Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1978  PG  SCIENCE FICTION  1h 55min
CAST— Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright
MUSIC— Denny Zeitlin  DIRECTOR— Philip Kaufman  BASED ON— The Body Snatchers (novel), by Jack Finney

     Better stock up on the No-Dōz, ‘cause they getcha when you sleep. This remake of the classic McCarthy-era SF chiller is surprisingly effective. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams star as two officials from the San Francisco department of health who stumble upon an extraterrestrial conspiracy. Weird flowers have popped up seemingly overnight and those who take a whiff may be enjoying their last sniff… as a human, of course. These flowers soon grow into huge pods that eject human replicants and wither the original people (in an ooey, gooey sort of way). The replicants only come alive when you sleep, so that little cat nap may cost you. The first hour is a study in paranoia but the second half is a real nail-biter, a mix of John Carpenter and George Romero (maybe a dash of David Cronenberg sprinkled in just for the heck of it). A sci-fi/horror tale that may just have you eyeing your neighbors a bit closer. Wake up!
OUR RATING— ***
ORIGINAL— Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
REMADE AS— Body Snatchers (1994), The Invasion (2007)