I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Sorry, this movie sucks

Great Film overall

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

RELEASED IN 1978 and directed by Philip Kaufman, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" stars Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams as friends, Matthew and Elizabeth, who work at the Health Department in San Francisco. They increasingly suspect that people are somehow being duplicated and trace the problem to alien plant pods. Leonard Nimoy plays Matthew's pop psychologist friend while Jeff Goldblum & Veronica Cartwright are on hand as a couple who run a mudbath parlour.This could be viewed as a sequel rather than a remake. The entries in the series are as follows: "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956); "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978); "Body Snatchers" (1993); and "The Invasion" (2007).The first one is in Black & White and is probably too dated and tame for most modern viewers, but it's still worthwhile; it takes place in small town, California. This 1978 sequel switches the setting to the big city. The 1993 movie shifts to an army base in the deep south while the 2007 version switches back to the big city of Washington DC.This rendition has a peculiar tone with a lot of the events taking place at night. There's a subdued eerie and dreary air with paranoia morphing into conspiratorial and then ghastly reality. The 70's atmosphere and cast are highlights, as is the score with its unnerving pieces. Brooke Adam's has exquisitely sculptured facial features (eyes, nose, lips, teeth, chin, cheeks and forehead). The creepy pod-birthing sequence in the garden is cogently done.THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 55 minutes and was shot in San Francisco. WRITER: W.D. Richter.GRADE: B

This 1978 remake was as good as the original but not as tight and compact. Otherwise, it is just as scary and even more moving at times (when Brooke Adams' human form collapses into dust, for example) and just as well acted (if not better) than the original. Yes, the urban setting is quite distinct from the small-town setting of the original but it works in a different way, and given the anonymity and coldness of large cities, it is a perfectly logical setting for a dystopian film. The hostile ranks of sinister, dark, faceless, soulless figures in humanoid form and the disembodied camera-lit faces of fearful people in hiding from an increasingly unfolding terror stand out. A city, universally acclaimed for its beauty (none of which shines through the dystopia) becomes, increasingly, a prison camp or colony in a bleak and turbulent void under permanent grey skies. The performances are top notch, but I would draw attention away from the better-known stars to give special mention to Canadian actor Art Hindle, whose performance is brilliant. Only very briefly seen as the sweet but flawed human Geoffrey, Elizabeth Driscoll's love interest, his post-transformation Geoffrey is chilling. Scheming, sidling, subarctically cold, he makes one realize precisely how and why Elizabeth is so distraught at his inexplicable change. Whether going off to a sinister "meeting" in the dark of night or in closeup, avoiding Elizabeth even as he keeps trying to get her to sleep and transform, his eyes are like almost orbless sockets (wonder how he managed to do that) as devoid of humanity as any alien or predator or Klingon or werewolf but scarier because of what we know has happened and what we fear will happen as the film continues to unfold nightmarishly. Speaking for myself, I missed the human Geoffrey-- a character barely introduced -- more than I later regretted the loss of characters with far more screen time. Such was Hindle's quiet brilliance here.Yes, the ending is a shock but it shouldn't be. When you see the film again and review everything that happens once the daylight returns in the last scene it really is not a surprise. It could not unfold as it does without the shocker being unavoidably true. It's just that there is a natural audience optimism based on the way most sci-fi (even horror sci-fi) films end which creates a cognitive dissonance or tension between what the viewer is expecting (especially given the ending of the 1956 film version) and what the viewer gets in this case.

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" follows a San Francisco health department worker, his colleague, and their friends who find themselves in the midst of an apparent alien invasion, and with few means of escape.To be frank, I tend not to enjoy science fiction all that much, but this 1978 retelling of the Jack Finney novel gets noted praise, so I had faith it would be something good. Long story short, it didn't disappoint. While it is in part a science fiction film, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is more of a paranoid survival thriller with shades of bonafide horror. Kaufman's direction is fantastic, and savvy editing techniques give the film a frantic tone at times which helps ramp up the paranoia.Even more notable I think is the masterful sound design. The ambient noises of San Francisco's city streets often blur together with alien noises and bizarre tones, which also bolsters the sense of paranoia and infiltration of something otherworldly. The performances from all the central cast are solid; Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams make a formidable lead couple, while Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright are both likable and believable as their eccentric hippie friends. Leonard Nimoy also makes an appearance as a a psychiatrist, as does Art Hindle as Adams's invaded boyfriend.While I do feel that the film's final act does somewhat decelerate the masterful sense of paranoia to its own detriment, it is an explosive conclusion that is bookended with a chilling end-note scene that has gone down in the annals of the horror film. All in all, a phenomenally-crafted thriller. 9/10.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978): Dir: Philip Kaufman / Cast: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright: Ominous and chilling remake that is every bit as great as the original, only it heightens the paranoia aspect. Set in glorious San Francisco, Donald Sutherland plays Health Department representative Matthew Bennell who is confronted with cases of people not being who they are emotionally. Brooke Adams plays Elizabeth Driscoll whose husband is different. These people fall asleep and replaced by pod lookalikes thanks to a flower that Driscoll discovers. Leonard Nimoy plays Dr. Kibner, a friend of Bennell's who attempts to explain this bizarre event in society. Unfortunately Nimoy is too obvious in his motives. The relationship between Bennett and Driscoll is subtle with a hint of romantic interest that is not tresspassed due to her marriage. Another interesting marriage relationship is between Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright who work in a massage parlor mud bath where a pod body is discovered. Director Philip Kaufman creates paranoia while toying with gadgets and showcasing Adams and her weird eye twirl talent. It can also symbolize the Biblical Rapture when one factors the shocking ending. Great update with a strong theme regarding paranoia and the importance of personality and the outside forces that invade one's senses. Score: 9 ½ / 10