Comparing the Three Versions of the Sci-Fi Thriller "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

Generally the movies that spawn remakes have a pretty strong cult following. That is certainly true of the film I chose to analyze in this article "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

In the 1950's - - even into the early 60's, Hollywood produced a string of science-fiction films dealing with issues like alien invasion and nuclear radiation. At the root of many of these films were important - - albeit somewhat paranoid - - social, political, and cultural issues. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" allegorically dealt with people's fear of loosing their humanity as they are forced into pre-conceived notions of what they should be.

The original movie - - made in 1956 - - is set in the fictional town of Santa Mira, California. The plot centers on Dr. Miles Bennell (played by Kevin McCarthy). As the town's local doctor, he is confused when a group of his patients come in to report that their loved ones are not really their loved ones at all; but someone else altogether.

Dismissing his patients, the doctor focuses his attention on former flame, Becky Driscoll (played by Dana Wynter). But she tells him that her cousin reports the same fear as the doctor's other patients. Bennell decides to consult with the town psychiatrist Dr. Dan Kaufman (played by Larry Gates). However, the doctor assures him that the cases in question are nothing more than an epidemic of mass hysteria.

Things keep getting more strange as the doctor himself notices that while people look the same, the are now acting differently and with less emotion. When his friend Jack (played by King Donovan) finds proof that the townspeople really are being replaced by duplicates grown from plant pods, Dr. Bennell leaps into savior mode.

The pod people, it turns out are virtually indistinguishable from their human duplicates with the exception of their utter lack of emotion. However, they are united by some common force and working together. The pods grew from seeds that drifted into the earth's atmosphere from outer space with the express purpose of taking over. As each person is duplicated within their pod, the original human version ceases to exist.