We’ve all worried about pods at one time or another.
Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) has been away for a while at a convention. He’s back in Santa Mira now and things are different. Before he got back there were 6 patients who couldn’t wait to see him. But now they are suddenly fine and don’t need to see him anymore. The first patient he has is a young boy. He claims his mother is not his mother. It’s a boy. Easy to disbelieve.
Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), Miles' old sweetheart has just returned from England to get a divorce. She tells Miles that her cousin Wilma Lentz (Virginia Christine) is experiencing something similar. She claims her uncle Ira (Tom Fadden) is not her uncle. Of course, Miles thinks it’s all in her head. Doctor Dan Kauffman (Larry Gates) is a psychiatrist. He tells Miles of other people who say something similar. He says it's an epidemic of mass hysteria.
Then his friends, Jack Belicec (King Donovan) and his wife Teddy (Carolyn Jones), frantically call him. When he gets to Jack's house, they show him a dead body. A pod person. Then he sees a pod actually bursting. After that everyone is different. He’s the same. But they aren’t. And they’re looking for him.
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was released in 1956 and was directed by Don Siegel. Not only is it a science fiction/horror movie, it is also a film noir.
This is actually one scary movie. You go to sleep. You don’t wake up. If you do. Well, who is next to you? Now that’s creepy. To make it worse no one believes you. Or are they one of them?
Is it an alien from outer space movie or a statement about Communism? Of course, it’s one of the most well know horror movies ever and the original is still the best. Kevin McCarthy does a wonderful job going from a well put together down to earth wise doctor to raving alarmist. It’s a wonderful look at a different kind of psychological thriller. It’s not everyone that is out to get you. Just the aliens.
Santa Mira is the name of a fictional town in California. The name was used in “Halloween III Season of the Witch”. It was also used in several movies, books and TV shows in various ways. “Sharknado” used it as the name of a gas station, airlines and license plate.