"They're here already! You're next!

Those are the terrified words Dr. Miles Bennell yells into the camera near the end of what I consider to be one of the scariest movies ever - Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956.)

I am not a horror movie fan. Honestly - I get too scared! I was the kid at the movies who ducked down under the seats, squinched my eyes shut, plugged my ears & told my friends to let me know when the scary part was over. (It so does not count that I'd peek between the seats!)

Perhaps, because they were filmed in black and white - the movies I saw as a kid seemed more scary than any horror movies today. Actually, those old B&Ws still DO scare me. I mean, what is not to be terrified of from movies like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers?"

How the heck would you feel if if you knew that aliens were taking over the bodies of everyone, and there was no way to figure out who was human and who wasn't? Then, when you finally get away, no one believes you.

The original ending of this movie was to be Miles watching truckloads of pods passing him on the highway. The studio thought things should be a bit more optimistic and changed it, so there was at least a chance that the pod people could be stopped.

Have you seen the 1956 version? Did it scare you? Aside from the hokeyness of this trailer, I've gotta say - it still terrifies me!

6 comments:

Colene Murphy said...

Never saw it but definitely might need to. Love scary movies and this, with no happy ending all wrapped up nicely, sounds great!

Mandy P.S. said...

I love love love The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I own the 1956, 1978, and 2007 versions. (Yes, "The Invasion" with Nicole Kidman is an Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake). And I love that when you watch all three of them in order, the last surviving member of each movie is the first person in the next movie to figure out what's going on.

If the Invasion of the Body Snatchers ever did happen, I would be the first to go. I can't go without my sleep. I'm sort of like a body snatchers canary. lol

Anonymous said...

I remember the B&W version scaring the snot out of me. The plants in the woods behind our house had little puddles of foam on the leaves from spittle bugs and I just knew the pod people were out there waiting for me. :(

Julia said...

Colene - it's a definite "must see" movie!

Bittersweet - of the newer ones, which did you prefer '78 or '07? You canary, you! :)

Robin - OMG! If I had seen puddles of foam like you did, AAACK!!!!

Thanks for the comments!

Mandy P.S. said...

The 1956 one is my favorite, but out of the '78 and '07, I preferred the '07. Why you ask? Well I actually found the change from a pod to a virus interesting. With the pods, I always felt like there was no way humanity could win. We were hosed. You can't eradicate a pod. However, with a virus there is always the chance of an anti-virus. So the possibility that we might be able to win made the movie more suspenseful. At least, so I thought.

Julia said...

Thanks, Bittersweet! I'll have to check it out (maybe) - still would scare the Beejezzus outta me, I'm sure!