Invasion of The Body Snatchers is quite a horrific title to a movie made in the 1950's. People were just about obsessed with the idea of something taking over their lives and controlling their every minds to all be alike, what everyone thought of Communism. Also people were obsessed with anything that was fantastical, but horrifying, like aliens. Some people are still obsessed with ideas of aliens living among us in some form, this particular movie has a concept that some people believe in currently, the idea of pods producing clone-like copies but controlling their minds. Possibly an idea ripped off from Metropolis by the way the robot stole Maria's identity but had a mind controlled by Rotwang.
In the film it starts with Dr. Miles acting crazy and yelling as some officials arrive to see him. They ask what has happened and the film does a fuzzy thing and we are in a flash back. Back to when Miles just returned to his town to find that some of his patients had reported not feeling well but then cancelled their appointments later admitting that they had felt much better than before. Miles didn't really think too much of it but the people who were living among these people sure saw a change. They reported that their relatives were impostors, even though they seemed like the real person and had the same memories. Eventually more and more people were claiming that their friends and family were impostors and then would all of sudden not think that anymore and were happy as can be. At one point one of Miles's friends finds a body that looks just like him only much more fresh, like it had not lived a day in the world yet. Convinced something is going on Miles leaves his friend,Jack, and his lady friend, Teddy, to watch over this "body". Which of course comes alive and they run for their lives leaving the body to roam as it pleases. Miles flips out because he left his girlfriend, Becky, at her house and so he breaks into her house and sees a body just like hers stowed away in the basement. Eventually the police get into it but they just make a fool out of Miles and Jack. Miles, Becky, Teddy, and Jack all find these pods in a green room looking thing and discover that the pods is where the doubles come from, as these pods broke open the bodies of Jack, Teddy, Becky, and Miles are all inside. Miles and Becky are there after Miles tells Jack and Teddy they must run for it, Becky hangs out by the phone and Miles tries to murder the alien pod bodies. There is a lot of running around after this and everyone in the town just about is a pod alien now. They chase Miles and Becky up a huge stair case and down some hills and all over the place but Miles and Becky hide under two pieces of wood so that all of the men in the town chasing them can't see them. Miles tells Becky to wait there and he runs away somewhere only to come back and find Becky all drowsy and sleepy. (When you sleep the pod people take over) He tries to wake her up and he kisses her and then realizes its too late she is a pod person. Mile's gives some crazy look and is about off the deep end by now. He runs from her and the crazy mob of people to make it to the freeway. He is trying to warn everyone but they just think he is crazy, which is a pretty good judgement since he is yelling crazy things at people driving by. He jumps on the back of a farm truck to see the whole back filled with pods! Eventually he makes it to the police station and something fuzzy happens to the screen and we are back from the flashback. The officials look at each other like "this dude is crazy!" and start to walk out of the room when a little one liner character comes around and says there has been a crash and the strangest pod things were in the truck. Oh no it's true, everything Miles was saying!! They all rush out and it's the end!
The idea of another force coming in and taking control over someones own body is widely feared today still. In this movie it was pod aliens, but for us we fear a government take over of our bodies more than anything else in my opinion. Which this movie also mirrors because the "government" of the town being taken over was also a part of the take over even though it was against their will, they were still among the ones being controlled, and in turn convincing others to be taken over by the pod person doppelganger. The movie has some good/creepy effects with the pods bursting in the green house, and for a second they showed Miles stabbing one of them with the pitch fork, which is pretty gory for what we have seen so far in the films viewed from this time period.
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