Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
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A pair of colleagues in San Francisco discover that humans are being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
The story
In San Francisco, a health inspector and her colleague discover that humans are being replaced by alien duplicates. These duplicates are perfect biological clones of the people they replace, but they lack all empathy and humanity. The discovery occurs over the course of a few days as the characters begin to notice unsettling changes in those around them. The plot follows their attempts to understand the threat and find a way to survive as the alien presence grows, while they navigate a city where the line between human and duplicate becomes increasingly blurred.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
An amorphous parasitic alien race from a dying planet arrives on Earth, where their spores form pods with pink flowers. Elizabeth, a scientist at the San Francisco Health Department, brings a flower home and notices her boyfriend, Geoffrey, becoming cold and distant. She confides in her colleague, Matthew, who suggests consulting a psychiatrist, Dr. Kibner. During a search for truth, they encounter a man warning of danger before he is killed by emotionless onlookers. Later, Matthew and Elizabeth discover that several people, including a man named Jack and his wife Nancy, have been replaced by duplicates. The group hides in an apartment while pods in the garden begin birthing new replacements. They eventually flee to the health department, where they are ambushed by duplicates of Kibner and Jack. They eventually find a warehouse of pods and attempt to destroy them. In the final moments, Matthew is forced to act as a duplicate to survive, and the film ends with him being identified as a duplicate by Nancy.
- First release year
- 1978
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Philip Kaufman
- Writers
- W. D. Richter · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Donald Sutherland · not specified; Brooke Adams · not specified; Veronica Cartwright · not specified; Jeff Goldblum · not specified; Leonard Nimoy · not specified
- Genres
- science-fiction; psychological horror
- Themes
- dehumanization; conformity; consumerism; alienation
- Tone and mood
- paranoid; menacing
- Premise and plot tags
- alien invasion; body snatchers; remake
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Body Snatchers (1954 novel by Jack Finney)
- Content notes
- horror
- Reception
- The film received varied reviews initially but has improved significantly over time, being hailed as one of the greatest remakes and best science fiction horror films of all time.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 93% · review count: 78; Metacritic · score: 75 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Awards and nominations
- Best Director · Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films · win; Best Science Fiction Film · Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films · nomination; Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium · Writers Guild of America · nomination; Best Dramatic Presentation · Hugo Award · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film features several cameo appearances from the 1956 original, including the director and lead actor.; The score was the only film score composed by Denny Zeitlin.; The film was originally being developed by Warner Bros. before being picked up by United Artists.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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