Body Snatchers

This 1993 third film based on Jack Finney's insidious 1955 alien invasion novel (originally brought to the screen in the classic 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers) relocates the action to a military base in the American south, where a civilian EPA official (Terry Kinney) has taken his family for a working summer vacation. A toxic chemical dump is found leeching poison into the ground, but neither chemical poisoning nor PTSD explain the strange behavior of soldiers who become jittery and paranoid before suddenly switching off emotionally. Filmmaker Abel Ferrara's low-budget take on the story plays up the anxiety and alienation while adding an edge to the horror, such as when a young boy sees his mother disappear into a dead husk and then return as a soulless, cold duplicate. Body Snatchers features weirder transformation effects and a heightened sense of paranoia over who can be trusted ("Where you gonna go? Where you gonna run? Where you gonna hide? Nowhere. Because there's no one left like you."). Gabrielle Anwar stars as the frustrated, rebellious teenage daughter, Meg Tilly is her transformed stepmother, and Forest Whitaker practically steals the film in his two scenes as the base doctor, popping speed to stay awake while he rants about the invasion. A minor cult film with a visceral visual style (on a budget), this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)