Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Get some sleep
- "Can't believe this was considered a PG movie" PG rating.
- Premise of "they look like them, but aren't really them" is always good for thinking creepy thoughts.
- Also preys on our vulnerability while sleeping - double banger in scary concepts.
- Stays similar to the original '56 version without being an exact clone - has it's own little twists.
- Special effects are more impressive/prevalent than in the '56 version.
- Color helps separate darkness from scene and colors.
- Romance angle felt a lot less (lame? awkward?) than the '56 version.
- Spock!
- Goldblum? Yep, I'll call it a positive.
- '56 had a better twist ending/reveal.
- Immediate spoon-feeding of alien-life drifting to earth montage kind of ruins the "is this person going loony" suspense.
If you saw the first and liked it, you probably won't be much different in your opinion of this one. The older '56 version overall feels like a slower build up to the reveal, whereas the near-immediate reveal of "something strange in the neighborhood" in this version counterbalances the loss of some suspense with the more upbeat pacing. If you haven't seen either and only want to watch one, this is probably the one most would enjoy more (due to it's more modern-esque inclusion of violence/brief nudity) although personally I enjoy the ending of the '56 version better. They are pretty overall similar movies (with the exception of the modernized upgrades in technology allowing for color, better sound quality, special effects, etcetera), so ideally if you like creepy concepts that aren't necessarily super-terrifying on-screen scares (more "mess with your head" than jump scare) then you should enjoy this quite fine.