Normally, I try never to watch any remakes before I had the chance to see the originals...So, watching this movie really was an exception for me since I never saw Don Siegel's version from 1956 and neither did I had the chance so far to catch the Philip Kaufman remake from 1978 starring Donald Sutherland. But this movie came on TV the other night and I watched it anyway. Besides, there were a few very interesting and respected people involved in this production. First of all, there's director Abel Ferrara of course. He already delivered a few true masterpieces before and some of them are personal favorites of mine ( like Driller Killer, Bad Lieutenant and The Addiction ). But I wasn't completely convinced about watching this movie before I noticed that both Larry Cohen and Stuart Gordon took part in writing the screenplay. All three are very talented and influential men in the field of horror and I figured a collaboration between the three of them could only lead to something good.
Well, it certainly is a decent movie and it provides the viewers with several scares. But - in general - I have to admit that I expected a bit more of it. The whole movie looks "unfinished" from time to time and the basic plot-idea isn't explained well enough, I think. I also had the feeling that everything moved too quick...Body Snatchers only lasts 87 minutes and that's a bit short for a rather complicated story like this. I would have preferred it to be a little longer and more detailed. Because of the fast storytelling, the ending also looks really fake and too abrupt. That was my biggest disappointment about it, I guess. Nevertheless, Body Snatchers contains multiple memorable scenes and it actually has the ability to raise the hair on your arms...That's quite an achievement too, I may say. Especially the sequence where both the daughter ( an adorable Gabrielle Anwar ) and the father ( a terribly boring Terry Kinney ) are being "body-snatched" is really frightening and a beautiful example of suspense-cinema and building up a tight atmosphere. This terrific scene ends with a powerful monologue by Meg Tilly's character. The entire movie is in fact recommended if it were only for this scene !!
The further cast of Body Snatchers also contains a washed up Beverly Hills star ( whose name I don't remember ) and very enjoyable little roles by first class actors like Forest Whitaker and R. Lee Ermey. I guess this last one is doomed to play the authority figure ever since his outstanding performance in Full Metal Jacket but what the heck. He's brilliant every single time. In conclusion, Body Snatchers contains a few very bloody and explicit sequences so horror fans won't be disappointed completely. It could have been a lot better, that's a fact. But on the other hand..it could have been a lot worse as well.
