones don't seem to be themselves lately. They look the same but seem cold, emotionally distant, and somehow unfamiliar. The longer Miles looks into these reports, the more stock he places in them, and in time he makes a shocking discovery: aliens from another world are taking over Santa Mira, one citizen at a time. Emissaries from a distant planet have sent massive seed pods containing creatures that can assume the exact physical likeness of anyone they choose. When Santa Mirans go to sleep, the pod creatures take on the shape of their victims and then destroy their bodies. The aliens may look the same, but they possess no human emotions and, like plants, are concerned only with propagating themselves and eventually subsuming the earth. Needless to say, Miles and his friends are terrified, but since it's hard to tell who's a person and who's a pod, they're at a loss for what to do, especially when it seems that there are increasingly more aliens than humans. Invasion of the Body Snatchers builds tension slowly and steadily, dealing not in the shock of bug-eyed monsters common to other 1950s science-fiction movies but in the unnerving possibility that the enemy is among us -- and impossible to tell from our allies. The ultra-paranoid conclusion of Siegel's original cut was softened by Allied Artists, who added a framing device that suggested help was on the way. This coda was as effective in blunting the film's grim conclusion as giving a Band-Aid to a beheading victim; few films of the era make it more painfully clear that for these people (and maybe for ourselves), there's no turning back and no way home. Keep an eye peeled for a bit part by soon-to-be-legendary Western director Sam Peckinpah, who plays a meter reader and also (uncredited) helped write the screenplay. Based on a novel by Jack Finney, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade in 1978 by Philip Kaufman and in 1993 by Abel Ferrara (as Body Snatchers); and its influence can be felt from The Stepford Wives (1975) to The X-Files. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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82% liked it

16,779 ratings

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97% liked it

39 critics

PG, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: Don Siegel

Release Date: January 1, 1956

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DVD Release Date: June 26, 1998

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Stats: 937 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (937)

  • spielberg00
    January 27, 2012
    spielberg00
    Although there appears to be a debate about the topic, I feel positive that INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is the umpteenth fable with an underlying allusion to the McCarthy Era. Was it intended for such a film's key actor to bear the same last name as possibly the most signific... read moreant politician during the Cold War, or was it pure coincidence? Thankfully, INVASION ends up with something more to offer than a Cold War subtext. Regardless of its low production budget, its familiar music and decent performing keep the viewer mentally awake for the suspense, at which point both aspects come to life in an unusual but thrilling fashion.
  • fb1664868775
    October 30, 2011
    fb1664868775
    This sci-fi classic is still packs a punch, though in my opinion, the 1978 remake takes this basic story and turns it into a much more frightening experience.
  • cosmo313
    May 12, 2011
    cosmo313
    Filled with tension, suspense, paranoia, and Cold War subtext, this film is one of the high water marks of the 1950s sci-fi horror/thrillers.

    The story's been done a ridiculous amount of times since (some reteelings good, some not), but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment ... read morethis film has to offer.

    Fun stuff all around.
  • DreamExtractor
    March 30, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    A classic horror, this movie still gives me the chills.
  • kenstachnik
    December 15, 2010
    kenstachnik
    Probably the best example of what 50's sci fi can be at it's best.
    Suspenseful, scary and smart.
  • lewiskendell
    December 9, 2010
    lewiskendell
    "Why don't you go in, Miles, we've been waiting for you."

    Invasion of the Body Snatchers started off as somewhat of a slow burn, but ended up being a sinister and suspenseful thriller. The story has been redone and revised several times in the years since the original novel this... read more movie is based on was written: an unknown alien plant species has landed on earth, and replaces people as they sleep with perfect copies. Perfect, except for their complete loss of what makes them human, their emotions and souls.

    The main characters are a doctor and his lady friend (played by Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter) who slowly come to understand the nature of the threat, and spend the latter part of the movie trying to stay awake and find some way, any way, out of their seemingly inevitable fate and come up with some means to keep the invasion from spreading from their California town to the world beyond.

    Body Snatchers is all about paranoia and the fear of a threat that can't be comprehended, and it pulls those themes off pretty well. Besides the somewhat slow start, and a few nagging questions that never get answered (like, what happens to people's original bodies?), and the altered ending (I think if the movie would have ended at the point where it was originally supposed to, it would have had much more of an impact on the viewer), Invasion of the Body Snatchers didn't leave me with a lot to complain about.
  • ajv2688
    November 14, 2010
    ajv2688
    This is the original Body Snatchers movie (original sci-fi body snatchers movie, that is, not to be confused with the horror movies), and I think it's always best to see the original movie. This movie is really good, and I highly recommend it. It's sort of a sci-fi/horror movie... read more, and it's very exciting, I really liked it.
  • fb1463751009
    September 25, 2010
    fb1463751009
    Wow, don't be drawn away by the age of this film... it's executed extremely well. A lot of fun
  • thefog1331
    September 13, 2010
    thefog1331
    One of the best pessimistic science fiction movies ever that was way ahead of its time and starring Kevin McCarthy in his bestest best role right in front of Innerspace and Twilight Zone.

    RIP Mr. McCarthy.
  • ythelastman89
    July 9, 2010
    ythelastman89
    A fun and extremely alarming B-movie, showcasing the dangers of no emotion. What sets this apart from other cheesy Sci-Fi movies is the wonderful style and direction from Don Siegel, it makes the suspense real and the topic interesting. While this isn't the superior adaption of t... read morehe story, it's pretty close to the 78 version. The only thing that brings it down is the sub-par acting for the most part, the main exception being Dana Wynter. This is an essential part of Sci-Fi movies though, it's very much a film noir within the genre.

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Critic Reviews

Joe Morgenstern
October 23, 2010
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

Few modern-day movies are more genuinely frightening. Full Review

Variety Staff
November 26, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

This tense, offbeat piece of science-fiction is occasionally difficult to follow due to the strangeness of its scientific premise. Action nevertheless is increasingly exciting. Full Review

Don Druker
May 30, 2007
Don Druker, Chicago Reader

Don Siegel's superb little effort, with its matter-of-fact isolation of hero Kevin McCarthy (ironic, no?) from the smarmy complacency of a small town gone to hell -- and way beyond -- points the way t... Full Review

Rob Humanick
October 30, 2011
Rob Humanick, Suite101.com

Among the most thrilling cliffhangers in all of cinema. Full Review

Charles Cassady
December 15, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

Talky, tame original sci-fi study in paranoia. Full Review

April 27, 2009
Film4

Arguably the greatest ever B-movie. Full Review

Cole Smithey
April 12, 2009
Cole Smithey, Daily Radar

Hitchcock couldn't have done a better job of ramping up the suspense in a horror film that is as much fun today as when it shocked audiences in the '50s. Full Review

Steve Biodrowski
July 11, 2008
Steve Biodrowski, ESplatter

The film's portrait of human beings gradually assimilated by an alien invasion of emotionless duplicates creates a profoundly disturbing sense of paranoia. Full Review

Tim Brayton
September 12, 2007
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

One of the very best sci-fi/horror pictures of one of that genre's best decades. Full Review

Philip Martin
August 21, 2007
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

what if the mask of your neighbor tilts for a second and you catch a glimpse of the riot going on behind his face? Full Review

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    • Dr. Miles Bennel: They're here already! You're next! You're next!
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers Trivia

  • Name the sci-fi film that features the line, "For me it started last Thursday. At first glance everything looked the same. It wasn't."   Answer »
  • "For me it started last Thursday. At first glance everything looked the same. It wasn't." Is a quote from which sci-fi film?   Answer »
  • What film has this quote :" There's no emotion . Just the pretense of it. The words ,the get=stures,the tone of voice ,every thing is the same but not the feeling ?   Answer »
  • Name the 1956 Science Fiction Horror Film "Look, you fools. You're in danger. Can't you see? They're after you. They're after all of us. Our wives, our children, everyone. They're here already. You're next!"   Answer »
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