When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 10 nominations
- Boccardo
- (as Gary Goodrow)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia(at around 5 mins) Robert Duvall, who had previously worked with Philip Kaufman on The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), happened to be in San Francisco at the time of filming, and shot his only scene for free. He plays a crazy priest playing on a swing. It's supposed to foreshadow the pod person anomie and alienation we feel later in the movie.
- Goofs(at around 1h 15 mins) When pods attack Matthew and the others at Matthew's house, four bodies form in the yard, yet Nancy isn't asleep. She's shown wide awake, and she's the one who wakes the others when she goes outside and sees the bodies growing. If the pods can only attack when the human victim is asleep, there should have only been three bodies.
- Quotes
Matthew Bennell: [dials his phone] I'll get the police.
Telephone Operator: [voice] Police.
Matthew Bennell: Officer, I'd like to report four bodies in my backyard.
Telephone Operator: Wait right there Mr. Bennell.
Matthew Bennell: How do you know my name?
Jack Bellicec: [Jack's eyes widen with fear] Hang up, Matthew.
Matthew Bennell: [into the phone] I didn't tell you my name.
Jack Bellicec: Hang up!
Matthew Bennell: [hangs up the phone] I didn't tell them my name!
Nancy Bellicec: That's because they're all part of it. They're all pods, all of them!
- Alternate versionsIn the version that ABC-TV ran in 1980, Brooke Adams's nude scene, where she walks through the greenhouse where the pods are being grown, was replaced with an alternate shot of her wearing her red dress.
- ConnectionsEdited into Ice Queen (2005)
- SoundtracksAmazing Grace
Traditional
Performed by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards)
Courtesy of RCA Limited
The plot: spores from outer space begin duplicating the human race one by one, perfectly copying every detail except for being entirely devoid of emotion. It's a straightforward story that commences immediately with the main threat beginning its quiet invasion. It's up to a few survivors - led by Donald Sutherland's health inspector and his female colleague - to evade a chilling fate, while trying to figure out a way to stop something seemingly unconquerable. Who will survive? Will anyone survive? How can the remaining humans win? Questions like these haunt the runtime, and 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' is so effective because it feels strangely plausible. The narrative funnels you down an increasingly claustrophobic path with no outlet, no room to breathe, then snares you into an ending you won't soon forget. It's an inevitable conclusion, but it's a no less intimidating final image just because it had to happen; a chilling kicker that touches primal fears of isolation and the unknown. Co-starring Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimoy, everyone does a commendable job of conveying panic, distrust and anxiety.
Director Phillip Kaufman employs gritty camerawork that further manipulates viewers emotions: low angle shots, tremulous zooms, lingering wide shots... these techniques all contribute to the unfolding chaos - the unbeatable alien menace - and ramping up the dread that becomes overwhelming halfway through when survival is paramount but improbable. It's not your typical alien invasion, but the stealthy attack is all the creepier for it, as these plant lifeforms take over family and friends with reckless biological instinct. Seeing people as emotionless automatons is a flesh-crawling prospect, and the screams they illicit when discovering and chasing a survivor owes a lot to the eerie sound design which consistently complements each chilling image.
Overall, 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' succeeds on very simple ingredients. It digs under the skin, coils tighter and tighter as proceedings play out, and relies on paranoia to generate its terror without needing violence and gore. Combined with strong direction, impressive practical effects (for the time) and a nerve-wracking sound design, this is true horror in its simplest form; a terrific blend of sci-fi and horror planting its roots deep for an unsettling experience modern genre efforts should try emulating.
Score - 8.5/10
- Condemned-Soul
- Feb 26, 2019
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Body Snatchers
- Filming locations
- 1227 Montgomery Street, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California, USA(Matthew Bennell's house)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $24,946,533
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,298,129
- Dec 25, 1978
- Gross worldwide
- $24,947,632
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![Donald Sutherland and Veronica Cartwright in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTkzY2Y3ZTMtYTg4Yy00OTNjLTlkNjctMGVlZDMwZWIxMzA0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTIzOTk5ODM@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,3,90,133_.jpg)