Invasion Of The Body Snatchers — Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (Blu Ray)
From the late 1970’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers was the second big-screen adaptation of Jack Finney’s 1955 novel The Body Snatchers, which told of an undercover alien invasion in small-town America. The film shifts the story to 70’s San Francisco- for a wonderfully tension-filled and paranoia-building blend of thriller, sci-fi and horror- featuring an excellent cast, and low-key effects- which are still impactful. Here from the fine folks at Arrow here’s a recent reissue of the film- either as UHD, or Blu-Ray disc. I’m reviewing the latter of these two.
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers appeared in the year 1978. It was directed by Chicago-born Philip Kaufman. Between 1964 and 2004 he had twelve features going from satirical comedy/ fantasy Fearless Frank (1967). Onto period set Canadian Arctic survival action/ drama The White Dawn (1974), though to Marquis De Sade biopic Quills ( 2000).
The film opens in outer space, as we see a selection of drifting spores starting from another world- making their way through space to Earth- then falling in rain over San Francisco. These spores rapidly expand on our vegetation- growing small green pods- tipped with single pink flowers. We see children and people collecting flowers in the park.
One of the people who collects one of the flowers, taking it back to her Victorian house is Elizabeth Driscoll( Brooke Adams). She lives there with her dentist husband Geffory (Art Hindle), and works in the city's public health department.
We next meet Elizabeth’s boss, her friend & our lead character Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) who is a health inspector. He’s visiting a French restaurant and finding a rat turd in one of the sauces. This goes down less than well, with a glass bottle thrown at his car's windscreen- which he drives around with a huge crack across for the rest of the film.
The next morning Elizabeth awakes, and Geffory seems different- seemingly lacking any kind of emotions or humanity any longer. She talks to Matthew about it- he convinces her to go along to a book signing of his psychiatrist friend Dr. David Kibner- played by Leonard Nimoy, in one of his few roles not connected to the Star Trek franchise. Also brought into the fray are struggling writer Jack- played by a young Jeff Goldblum, and his running a-mud bath spar girlfriend Nancy (Veronica Cartwright).
As the film unfolds the sense of both unease and paranoia are wonderfully nurtured. With first the changes on a personal level- then citywide. The film is very much of a 70’s slow burn- yet it moves/ progresses its story well- along the way we get use of minimal effects, which are used to great impact & effect- moving first from just eerier slip ‘n’ sliding sounds, onto ill-defined & finger printless bodies, through to the giant pods themselves.
Throughout the cast is perfectly picked- with Sutherland’s Matthew, sitting well between being a focused health inspector, and a charming friend. Adams plays Elizabeth's character with real believability- so she pulls you into the whole thing well. Nimoy is equally convincing as the psychiatrist/best-selling author. Goldblum is learning his craft, and later distinctive mannerism- and again is excellent. And Cartwright is believable as his long severing partner.
The film runs at five minutes short of the two-hour mark- and I wouldn’t change/ cut anything. Philip Kaufman’s generally classy direction is inspired- building both a feeling of dread & kinship for our characters. The story moves on well- with new characters and events being revealed. I’ve always said that it's one of the great films of the 70s, and it most certainly still stands up to the test of time.
Moving onto this new region B disc. We get an HD print of the film- which I’m presuming is new. This looks and sounds wonderful- with a great 70’s colour pallet, score depth, and creepy/ uneasy sound detail.
On the extras front, I’m afraid there is nothing new for this release's disc- with them, all brought over from Arrow's last release of the film, and the MGM releases from further back- though that is not to say there isn’t worth here. First off we get a commentary track from director Philip Kaufman. There’s Discussing the Pod ( 51.33) which is a panel discussion featuring respected horror critic/ writer joined by two British horror directors- one from the past/ 70’s Norman J Warren( Satan’s Slave, Terror, Inseminoid), and one from the 2000’s Ben Wheatley( Kill List, Sightseers, A Field In England). Writing The Pod (11.15) interview with Jack Seabrook, author of Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney about Finney’s original novel The Body Snatchers. Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod (17.33) making of the film featuring Philip Kaufman, Donald Sutherland, writer W.D. Richter and more. The Man Behind the Scream(12.45) a look at the film’s pioneering sound effects. The Invasion Will Be Televised (15.24): interview with cinematographer Michael Chapman. Practical Magic: The Special Effects Pod(4.38). Original trailer
The finished release takes in a double-sided fold-out poster featuring two original artwork options. Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options. Six postcard-sized art cards. collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by David Cairns and Charles Freund, and archival interviews with director Philip Kaufman and writer W.D. Richter.
It certainly is wonderful to see this new reissue of this classic slice of 70’s paranoia-fired Sci-fi. And there is no doubt the scan here is excellent- I just wish we’d got some new content/ extras on the disc. So, as a result, I’ve given this release a four mark- but clearly, the film is a five all the way.