Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The original 1956 version of the oft-filmed sci-fi horror novel by Jack Finney is still one of the best and most disturbing alien-invasion films ever made. Small-town doctor Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returns to his California coastal home from an out-of-town trip to find that everything is just a bit off: friends and family have suddenly become 'others'—emotionless beings lacking personality and joie de vivre. This spreading phenomenon is set against the growing romance between Miles and old flame Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), who pull together as they stumble across the bodies of unformed people (a weird mix of plant and person) and wind up becoming isolated within the transforming community. Director Don Siegel shifts the atmosphere from sunny and open to dark and claustrophobic as the humans enter some kind of hive mind. An insidious exploration of the loss of soul and self, the movie coined the phrase 'pod people' and became a metaphor for the repressive conformity of supposed opposites—Communism and McCarthyism—during the 1950s. The fact that it continues to remain resonant for new generations (substitute urban alienation, emotional suppression, etc.) is a testament to its genius and power. One of the first releases in Olive's exclusive arrangement with Paramount to distribute the Republic Pictures catalog on Blu-ray and DVD, the film's Blu-ray debut is the best it's ever looked on home video. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker) [Blu-ray Review—Oct. 30, 2018—Olive, 80 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $39.99—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers features a fine transfer with DTS-HD 2.0 audio. Extras include two audio commentaries (one by film historian Richard Harlan Smith, the other by costars Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter and filmmaker Joe Dante), production featurettes 'Sleep No More: Invasion of the Body Snatchers Revisited' (27 min.), 'I No Longer Belong: The Rise and Fall of Walter Wagner' with film scholar and author Matthew Bernstein (22 min.), 'Return to Santa Mira' (16 min.), 'The Fear is Real' with filmmakers Dante and Larry Cohen (13 min.), 'The Stranger in Your Lover's Eyes' with Kristoffer Tabori, the son of director Don Siegel (12 min.), and 'The Fear and the Fiction' (9 min.), as well as an interview with McCarthy (8 min.), a 'What's In a Name?' (3 min.) essay by author and film programmer Kier-La Janisse, and a booklet. Bottom line: a handsome edition of this horror classic.]