Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is an ultimately thrilling and at times disturbing classic piece of science fiction. The screenplay, written by Daniel Mainwaring was aided, according to some sources, with uncredited scriptwriting by Sam Peckinpah. This quintessential black and white picture was directed by Don Siegel and as a result, the film, never loses a sense of action. This film is incredibly subtle and remains as a cold-war allegory. It shows no death, no violence, no monsters and there are barely any effects, this is psychological horror at its best. The subtle, low-budget film is very effective in eliciting horror even though there are no monsters, minimal special effects, no violence, and no deaths.
This is a relentlessly haunting film, which never loses its immense atmosphere of paranoia, especially heightened due to the cold-war undertones and the unreadiness of the small town. This is one of the few true classics of the horror genre, and is even more rare as it does not contain any of the special effect showmanship, which was later relied on in series of endless gore movies of the late 1970�s and throughout the 1980�s. This film scares where it matters, not in the eyes, but in the brain, thus scaring you witless, causing you to look over your shoulder at any individual who shows no emotion. |
