In this current era of comic-book obsessed filmmaking, the
archaic trait whereby a villain is bit by/hit by/falls into radioactive
elements, we automatically relate it to our current heroes. Of course, these
heroes were created in the atomic age, whereby fear was rife regarding the
power of nuclear energy. The atomic age not only inspired comic book heroes and
villains but also impacted on cinema, providing the path for films including Forbidden Planet, Creature from the Black
Lagoon, The Thing and Invasion of
the Body Snatchers. All of which are either due to be shown, or have been
shown, at the BFI in their outstanding Sci-Fi season: Days of Fear and Wonder.
Bookended by a Cabinet-of-Dr-Caligari,
mad-man narration, we’re introduced to Dr. Miles Bennett (Kevin McCarthy) in Invasion of the Body Snatcehrs. He is
dishevelled and panicked. He is calmed by an investigator and he tells us his
story. After he is called back home to the fictional town of Santa Mira, he
begins to realise that everything isn’t what it seems. Patients were desperate
to meet him, and now they are flippant about the request and claim it “was
nothing”. A young boy who runs from his family argues they’ve changed – while a
close friend claims the same about her own Aunt and Uncle. Dr. Bennett turns to
his young love Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter) and the two discuss the strange
happenings. One night, they find a body that appears to be slowly becoming more
human – without finger prints and appearing to be dead, Miles and Becky are
confused. But it all comes to light as strange seed-like pods are found in the
garden shed and, bursting open, they slowly witness the birth of these body
snatchers. Miles and Becky have to escape as it is clear that Santa Mira has
been overrun by these alien creatures.
It’s a story that, upon its release in 1956, clearly alluded
to the political landscape. There is a palpable fear, not only of the atom, but
of the communist persuasions of others. Indeed, the loss of identity and lack
of humanity is considered the true evil. The horror-trait of an alien
domination of the planet only serves to support the idea of a Cold War plot
arguing non-American principles as a threat to society. Ironically, characters
biggest fears in the film are about what they lose: “I don’t want a world
without love or grief or beauty” Becky days. You could argue that in the modern
world (in a capitalist, consumerist economy) these traits are eroded away for
the sake of financial success.
This is what makes science-fiction so endlessly fascinating.
It allegorises issues and threats to the world. Replace a social-threat with an
“alien” or “monster” and you can speak honestly and bluntly about the actions
and consequences of such an “invasion”. This is why so many people across the
world saw 9/11 as “straight from a Hollywood movie”, as it seemed too similar
to Sci-Fi films including Independence
Day and Armageddon. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, at its
time, represents the responses to the post-war era in the USA, and continues to
be relevant to this day.
Of course, Don Siegel’s film didn’t end in the 1950’s. Its
influence continues today. Whether it is in the eggs within Gremlins, or the goo seen bubbling
within Cronenberg’s The Fly, Invasion of
the Body Snatchers continues to act as an inspiration for low-budget, but
incredibly effective, science-fiction. In fact, you can go further – the
sleepy, small town with a dark past bleeds into David Lynch’s nightmarish
visions of the USA; the slow but terrifying spread of a people-controlling
force in Night of the Living Dead shortly
over a decade later; the distrust of psychiatry or fear of what it may not be
able to explain within Shock Corridor.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers pre-dated
them all. The plot alone continued to become relevant with remakes in the
1970’s and 1990’s (are we due another this decade?). It is core to the history
of cinema, let alone science-fiction, and with so many themes embedded within
its simple, but poignant, narrative, it is an endlessly, re-watchable
cult-classic.