Thanks for the memories!

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The movie's only flaw is also a virtue: It's jammed with characters, stories, warmth and laughs.

This scene was the biggest icebreaker. She owned it!

Chemist and his family move to a military base in Alabama to investigate the level of toxins in their water--could this pollution be the reason why the military personnel are exhibiting such odd behavior? "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with both a new milieu and environmental overtones, also a heavy emphasis on the grisly body duplications. The protagonist this time is the chemist's teenage daughter, who also provides an infrequent voice-over in the past tense. Director Abel Ferrara makes the attempt to slowly build suspense, however his morose, darkly-filmed opening (some 30 minutes in) backfires; tension doesn't so much mount as it does bide its time. Adaptation of Jack Finney's novel "The Body Snatchers" was worked on by several writers who provide lots of activity but no interesting people. Some effective and hair-raising moments, a good performance from Meg Tilly in a small role, but a fiery finale that falls flat. ** from ****

On an army base in Alabama aliens being a plan to replace the human race and a family is subjected to the horror of the takeover.Loosely inspired by Jack Finney's novel Abel Ferrara's version creates a maternal nervousness mostly from overlooked child actor Reilly Murphy who plays Gabrielle Anwar's Marti Malone half brother Andy. What Andy sees and goes though is quite horrific, conditioned at preschool, chased by soldiers and loved ones, seeing dead bodies fade to dust. Things children shouldn't see or be subjected too. This Ferrara's strongest aspect along with some, interesting bloody effects with the pod's creeping tentacles snaking up into noses, ears and open mouths.Ferrara's 1993 version of Body Snatchers never quiet reaches the paranoia of 1956 version or character development of the '78 remake but it has a good stab at it. Ferrara is limited in terms of creating atmosphere due to the confined setting of a military base but makes the most of shadowy hangers, warehouses and swamp which grows the effective looking pods. Due to the South set base he's unable to muster Philip Kaufman's grittiness or raw emotion of his own King of New York (1990) or Bad Lieutenant (1992).The cast are notably Tilly offers a great looming performance and gets the best lines, memorably – "Where you gonna go, where you gonna run, where you gonna hide? Nowhere... 'cause there's no one like you left.". Anwar (23 at the time debatably by default) delivers a fitting subdued, introverted teen. Notable is underrated Christine Elise as Billy Idol-like wild child Jenn Platt and Lost Boy's Billy Wirth as Anwar's love interest pilot Tim Young. In addition, there's R. Lee Ermey and Forest Whitaker in military roles both of which, like the rest of the cast, are sorely underused. Anwar awkwardly bookends with some dated voice-over narration which adds to the unevenness of Body Snatchers, aside from Tilly, the characters are sketchy and underdeveloped. Some effort is made to give Wirth's Young a troubled history but its a single throwaway line. Only Miami Vice's Terry Kinney as Steve Malone gets some meaningful dialogue.Like Kaufman's predecessor it features some shrewdly fit in nudity and comes courteous of Meg Tilly and Gabrielle Anwar. But the final act feels rushed and hastily edited with an array of explosions and Ferrara's 90's vision feels incomplete.Overall, choppy studio production issues aside, its an interesting underrated physiological horror.

"Body Snatchers" is a good horror/thriller with excellent special effects. I can't speak as to whether or not it's a remake that stays faithful to the original, but my gut says that this Is a worthy adaptation. The ending isn't as strong as the scenes that precede it, but overall it's an enjoyable sci-fi paranoia film. The premise is basically that there's an alien invasion going on right before our eyes. The extra terrestrials wait until you fall asleep and when you do, you get sucked up Inside of a weird pod and replaced with a doppelganger. There's a lot of potential there and I bet you can already see why this premise has endured over the years. How do you know who you can trust, how are you going to convince the others that something is amiss and how are we supposed to win? I found that the picture takes a bit too long to set up. I understand that every plot point needs to be introduces thoroughly and all, but considering this is the third version of the film, and the material has been imitated and ripped off countless times, you probably already know where it's going in the beginning, and you'll grow restless waiting for everyone to catch up to you. Once it gets started there are a lot of tense parts that will keep you on your toes and some real surprises as friends and foes become indistinguishable from each other. The film really convincingly portrays the body snatchers and their pods and the special effects alone make the movie worth a watch, even though the very end of the film is anti-climactic and contains one very bad special effect that's embarrassing to see. There's a really chilling moment when you realize really how dire the situation Is that's permanently ingrained in my mind. Just thinking about it makes me uneasy, and no matter how many times it's made fun of, it still gives me the shivers. It's worth seeking out. (On DVD, November 6, 2012)