Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Invasion of the Body Snatchers / USA / 1978

Philip Kaufman’s rendition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers exceeds the original in its meticulous rendering of the pod people, their hurried sprouting from a blooming flower to a nondescript but frightening human body, covered in webs—and this is precisely why it is the lesser film. In the Don Siegel original, the summary of this metamorphosis is kept to a minimum, probably to obscure the crudeness of the effects work, but the tactic works to the film’s advantage. The remake lends the pod people a hostility and, more importantly, a gruesomeness (especially in this, the most alarming scene) those in the original lack. You see them manifest in patient, horrible close-up: flaccid fetuses emerging from a cabbage-like cocoon, growing with exceptional speed as they increasingly resemble their host. It’s obscene, so it’s a triumphant gesture when Don Sutherland smashes the face of his clone with an ax. Compare this to its counterpart scene in the original: Kevin McCarthy finds some pod people in a greenhouse, one of whom (or which) distills the features of his girlfriend. Before fleeing, he destroys the imposters—and although this is some sort of triumph that will prolong his existence, it’s also tragic as it displays the degradation of McCarthy’s character; he’s a responsible doctor, known about town for his integrity, his intention to sustain human life, but here his entire agenda is violated. In order to protect himself, he must assume the assets of a killer.

This works exceptionally well because the original does not make its antagonists hostile. Contrarily, they epitomize complacency. Kaufman’s pod people do not; their intention to overtake the world isn’t relayed in a calm, indifferent confidence and relaxed eyes. They routinely chase Sutherland and his diminishing party, pointing and hissing at them. This reveals in the antagonists a trait that violates the concept’s inherent principle: the abject loss of humanity.

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: MGM DVD
05 May 2006 10:26 AM | Submit Comment