Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Director: Philip Kaufman
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum

Synopsis:
A San Francisco health inspector and his friend start to notice a pattern of odd and unsettling behavior where people seem to be replaced by identical duplicates.

Impressions:
I believe I've gone on record plenty of times about my general distaste for remakes. A movie should only be remade if it can bring something new (and good) to the table. This is one of those rare examples that does so (though I do like the alternate interpretation where this is actually a sequel to the original). The original was very much a product of and commentary on the 50s and this does the same for the 70s.

A story like this hinges on strong characters and this movie really shines on that front. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams have good chemistry together and Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright work well as the beta couple, playing up their respective character quirks (Cartwright helping establish her scream queen credentials she'd later solidify in Alien). I also really loved Leonard Nimoy as the pop psychologist Dr. Kibner. I also want to give a nod to Kevin McCarthy's cameo.

The film is very well shot with a lot of Dutch angles to emphasize the disorientation you get from the scenario and there are often a lot of background events that help provide foreshadowing. There are also some fairly solid effects. Composer Denny Zeitlin also deserves credit for the score, especially this film marked both the beginning and the end of his career.

The original is a classic and deserves a place of honor, but much as John Carpenter's The Thing takes its predecessor to a whole new level, so too does this film. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Own It