7.4/10
37,527
169 user 182 critic

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

In San Francisco, a group of people discover the human race is being replaced one by one, with clones devoid of emotion.

Director:

Writers:

(novel), (screenplay)
Reviews
Popularity
3,917 ( 1,045)

On Disc

at Amazon

4 wins & 9 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Director: Don Siegel
Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates
Sci-Fi | Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

A teenage girl and her father discover alien clones are replacing humans on a remote U.S. military base in Alabama.

Director: Abel Ferrara
Stars: Gabrielle Anwar, Meg Tilly, Terry Kinney
Drama | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

An alien lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.

Director: Robert Wise
Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe
The Fly (1986)
Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Director: David Cronenberg
Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz
The Dead Zone (1983)
Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic detective ability.

Director: David Cronenberg
Stars: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt
Them! (1954)
Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.

Director: Gordon Douglas
Stars: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon
Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A man's vision for a utopian society is disillusioned when travelling forward into time reveals a dark and dangerous society.

Director: George Pal
Stars: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

A small town in California is attacked by Martians.

Director: Byron Haskin
Stars: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne
Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Dr. Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.

Director: James Whale
Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive
They Live (1988)
Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

Director: John Carpenter
Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster
Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.

Directors: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
Stars: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness
Action | Horror | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.

Director: David Cronenberg
Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
Lelia Goldoni ...
...
...
...
Stan Ritchie ...
David Fisher ...
Tom Dahlgren ...
Garry Goodrow ...
Jerry Walter ...
Edit

Storyline

The first remake of the paranoid infiltration classic moves the setting for the invasion from a small town to the city of San Fransisco and starts as Matthew Bennell notices that several of his friends are complaining that their close relatives are in some way different. When questioned later they themselves seem changed as they deny everything or make lame excuses. As the invaders increase in number they become more open and Bennell, who has by now witnessed an attempted "replacement" realises that he and his friends must escape or suffer the same fate. But who can he trust to help him and who has already been snatched? Written by Mark Thompson <mrt@oasis.icl.co.uk>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

You'll never close your eyes again. See more »

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

20 December 1978 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Die Körperfresser kommen  »

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Dolby Stereo)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Harry, the homeless banjo guy's banjo playing was actually performed by Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia. See more »

Goofs

Early in the film when Geoffrey and Elizabeth are talking and we only see their reflections. Geoffrey's mouth isn't moving See more »

Quotes

Elizabeth Driscoll: I have seen these flowers all over. They are growing like parasites on other plants. All of a sudden. Where are they coming from?
Nancy Bellicec: Outer space?
Jack Bellicec: What are you talking about? A space flower?
Nancy Bellicec: Well why not a space flower? Why do we always expect metal ships?
Jack Bellicec: I've NEVER expected metal ships.
See more »


Soundtracks

De La Tromba Pavin
Written by Richard Allison (uncredited)
As performed by the Julian Bream Consort
Courtesy of RCA Records
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Excellent remake of the 1950s paranoid classic. ALMOST as good as the original.
25 April 2003 | by (Perth, Australia) – See all my reviews

The original 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' is one of my favourite thrillers of all time, and a very hard movie to top. I'm always sceptical about remakes of classic horror and SF films, but this version by Philip Kaufman is much better than one would expect, and ALMOST as good as the original. I still think Don Siegel's version is the best because it really evokes small town life in middle America, and that makes the horror and suspense all the more effective. Kaufman transplants the setting to San Francisco and the big city location means it loses its sense of intimacy and community, and instead has more of an alienated urban feel to it. But it's still an excellent movie, and along with Cronenberg's 'The Fly' and Carpenter's 'The Thing' the most successful remake of a 1950s horror classic to date. What really helps this movie is the cast. Donald Sutherland, one of the 1970s most interesting and intelligent actors, is excellent in the main role, played by Kevin McCarthy in the first film. And the lovely Brooke Adams ('Days Of Heaven', 'The Dead Zone', 'The Unborn') is first rate as the main female lead, her role being much more substantial than Dan Wynter's in the original. I've had a major crush on Adams ever since I first saw this movie. She is beautiful but goofy and I really thought she was going to be a major star. The supporting cast is excellent, led by the wonderful Jeff Goldblum and 'Alien's Veronica Cartwright, and of course Leonard Nimoy, in his most memorable non-Trek role. Also keep an eye out for cameos by the star and director of the original version (Kevin McCarthy and Don 'Dirty Harry' Siegel), and a very brief but eerie one by Robert Duvall! 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' is a superb example of how to remake a horror classic, and is one of the creepiest and most nerve-wracking thrillers of the 1970s. I highly recommend it and the original 'Body Snatchers', they are two of the scariest movies ever made!


41 of 54 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
The screaming Tim-johnston-215-469291
Theory: Were there two Matthews at the End? Guernicaman
Scariest scenes! crzycajun35
The Original VS The Remake blacksuicide
Becoming a pod is the right choice. Humans are the anti-heroes here. forever_mclaren
Veronica Cartwright's character somehow NOT transformed at end of film MovieMystic13
Discuss Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page