Watched, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978) again last night. It got panned by the critics, but I love it. It has true suspense and pacing, unlike today’s failed, sub zero horror movies and television shows that force/move plots unbelievably (literally) along with sledgehammer “grace”-lessness. “Invasion” (1978) is a full hour and 55 minutes, and worth every minute. Donald Sutherland is excellent, as is Veronica Cartwright (film and television veteran having worked very early on in childhood with Rod Sterling, “The Twilight Zone,” and Alfred Hitchcock, “The Boids,” I mean, “The Birds,” and who is also punked out “Lambert” in, “Alien,” ) doing what she does best—scream and show unrelenting agony and terror (again, of which she excels), Brooke Adams (there is something very Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio about her—a good thing) and a very young Jeff Goldbloom. And, while I love Leonard Nimoy as Spock (and this is no slam to Mr. Nimoy) he is not very convincing in anything else—barring hosting documentaries, of which he does exceptionally well. But, who cares, when youve got Spock under your belt (so to speak) for goodness sakes? The effects still standup, today. The film is eerie, and still retains its, “they’re out to get us, we have to go now!,” urgency. Lovely echoes of William Friedkin with the ticking of a clock (and only the ticking of a clock) during a full pan and zoom in on a man crossing the street, shot from a second story window. There are many such Friedkin-esque shots throughout the film. The scene where Kevin McCarthy—the original male lead in the original, groundbreaking, hard-hitting, “Invasion of the Body Snatches,” (1956)—re-enacting almost to the letter, the same scene and lines (“They’re coming, etc.!”) as in his role in the original, was a wonderful touch. From the middle to the end of the film, both Veronica Cartwright and Brooke Adams are wearing red dresses, and when they’re running around in the dark, it is impossible to tell one from the other. Still couldn’t tell them apart in the dark scenes last night. One would have thought the wardrobe person would have at least taken note and alerted the director to this odd circumstance. The horror in the remake starts *immediately* (of which I missed during all previous viewings), with the (already “changed”/replaced alien) teacher urging the students to pick the flowers, and to take them home to their parents—the very first scene and the very first lines in the film. Glorious. The almost Industrial soundtrack, especially during the pod farm/harvest discovery scene, is amazing and extremely effective/disconcerting. Fabulous, doubleplusgood, death-chill-on-the-wind October/Fall fare. Watch it alone with the lights off.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 20:40:02 +0000
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