Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

The A-bomb had contributed to this soft reign of terror. It had also fired a period of excitement and fertility in the neglected field of science fiction. Before WWII, sci-fi in film was widespread, with examples such as Lang’s hallmark Metropolis, Things To Come, the silent 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, The Lost World, and serials populated by Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. The war had shifted the focus, to combat and military films, propaganda, home-front boosterism, and escapism. The war also brought awareness of the application of science to conflict. Atomic power had brought an entirely new set of horrific sci-fi characters --- as embodied by Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau in the film Ed Wood: “Today it’s all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers...” Increasingly, sci-fi enemies came from the outside, from other worlds loosening tremendous power upon the Earth, or beings from our world mutated and terribly changed by atomic power. Or sometimes, both. Aliens of all types were lurking every week at the Bijou in the 1950s. The Day The Earth Stood Still. The Thing From Another World, The War Of The Worlds. Some of these films were silly, and as characterized by Lugosi/Landau --- giant bugs. Some became classics, despite their pedigree, as in the film Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. The 1956 offering had an unlikely path to greatness, but it’s stood the test of time because of the themes that run through its bones.

Website and blog: www.thosewonderfulpeople.com
IG: @thosewonderfulpeople
Twitter: @FilmsInTheDark