Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

- written August 2006

Summary: Spores from outer space fall in San Francisco where they begin to hatch flowers, which eventually ends up in peoples homes. City health department employee Elizabeth confides in her colleague Matthew that her boyfriend seems to have changed. Matthew soon encounters similar situations, including two friends who find a body in their bathhouse, which takes on features as they sleep. Matthew's friend, psychologist David Kibner, insists that is all well. But it isn’t and as the city quickly gets taken over, everyone will become one of them.           Overall: My initial thoughts were the film was slow and long and really too awhile to “get to the point.” It had some nice scenes, good scares and good atmosphere. And the ending is brilliant. I think the film suffers from the slow beginning but it’s a good film overall. It solved, for me, the problems of the first film (re: the pods and aliens) but then regressed with the social commentary on relationships and all the transitioning through the psychologist. Good film, worth a viewing, especially to see all the stars: Jeff Goldblum, Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy.           Comparison: Dirty Harry meets The Presidio

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