"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" follows a San Francisco health department worker, his colleague, and their friends who find themselves in the midst of an apparent alien invasion, and with few means of escape.To be frank, I tend not to enjoy science fiction all that much, but this 1978 retelling of the Jack Finney novel gets noted praise, so I had faith it would be something good. Long story short, it didn't disappoint. While it is in part a science fiction film, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is more of a paranoid survival thriller with shades of bonafide horror. Kaufman's direction is fantastic, and savvy editing techniques give the film a frantic tone at times which helps ramp up the paranoia.Even more notable I think is the masterful sound design. The ambient noises of San Francisco's city streets often blur together with alien noises and bizarre tones, which also bolsters the sense of paranoia and infiltration of something otherworldly. The performances from all the central cast are solid; Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams make a formidable lead couple, while Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright are both likable and believable as their eccentric hippie friends. Leonard Nimoy also makes an appearance as a a psychiatrist, as does Art Hindle as Adams's invaded boyfriend.While I do feel that the film's final act does somewhat decelerate the masterful sense of paranoia to its own detriment, it is an explosive conclusion that is bookended with a chilling end-note scene that has gone down in the annals of the horror film. All in all, a phenomenally-crafted thriller. 9/10.

When the first "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" culminated with the image of Kevin McCarthy frantically alerting passing drivers that 'they' were coming', and the camera zoomed on his face with his fourth-wall breaking "You're Next!", I wished it was the point the film could fade out, it couldn't get any better or iconic than that. But the film was told in narration and we had to get back where we started and get a rather flat and uninspired happy ending. Don Siegel didn't intend to make a political allegory but wished it could end on that apocalyptic note, studio politics interfered. Those were the 50's... and thankfully, not the 70's. So when I started the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman, I knew similar mistakes wouldn't be made. What also enhanced my expectations is that I recently saw the two versions of "The Thing" and I thought John Carpenter transcended the low-budget B-movie feel of the original and made a moviein a league of its own. 1956 "Body Snatchers" was far superior to "The Thing" and the material even more promising because in the post-"Star Wars" era, the visual and sound effects had reached unprecedented levels of efficiency. Just like Carpenter or later Cronenberg, Kaufman didn't 'retell' as much as he enriched a story, amplified it.And it was the smartest move. Kaufman didn't ignore that viewers were familiar with the original concept: a small town, odd behavior, pod people spreading all over the territory. So the 'surprise' effect wasn't the priority, we knew what it is all about. But Kaufman doesn't care for the "what" but rather the "how". The opening credits, with the patience and meticulousness of a gardener, shows us the whole 'invasion', the way gelatinous alien creatures leave a planet at the verge of destruction to land on Earth, literally to be dropped on vegetation so that mysterious flowers with tentacle-like tendrils cover tree leaves. This is not only a triumph of special effects but a foreshadowing of the scenes that will show, step by step, and in growingly macabre detail the whole assimilation process. And then one of the flowers is picked up by health inspector Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) and the first to be affected is her husband. One day, he's cheerful, flirtatious, funny and cares about sports, the day after, he's dressed formally and doesn't let any emotion slip. We're confronted to the dramatic shift of personality, having a foretaste to these deceptive moments where characters we got used to got infected. Siegel told then showed, Kaufman shows then tells.One method isn't better than the other, each one fits the format of its respective film. The original starts with a mystery that can fit a small town, but San Francisco in the late 70's isn't obviously the likeliest place to spot these changes on a high scale... unless they escalate quickly. So, being more ambitious in terms of thrills and special effects, Kaufman had to get right to the point and once the suspicion is arised and Elizabeth's colleague and former boyfriend Matthew (Donald Sutherland) starts his investigation, the story picks up.And we get the cameo of Kevin McCarthy reprising his trademark role, warning drivers that they're still here. What happens to the man and the emotionless reaction of the onlookers leave no doubt that we're already in a critical situation and the countdown has started. There is just enough time to be introduced to the couple of friends played by Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy steals the show as the cheerful doctor ending all Mr. Spock at the end. And being aware that we expect new stuff, once the film gets too close to the original, Kaufman gets showy again in the "how" department. There is a moment that is too great for words, resembling that long close-up in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Matthew is sitting in the garden and slowly falls into sleep, his eyes keep open for such a while I thought the image was paused, and then he closes his eyes, and what we have is one magnificently repulsive creation or procreation moment, even more effective than "The Thing". Stop motion animation can be effective for practical effects involving quick and fast movements, but here we deal with vegetal livings and plants, their movements are smooth and slow and when a plant deflowered, the image was so disturbingly sexual I wasn't surprised by what came from it.The film features many moments like this that are both disgusting and scary yet visually hypnotic, one of the creatures start growing and moaning and then you realize it had a frizzy crop of hair, you've got to wonder if Sutherland's curly hair style wasn't chosen for that scene only. Kaufman gives the story a visual and scary edge, accentuating the level of horror and terror while the original was more in the realm of science fiction. And there's always this kinship with Carpenter's "Thing" in the way the horror is amplified, take that awful shrill sound whenever the pod people spots a human and point their fingers at him, just like pigs being slaughtered, take these awful jump scares involving dead, unfinished or "finished" bodies, hell, just take the ending. Of course, ending on a good mood would have been a bad move and Kaufman knew it. Personally, when I saw Mccarthy reprising his role, I knew Kaufman would be foolish to end with the same image with Sutherland, because it was too predictable and one tribute was enough, but gosh, I didn't expect it to end in such a horrific way. And when the most horrific part of a horror film is the end and it doesn't seem contrived or gratuitous, you know you've just had experienced high-art cinema. This is perhaps one of the greatest remakes ever because for all its replications, it had found an originality of its own.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): Dir: Philip Kaufman / Cast: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright: Ominous and chilling remake that is every bit as great as the original, only it heightens the paranoia aspect. Set in glorious San Francisco, Donald Sutherland plays Health Department representative Matthew Bennell who is confronted with cases of people not being who they are emotionally. Brooke Adams plays Elizabeth Driscoll whose husband is different. These people fall asleep and replaced by pod lookalikes thanks to a flower that Driscoll discovers. Leonard Nimoy plays Dr. Kibner, a friend of Bennell's who attempts to explain this bizarre event in society. Unfortunately Nimoy is too obvious in his motives. The relationship between Bennett and Driscoll is subtle with a hint of romantic interest that is not tresspassed due to her marriage. Another interesting marriage relationship is between Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright who work in a massage parlor mud bath where a pod body is discovered. Director Philip Kaufman creates paranoia while toying with gadgets and showcasing Adams and her weird eye twirl talent. It can also symbolize the Biblical Rapture when one factors the shocking ending. Great update with a strong theme regarding paranoia and the importance of personality and the outside forces that invade one's senses. Score: 9 ½ / 10

"Well why not a space flower? Why do we always expect metal ships?"Since its publication in 1955, Jack Finney's Sci-Fi novel has been adapted many times for the big screen. The first adaptation was directed an year later by Don Siegel starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The story took place entirely in a small Alabama town where some of the locals began mysteriously behaving in strange and detached manners, but more than twenty years later Philip Kaufman decided to remake this film and relocate the story in the populated city of San Francisco instead. The circumstances were different and the underlying political themes weren't necessary so this film focused entirely on the growing sense of paranoia behind the invasion. The mystery element is gone here, because from the very first scene we witness how this strange organic life form, similar to gel spores, begins drifting from a far away planet through space until it reaches our atmosphere and is washed down by rain in San Francisco. Here the spores develop into plants with pink flowers and the people who come into contact with them begin behaving in strange ways, which is of course a result of this life form taking over the bodies. The first to notice the change is Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) who shares her concern with co-worker, Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland), a public health inspector. She tells him that her husband has begun to act in a very mysterious manner and that he seems detached from any emotion. Matthew recommends she talk with his friend, David Kibner (Leonard Nimoy), a renown psychiatrist. When Elizabeth goes to speak with him, David mentions that other people have come up to him with similar concerns. Their fears are confirmed when Matthew's friends, Jack (Jeff Goldblum) and Nancy (Veronica Cartwright) discover a strange corpse that is being formed by the plant to duplicate one of them. By this time the invasion is in full force in the city and they must find a way to escape before it's too late. The original film was already considered to be quite good, but this remake is probably the most referred to when mentioning Finney's novel. All the other adaptations after this one haven't met the same reception. The way in which cinematographer, Michael Chapman, shot the film gave it a much more disturbing atmosphere with the skewed angles, deep compositions, and dark shadows which only adds to the bizarre qualities of the film. It is an eerie sci-fi movie with some memorable sequences (who can forget the moment that mutant dog with a human face suddenly shows up on screen?) and you never know what direction the story is going to go. Unfortunately the film is a bit outdated and the effects don't look as great. The performances are solid, but sometimes they were over sold. Invasion of the Body Snatchers wasn't as fun as I had anticipated it to be, and the pacing began to drag at times. I probably would've enjoyed this film more if I had seen it several years ago, but by now the plot is overly familiar so the suspense and the scares don't work as well. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams play the two lead characters and they manage to engage the audience and allow us to sympathize with their cause. Adams is especially cute here and she can move her eyes like no one else. Nimoy gets a very conventional role and his character doesn't do much for the film. We've seen Goldblum play very similar roles as well and he did manage to get on my nerves during some of his freak out scenes. The cast delivers, but they were all far from being memorable. I can imagine the story freaked audiences out during the 70's and 80's, but for today's standards it isn't as effective. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/