Friday, January 10, 2020

An Ode To Urban Paranoia



I’m usually not a huge fan of remakes, but Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) is a notable exception—I find it even more engrossing and entertaining than the original. This retelling of the classic 1956 sci-fi chiller, given a stylish and sophisticated treatment by director Philip Kaufman, provides a time capsule into the late 1970s, but its themes of urban angst and conspiracy are just as valid today.

Spores travel through outer space, pushed on by the solar winds, forming a gelatinous oozing substance and spawning strange flowers from pods feeding on existing flora. A humanlike life form develops from the sweet-smelling flowers, the pods giving birth to human duplicates who suck the life from their progenitors. The pods’ rapid widespread growth, due to cross pollination with other species (including humans!), allows them to take over an entire city virtually overnight.

In the 1970s, aptly nicknamed The Me Decade, loss of identity is the ultimate dread. Assimilation into the hive mind of the establishment is a devastating blow to the children of love and self expression in the newly dawning Age of Aquarius. (Here, the concept of “flower power” is literally turned on its head.)

Donald Sutherland as Matthew Bennell

In the post-hippie, pre-yuppie era of the late 1970s, urban society displayed a preoccupation with the self-help movement (“I’m OK, you’re OK”), an urgent new interest in ecology and environmental concerns, and a collective fear of becoming less human, less individualistic, and succumbing to unbridled capitalism and totalitarianism.

But this film also promotes the invaders’ point of view —that we humans have nearly destroyed our home planet through our mismanagement, and the newcomers who take over will do better. 

The atmospheric production design creates an eerie visual and aural landscape upon which the film’s themes are played out. Dizzyingly crooked camera angles are amplified by the city of San Francisco’s famously steep and hilly terrain, creating an off-kilter reality. There is an homage to film noir with the camera lingering in dark hallways, revealing frightened faces at windows and strange things lurking in the shadows. 

Brooke Adams as Elizabeth Driscoll

The innovative sound design, with unsettling screeching, squealing, crackling, rasping and wheezing effects, enhances the terrifying scenes of the birth of the simulacrums from the bulbous space pods.

The film unfolds in a leisurely fashion, depicting everyday life in the late ’70s city by the Bay, but the normalcy is punctuated by a palpable tension. It’s an elegant buildup of paranoiac suspense as quiet dread gives way to sudden explosions of terror. The vacuous city dwellers in the background are undergoing a crisis we are not privy to. Brief moments of panic subside, resulting in blank faces and business as usual.  

The story is told through a group of compellingly flawed and engaging characters, portrayed by a powerhouse cast. 

Leonard Nimoy as Dr. David Kibner

Prolific Donald Sutherland, who is still working steadily today after over five decades in the business and must have more acting credits than any living actor (On TV, flipping channels, you may glimpse him in fare as wide and varied as 1965’s Die Die My Darling to 2014’s Hunger Games: Mockingjay, with iconic portrayals in films like Don’t Look Now, Klute and Ordinary People in between), is our quirky protagonist here.

As Department of Health restaurant inspector Matthew Bennell, a curly-haired Sutherland strides the crooked San Francisco streets in a flapping trenchcoat, in search of rat turds in the kitchens of fine restaurants and pining for his lovely coworker, scientist Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams).

Jeff Goldblum as Jack Bellicec

Adams, a throaty-voiced beauty and one one of the most intelligent actresses of the decade (she basically gave up her career to raise a family with husband Tony Shalhoub), gives an equally strong performance as the shaken Elizabeth, who discovers that her live-in dentist boyfriend Jeffrey (the handsome Art Hindle) is definitely not quite himself lately. 

Jeffrey is one of many undergoing the same personality change all over the city—a transformation into a cold and emotionless automaton, exhibiting somnambulistic behavior and rendezvousing with strangers for mysterious meetings.

Veronica Cartwright as Nancy Bellicec

Leonard Nimoy is Dr. David Kibner, self help guru and celebrity psychiatrist who calms the cresting fear epidemic in the city, explaining away the furor with '70s pop psychobabble—people fearing they are becoming less human and shutting their feelings off; it’s a “hallucination flu” going around that will all blow over in a day or two.

Smug and all-knowing and holier than thou, Nimoy’s elegantly villainous Kibner is an arrogant prick who’s even more logical and less empathetic than Mr. Spock! 

Art Hindle as Jeffrey

At the Bellicec Mud Baths, Matthew’s friends—neurotic, frustrated writer Jack Bellicec (perfectly played by a young Jeff Goldblum) and his free-thinking wife Nancy (Veronica Cartwright of Alien) find an undeveloped body covered in the telltale gelatinous substance. (The unformed creature is tall, the same height as 6’4” Goldblum!)


How does your garden grow?

The transformations from human to alien are unforgettably and terrifyingly portrayed: The grasping tendrils attach themselves to sleeping humans and siphon off their life force to fuel the new life forms. Garbage trucks full of strange cobwebby debris roll through the streets, picking up what’s left of the human race. The scene where Elizabeth’s body disintegrates completely as her essence is assimilated by the invader is particularly vivid.

Fighting to stay awake, the group attempts to blend in with the invaders, showing no emotion. But resistance is futile, to quote the Borgs of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Eventually exhaustion gives way to acquiescence.

Nimoy reassures a terrified Leila Goldoni

“You’re evolving into a new life form,” intones Nimoy’s Kibner gravely, “Born again into an untroubled world, free of anxiety and pain—and love.”

Paranoia pervades as Matthew and company uncover what’s actually happening. When Matthew dials the operator to alert the police and the disembodied addresses him as “Mr. Bennell,” he is aghast: “How do you know my name?” Panic ensues when the group’s wild conspiracy theories prove all too true. 


It's all too much for Nancy

Darkly comedic moments leaven the feverish proceedings: Cartwright’s Nancy is particularly hilarious, especially while pulling a morbidly obese man out of the mud bath and giving him a rubdown; as well as warning Goldblum to steer clear of his unformed double (“Don’t touch it, Jack…you don’t know where it’s been!”).

The battle of the individual vs. society depicted here is just as relevant today, as progress and technology and media attempt to put society on the same wavelength,  promoting cookie-cutter conformity while giving lip service to diversity.

If you’re a big fan of dystopian conspiracy classics like Soylent Green and John Carpenter’s They Live, as I am, I believe you’ll truly appreciate Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (I recommend skipping the subsequent retreads from the 1990s and 2000s, which have much less to offer, in my opinion.)





This is an entry in the Beyond Star Trek blogathon hosted by Quiggy at The Midnite Drive-In and Hamlette of Hamlette’s Soliloquy. Thanks for inviting me to participate; I look forward to reading everyone’s posts!


16 comments:

  1. It seems to ne there might be some interesting parallels between the pod people and the Borg from the STU... Great article, Chris.

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  2. I will not sleep easy tonight, if I sleep at all. Thanks a lot!

    It has been many years since I have seen this movie. My daughter hates it when I scare her with a film and can hardly take the original. H'm. I think I'll plan a pizza and movie night.

    Brooke Adams was quite a compelling actress. As a fan of Guiding Light, I knew her as Lynn Adams' sister. Quite an interesting duo.

    PS: I may quote your great bit about turning flower power on its head.

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  3. Hey Quiggy--thanks so much for inviting me to participate in your spectacular blogathon, a great way to start the new year and decade! Inspired theme!!
    Indeed, the Borg do have a lot in common with these space invaders...and John Carpenter must also have been inspired when he did They Live a decade later!
    -Chris

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  4. Hi Caftan Woman - Had no idea that Brooke had an actress sister named Lynn--I was an Another World/All My Children/General Hospital watcher, and as a result never watched Guiding Light or Young & The Restless--now I wish I could go back in time and catch those too!!

    It's true, this movie is exceedingly creepy! Would love to hear what your daughter thinks of it if you watch together!

    Happy New Year!
    -Chris

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  5. Hi, Chris, although I do like the original a bit better than this, I also think it's one of the very best remakes of a classic film, and your review has made me want to watch it again. One of these weekends I may look at both, as well as the later remakes, which are not as good but have some good moments. I also need to look at Soylent Green and They Live again, as I have them both on DVD and they've been sitting in the pile for quite some time now. So many movies, such little time, and all that, LOL!

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  6. Hi Bill, thanks for stopping by and happy new year! I too like the original with Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter...in fact, love the whole 1950s take on the genre, starting with The Day the Earth Stood Still. Not crazy about the later remakes, particularly the Nicole Kidman/ Daniel Craig version that’s just a dull and predictable retread of the plot with no tension or suspense.

    I treasure your support and am inspired weekly by your wonderful Great Old Movies and B Movie Nightmare blogs!
    - Chris

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  7. You've got me intrigued about the parallels of the aliens in They Live, since they are just trying to control the Earthlings and not remake them in their image. Which is how I aligned the pod people with the Borg. But leaps of logic aren't an anathema to me, so if you came up with an angle I can't see I'm wholly open to listening... :-)

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  8. lol@Quiggy ... it’s only a movie, don’t overthink it! :-)

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  9. This movie sounds quite bizzare, but good review! :-)

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  10. Hi Movie Critic—- yes, it is weird, but worth a look if you like sci fi horror. Thanks for reading!

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  11. Fantastic remake! Spooooky! :)

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  12. Hi Movie Maniac—agreed! Thanks for stopping by!

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  13. I kind of avoid '70s movies, sooooo... I'm probably never going to see this, but the presences of Nimoy and Goldblum are probably enough that if it was randomly on TV, I would try it, at least.

    Thanks for joining the party!

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  14. Hi Rachel - probably not your cup of tea, but Nimoy and the young Jeff Goldblum are exceptional here! Thanks for another engaging blogathon! Love being part of the fun!
    - Chris

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  15. Hi lovely, be so wrong if you dont sign up... and looking forward to checking out your posts https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/2020/01/16/pop-stars-moonlighting-blogathon-2020/

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  16. Would love to, Gill—count me in!

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