29th Hall of Fame (REWATCH)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) -
I was looking forward to revisiting this as it was one of my favorite science fiction and horror films from my mid-to-late teen years. As expected, it held up really well, perhaps even better than I remembered it being.
Since my first viewing, I've read some essays which politicized this film's themes. They make sense as, whenever you make a horror film about the infiltration by undesirable elements, you're opening the doors to all kinds of political readings, like the post-war paranoia of totalitarianism or McCarthyism which were common around the time this film was released (since the film doesn't name what system or ideology it's criticizing, this ensures it won't lose its relevance). While these interpretations are nice though, I prefer to just focus on how tense and scary it is.
The film successfully captures the fear of everyone around you acting different and not being able to do anything about it. This is the kind of uneasiness I feel whenever someone I think I know and trust suddenly starts revealing their true colors. This often comes without warning and, the more time I spend around them, the more pronounced their behavior gets. When this happens, I often sense there's nothing I can do about the situation as bringing this up might worsen the issue. Having been around several, let's just say, unpleasant people since the first time I watched the film, I found its themes far more resonant this time around. Coupled with the ways the film subtly reveals which characters aren't who they say they are and how the aliens hide what they're doing pretty well gives this theme that extra bit of resonance which clinches its status as a great film (while I'm a fan of the '78 remake, I felt it faltered in this regard since the aliens were more conspicuous about their intentions in that film).
I also found some of the alien effects really memorable. The shots of the truckloads of pods are unsettling and the hatching scene sent chills down my spine since it was far more creepy than I remembered it being. Certain scenes being shot at an angle was another nice touch to the film since it was done sparingly enough to prevent it from feeling overused.
As for any criticisms, I can't think of anything which bugged me. Some people took issue with the film's narration, but since what we're watching is a frame narrative, I'd say it suits the film just fine. I've also seen some criticism over the ending, but while I would've enjoyed the film just fine if it ended the way Siegel had intended, I found the studio's enforced final scene effective as well, just for a different reason.
As I said, I had really fond memories of this film when I first watched it and this viewing solidified it as one of my favorite genre films.
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