Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)

So, the body snatchers, what a name and what a film but to be honest a name that sums up very well what was a film about snatching bodies. Yes, it sounds ridiculously disturbing that someone can simply come out and snatch your body but here it is the truth. I also must comment that I specifically chose it in black and white after all, there’s no harm in watching the original thing. So, firstly we have the typical 1950's effect exposures which I’m sure film club regulars have seen numerous times. Firstly, the car, yes we have reunited with a good old friend the car scenes which looked ridiculously green screen in my eyes, the actors don’t even try to make up for it- it is fake. This time I spotted something else, when the greenhouse was being checked for pods, which you’ve guessed it spat out bodies, there was two different greenhouses. The greenhouse shown for the exterior and the one shown for the interior. The interior one looked far too long to be the same as the exterior. Oh, of course I can’t miss out the music can I, 1950's music beats anything in modern films and gives the film some character and I must say, for once that maybe our modern movies have a lesson to learn from the classic Du Du Dus of the trumpet. Though it was by no means perfect and at some points sounded like it was being played inside a Franky and bennies restaurant. Now for the rating which was a PG which I think was ridiculous, the film contained scenarios that were highly provoking and scary. I think it should have been a 12a because it did contain lots of scenes that should not be watched by younger children but I’m not sure whether it was quite gory enough to pass as a 12. maybe an appropriate label would be ‘May give little children nightmares’. When looking back at the colour version, I saw that in a lot of places you couldn’t see the actors, whether intentional or not, I wasn’t very keen on it. Though in some places it probably was necessary to covey a certain part of the film. So, here comes the acting. Yippee! I can just see my own complaints rolling around in my head. Kevin McCarthy was great and I thought he suited his role though the constant expression on his face made him look a little like a depressed sheep. I’m not sure whether when Carolyn James screamed after discovering a body replicating her husband the scream was soundtrack or not because to me it sounded fake. When Dana Wynter screamed “He’s in here!” I was expecting more of a scream and the sudden tone change between that and the initial lines after the transition was very noticeable. To be honest, small things aside, the acting was great, especially for a 1950's film in which often the acting makes the film seem more like a reality TV show after everyone has had too much to drink. As for camera angles, I must say I loved the close up of “you’re next” as if he was directly addressing the viewer. It was suggestive of how he felt as you could see his very body tremor. I’m sorry that sounds like an English assessment but there was no other way of putting it- it was perfect. So, we’ve had classical car scenes, black and white, amazing acting, ridiculous ratings and magnificent music. What a beautiful 1950's film. My favourite by a million miles in Film Club and I hate to break it to you but I am giving the seven millionth film in a row four stars, I just had to. Thank you for reading my review and I will write at the normal time next review!