Slideshow
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
*Introduced by Foster Hirsch
U.S., 1956
Directed by Don Siegel
Starring Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates
Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring
Approx. 80 min. DCP.
Quintessentially 50s paranoia. Seed pods from outer space take on the physical shape and appearance of humans as part of their plan to dominate our world. With Kevin McCarthy. “The most haunting, strangely poetic science fiction picture ever.” – Peter Bogdanovitch
Reviews
“Over half a century old, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, with its grim stiffness, its small town modesty, the clash of the banal and the absurd, has not lost once frame of its ability to chill. Despite the seeming irrelevance of the generic Communist allegory driving it forward, its fear is still palpable, its swallowed panic infectious, and its America far in period but not in mindset of ours today.”
– Daniel Kasman, Mubi
“Though Corman-esque in its production design, politics and snappy 80-minute runtime, there's an eerie artistry to Siegel's vision of smalltown communal life. The question mark which nestles behind the drama for much of the second half is, would it really be so bad or so different if we had our individuality taken away from us? Are these lives interesting enough for anyone to really notice that they're being "destroyed"? Are they even being destroyed?”
– David Jenkins, Little White Lies