Another Classic I Haven't Seen Yet #25 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)



Run, Miles, Ruuuuun!

So, I’m a huge fan of the Cornetto Trilogy.  But for some reason I never thought to watch this classic, which obviously had an influence on Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg – the battle of the collective vs. the individual.  Especially in “The World’s End”, where an alien race supplants humans with ‘blank’ robot versions of themselves.  Pretty similar to this one.
Welcome to 1950’s America, where everyone’s afraid of something.  If it wasn’t the general public being conditioned to fear communism as the new evil, it was free thinkers and artists afraid that the government will put a witch hunt on them in the age of McCarthyism.  

Exhuming McCarthy…

That’s probably why this movie resonated so well with people over the years.  If it wasn’t just the issues of the time, it was the universal fear that conformity will end your individualism for the price of ‘peace of mind’.  I guess that’s why this film has been re-made like 4 times.  
It’s amazing what fear can do.  It’s hard to destroy, but so easy to let yourself be devoured by it.  Look at America ever since World War 2.  If it’s not communists, it’s terrorists.  If it’s not free thinkers, it’s anyone daring to speak out against imperialism.  We’ve been afraid ever since, while the people trying to tell us not to be afraid usually get vilified.

Burn the fear!

But…that’s just my opinion.  Great movie overall.  Probably my favorite Sci-Fi 50’s film behind “Forbidden Planet” and “When Worlds Collide”.



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