Even if you’ve never seen it before, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with 1956’s classic science fiction/horror flick, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It’s been remade, adapted or referenced so many times over the years that, honestly, it’d be hard not to know the premise. A doctor and his friends are shocked when they discover that everyone in their quaint suburban town is being replaced by ‘pod people,’ plant/alien doppelgängers that are identical to the original but lack any semblance of human emotion.

Since it’s release, it’s been the subject of many think-pieces that seek to imbue the tale with meaning. Is it a condemnation of communism? How about a tale against McCarthyism? Is it a sweeping tale about the dangers of over medication in psychiatry? Maybe it’s just a story about aliens replacing people!

I’m not gonna throw my two cents in about that and have that be the focus of this post (though for the record, I think it’s either the second or third choice of the ones I listed above). Instead, I’m gonna keep things nice and simple by saying that all you need to know is that the original IotBS is some must watch cinema. Despite its tight budget and the overt 1950’s-ness of the material (hey, it was the fifties!), this is an absolutely great watch. While lacking in the sort of action or set pieces you may expect from newer films or even some of its contemporaries, Body Snatchers is a well paced and thought-provoking picture. For newcomers, it’s entirely possible that you’ll be left guessing who in the main cast have been replaced or not during your screening of it. In fact, I think I’d even go as far as to consider it a de-facto Twilight Zone movie! It doesn’t have any direct references to the series or anything, but it’s certainly gripping enough to count in my book!

The film has some classically 50’s performances to it that may come across as hokey at points but are also a lot of fun, I think. Additionally, it’s presented in “Superscope,” which gives everything an epic scale that begs for large projections when possible. It’s also stuffed with some fantastic lighting cues and framing that owe a lot to noir and add a great edge to every scene. I especially love a dutch angle that happens about halfway through the movie when Dr. Hill enters his greenhouse.

My only gripe with the film is it’s ending, which was infamously tacked on during production at the behest of the studio. I won’t go into details or anything here because I think the movie is still worth going into as blind as one possibly can (especially since we all know the premise already) but let’s just say that it reeks of studio interference and that the original ending is much better.

Anyway if you haven’t seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers before, I highly recommend it! Even though it’s a well-worn story, it feels surprisingly relatable for the modern world on account of how many ways you can interpret the story. With the mass adoption of AI solutions that simulate human writing, art or labor, it’s easy to re-pin IotBS as an internet era tale of trying to find humanity online. There’s an idea for a remake lol.