The Geek Address

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which was released in 1956, embodies the deep and pervasive sense of paranoia that gripped the United States during the Cold War. The film is often interpreted as an allegory about the threat of communism.  After all, if there’s one thing worse than being invaded by aliens, it’s being invaded by evil bastard communist aliens intent of destroying democracy. Some critics that this interpretation of the film is too simplistic, nevertheless, the atmosphere of paranoia that pervades the film is startling similar to widespread Cold War concern about communists.

At the beginning of the film, small town doctor Miles Bennell is being held by the authorities: distressed, upset and desperately insisting that he’s not insane. When someone willing to hear his tale arrives, Miles begins to recount the story. After returning home from a medical conference, he slowly begins to realise that a malevolent force has taken over his town. “At first glance, everything looked the same,” he recalls. “It wasn’t. Something evil had taken possession of the town.”

If the aliens were hideous, green blobs with tentacles and Communist Party stick pins asking for directions to Washington DC, they’d be easy to identify: unfortunately, apart from their detachment and lack of emotion, the aliens in Invasion of the Body Snatchers are just like regular people. 

For this reason, Invasion of the Body Snatchers will leave you feeling uneasy: the aliens are among us and they could be anyone. In a chilling monologue, one of the characters explains what happens when you become assimilated: “Less than a month ago, Santa Mira was like any other town. People with nothing but problems. Then, out of the sky came a solution. Seeds drifting through space for years took root in a farmer’s field. From the seeds came pods which had the power to reproduce themselves in the exact likeness of any form of life. Your new bodies are growing in there. They’re taking you over cell for cell, atom for atom. There is no pain. Suddenly, while you’re asleep, they’ll absorb your minds, your memories and you’re reborn into an untroubled world. Tomorrow you’ll be one of us. There’s no need for love. Love. Desire. Ambition. Faith. Without them, life is so simple, believe me.” 

Perhaps one of the most disturbing scenes is when Bennell is forced to destroy several pod people - who have taken the likeness of himself and his girlfriend - with a pitchfork. Another scene that never fails to give me the creeps is when hundreds of the aliens emerge from the street and silently congregate to distribute pods throughout the country. Although fears that one morning you could  awake in a world where ‘everyone is the same’ doesn’t strike a note of panic with contemporary audiences, Invasion of the Body Snatchers remains a chilling exercise in horror.

Best line: “Look, you fools. You’re in danger. Can’t you see? They’re after you. They’re after all of us. Our wives, our children, everyone. They’re here already. YOU’RE NEXT!”