- Original theatrical poster - image courtesy of Where Danger Lives
Of the many science fiction films equipped with allegorical subtexts about humanity’s tendency to eat at itself (no pun intended, but see also: any of George Romero’s zombie series), Invasion of the Body Snatchers is perhaps the most notorious and well-remembered, and deservingly so. Either version – 1956 or 1978 – could fill that zenith slot (the 1993 horror movie approach is might impressive as well), but the original has the added benefit of cresting on that decade’s tsunami of trending paranoia, while the latter boasts Vietnam era cynicism. Both are commentaries on human emotions, the original in particular lending itself to interpretations in complete opposition of each other.
The story, adapted from Jack Finney’s novel The Body Snatchers, concerns a plant life from outer space with the capability of perfectly replicating other life forms of any kind, albeit the final product being one utterly without emotion.
Between the original novel and the four films made so far (most recently in 2007), there’s a lack of consensus as to whether the replicant absorbs the original being’s consciousness, or if that person simply perishes from the process. This ’56 take implies the slightly more optimistic path, but it’s still a bleak consideration of what happens when a whole populace allows their emotional reason to drain away. It’s as relevant now as ever, possibly more than ever.
In the fictional town of Santa Mira, California, the aforementioned seeds take root and begin their plague, infiltrating the town over the course of several weeks. In that time, the local authorities find themselves bombarded by what seems to be a mass hysteria: people convinced that their friends and relatives are no longer the people they seem to be, completely alike in observable detail but “missing something” recognizably human. It’s this environment that Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returns to from a medical convention, quickly struck by the air of strangeness. Then the first body shows up.
The original ending to the film – which shall go undiscussed for the sake of unaware readers – was deemed too bleak by the studio, Allied Artists, and so a bookending prologue/epilogue was added to tweak the story, as well as a running voiceover to bridge the two. The result is something decidedly less ambitious in nature, but still marvelously entertaining and terrifying, and while some purists may balk at the imposed changes (the director did, claiming they nearly ruined his film), it’s simply not that much more upbeat at the end of the day. Although a bit less ambiguous, it remains among the most thrilling cliffhangers in all of cinema.
A colorized version exists, and I for one can’t imagine how much that would ruin the experience. Ellsworth Fredericks’ cinematography is soaked in dread-filled rich shadows and menacingly canted angles, and the textured grays echo the film’s general timelessness.
As for what it all means, there are two primary camps: anti-communism, or anti-McCarthyism, with some claiming that the presence of lack thereof the prologue/epilogue being the lynchpin. As a party-hating liberal, my leftist interpretation would be obvious, but it stands best as a general statement on human behavior, and according to quoted statements, this is how the filmmakers intended it. It doesn’t matter the label or the ideology: keep your guard up and don’t go to sleep, or you’re next.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Dir. Don Siegel. Perf. Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones, Larry Gates. Allied Artists, 1956. Running Time: 80 min. 5 out of 5 stars (no halves).
