Time: 115 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Violence
Cast:
Donald Sutherland as Matthew Bennell
Brooke Adams as Elizabeth Driscoll
Jeff Goldblum as Jack Bellicec
Veronica Cartwright as Nancy Bellicec
Leonard Nimoy as Dr. David Kibner
Director: Philip Kaufman

I had seen the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers from the 1950s, deliberately before watching the 70s version. I knew that this remake (or later adaptation of the original 50s novel) had Donald Sutherland and I knew of a couple of iconic moments. It really did live up to all the acclaim.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is uneasy from the very start, and only continues to build dread over its runtime. It is incredibly eerie, heightening the tension and creating a creepy atmosphere and a sense of paranoia. It’s definitely helped by the steady pace and slow build, as it takes its time progressing its mystery. The ending is certainly iconic, to the point that I knew about it before going in, but it’s still amazing. For what it’s worth, I’d advise staying away from looking up anything relating to this movie because its ending is so well known that it’s easy for a single picture to spoil it.

It has an absolutely stacked cast, with Donald Sutherland, Veronica Cartwright, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, and Jeff Goldblum delivering fantastic performances, and Sutherland and Nimoy being the standouts for me.

Director Philip Kaufman does a great job at creating an unsettling mood and atmosphere, it is well shot and there’s some effective sound work. 20 years on since the last movie, it gets far more graphic with the transformations, the practical effects are excellent, very freakish, grotesque and memorable. It’s also accompanied by a creepy score from Danny Zeitlin.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) is an amazing, eerie and tense sci-fi horror thriller, superbly directed and greatly acted. This and the 50s film are well worth watching, but the 70s version is definitely my favourite of the two.