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:

Philip Kaufman

Writers:

W.D. Richter (screenplay), Jack Finney (novel)

Stars:

Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum

3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Sutherland	...	Matthew Bennell
Brooke Adams	...	Elizabeth Driscoll
Jeff Goldblum	...	Jack Bellicec
Veronica Cartwright	...	Nancy Bellicec
Leonard Nimoy	...	Dr. David Kibner
Art Hindle	...	Dr. Geoffrey Howell
Lelia Goldoni	...	Katherine Hendley
Kevin McCarthy	...	Running Man
Don Siegel	...	Taxi Driver
Tom Luddy	...	Ted Hendley
Stan Ritchie	...	Stan
David Fisher	...	Mr. Gianni
Tom Dahlgren	...	Detective
Garry Goodrow	...	Dr. Boccardo (as Gary Goodrow)
Jerry Walter	...	Restaurant Owner

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?

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | sleep | psychiatrist | health inspector | capgras delusion | 

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Taglines:

From deep space... (advance one sheet)

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

22 December 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Filming Locations:

1227 Montgomery Street, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,298,129, 25 December 1978, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$24,946,533

Company Credits

Production Co:

Solofilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Dolby Stereo)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Matthew's story and joke goes as follows. The British are trapped in the Sahara and are surrounded by the Germans. One day, an officer makes an announcement: "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is, we have no food but camel poop. The good news is, there is plenty of it."

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Goofs

It is established in earlier dialog that there is no emotion left when the humans are reborn. Despite that, when Matthew pushes an attacker from the rafters in the "pod farm," the man that falls screams in fear.

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Quotes

[while Matthew drives Elizabeth through the city, a crazed man runs up to their car]
Elizabeth Driscoll: Look out!
[Matthew slams on the brakes, but the man's head still strikes the already broken windshield. Unfazed, the man immediately proceeds to pound on the windshield for attention]
Matthew Bennell: Oh, my God, oh my God! Lock the door! Lock the door!
Running man: [panicked shouting] Help! They're coming! They're coming!
Elizabeth Driscoll: Maybe we should help him.
Running man: Help! Help! They're coming! They're coming! Listen to me! Listen!
Matthew Bennell: No, he's smashed out of his ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

In the version that ABC-TV ran in 1980, Brooke Adams' nude scene, where she was walking through the greenhouse where the pods were being grown, was replaced with an alternate shot of her wearing the red dress.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Scariest Movie Aliens (2013)

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Soundtracks

Amazing Grace
Traditional
Performed by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards)
Courtesy of RCA Limited

User Reviews

Respectable remake, but not as good as original

The original 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' is one of my favorites. There were so many films from the 1950s that involved an alien threat menacing small town Americana, but 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' was one of the few standouts because it took what it was doing seriously. Not another in a long series of man-in-a-rubber-suit movies, its tactics were more psychological. We, like Dr. Bennell, are uncertain what's going on or even if there actually *is* anything going on until its too late. Then the walls close in on the doctor and Becky, and nowhere is safe, there is nowhere to hide. Added to this is the film's ambiguous subtext, and you end up with a movie that really is much better than it should be.

While I don't think the remake was bad necessarily, I don't think there's anything remarkable about it either. It was good for what it was, but it lacked any real suspense because it began by revealing the threat and then rushed to get that threat underway. Setting the film in a large city was a mistake. One of the strengths of the original was the confusion and horror the characters felt as they slowly watched the people around them, the people they had grown up with and known so well, become strangers. That element's lost when you set the movie in a place where nearly everyone is a stranger to begin with, where you wouldn't know if the person walking down the street is different today than they had been the day before. I also think the third act is overly long and drags out.

Kudos to the man-faced dog, though. That was great.