Last week brought the announcement that Warner Bros. has launched a new remake of the sci-fi horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with The Conjuring 2 screenwriter David Leslie Johnson to pen the script and John Davis (Predator) to produce. Since this latest remake marks the fifth-time author Jack Finney’s 1955 iconic novel The Body Snatchers has been adapted for film, the news didn’t exactly drum up a lot of excitement.
The novel, originally released as a serialization on Colliers Magazine in 1954, was met with criticism and a lot of speculation as to the narrative’s symbolism. The now familiar story, then set in a California town, sees residents behaving strangely and void of emotion, leading to the discovery that giant pods from outer space have been replicating people’s bodies and memories while they sleep. As the residents succumb to the pod people, the human population dwindles until only the protagonist is left to warn the rest of the country.
While many interpreted the pod people as symbolism for McCarthyism at the time, Finney insisted there was nothing more intended beyond pure entertainment. Yet, whether intended or not, there’s a timeless terror to his story that allows for social subtext mirroring current events. The simple concept of erasing humanity remains terrifying no matter the era, and that it keeps resurfacing to terrorize new generations isn’t surprising. Perhaps what is surprising, though, is that for the most part, each adaptation of the novel has been worth watching. Even if the critics sometimes couldn’t see it.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Unlike the novel, which saw the aliens leaving Earth after deciding they couldn’t handle man’s resistance in a tidy, happy ending, the first adaptation kicked off the trend of darker, more ambiguous endings. Initially, lead protagonist Dr. Miles Bennell was to end the film screaming as truckloads of pods passed him on the road, but an epilogue was added with Miles successfully alerting the FBI. The pods hadn’t exactly given up their fight, but at least humanity stood a chance with the added epilogue.
The critics ignored the film upon its release in 1956, but from a box office standpoint, it was a success, drawing in $2.5 million in its first year. Many theaters at the time displayed pods made of paper-mâché with cutouts of lead actors Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter running away, making me wish I could step back in time and experience movie-going then. As for the critics that snubbed the film, well, they eventually came around. The 1956 version was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally significant. It continues to pop up on “best of” lists still today.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The most universally loved version of the story among both fans and critics alike, this remake set the standard for all remakes going forward. Moving the setting from a small town to a large city, this adaptation also brought in a bigger budget, an all-star cast lead by Donald Sutherland as protagonist Matthew Bennell, and included cameos from the original 1956 cast. The special effects were also dialed up to an impressive level, including a scene with a creepy dog with the man’s head. This time, the studio didn’t interfere with the pessimistic ending either. Though the film remained true to the source material, it introduced a new trait to the pod people: that eerie habit of pointing and screaming to put humans to surrounding pod people.
In a fun bit of trivia (spoilers to follow on the film’s ending), actress Veronica Cartwright was kept in the dark about the ending of the film by director Phil Kaufman. She had no idea that Donald Sutherland’s character had become an alien, and his pod person scream came as a shock. Cartwright’s terrified reaction isn’t acting. A year later, Ridley Scott pulled the same trick on her with the famous chestburster scene in Alien. Sometimes it’s rough being an actor.
Body Snatchers (1993)
This remake shifted the story from its California setting in favor of a military base in Alabama, making for an interesting parallel between the structural army and the conformity of the alien invasion. It kept the otherworldly scream of the pod people from the 1978 version but dropped the character of doctor Bennell that had appeared in the previous two iterations completely, instead focusing on lead Marti Malone (Gabrielle Anwar), the daughter of an Environmental Protection agent studying the effects of the military on the ecosystem.
This version also boasts a secret weapon in the form of Meg Tilly as Carol Malone, the first in the Malone household to succumb to the pods. Her role is minor, but she delivers the most epic monologue that’s bone chilling. If you don’t remember much else about this version, you’ll be able to recall her words with clarity, “Where you gonna go, where you gonna run, where you gonna hide? Nowhere… ’cause there’s no one like you left.”
Of all the film adaptations of this story, this version proved to be critic Roger Ebert’s favorite. He boldly declared it superior to the 1978 version. Oddly, Warner Bros. released this version in only about a few dozen theaters, so its box office earnings were dismal compared to its predecessors. Which is unfortunate, because it’s a great film.
The Invasion (2007)
The weakest link among the remakes, this iteration almost feels as hollow as a pod person itself. On paper, this should have worked. The source material remains timeless and scary, and the setting expands the invasion all over the U.S., instead of just one region, which means the invasion spreads even faster. A-list talent like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig headlined, and in a nod to the 1978 film, actress Veronica Cartwright had a small role as the first to notice something is amiss.
Problems began to pile up behind the scenes, though. Between David Kajganich’s contemporary departures from the original novel and director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s more claustrophobic arthouse approach, this wasn’t turning out to be summer blockbuster that Warner Bros. had envisioned. Enter the Wachowskis (The Matrix) to rework the screenplay, rumored to have rewritten two-thirds of the final film, then Joel Silver’s close friend James McTeigue to direct reshoots, and Warner Bros. received their summer action film. Except, tension, claustrophobia, and character development got lost in the mix. Also, that the aliens spread their infection by way of projectile vomit remains in odd choice for this film.
It’s an ok film that kind of works for an alien-invasion thriller; it’s flawed but entertaining enough for a single viewing. There’s been a consistent level of quality, though, in the Invasion of the Body Snatcher remakes that this didn’t quite meet. So, I’m glad that this isn’t the last attempt, and that a new generation will get introduced to this story.
Which version is your favorite?