You won't be disappointed!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is rather interesting how this movie still manages to be entertaining today, so many years (40) after it was released.The story is of course a very familiar story, that has been remade a couple of times through the years to some or less efficiency and success. A foreign lifeform comes to earth and starts cloning people through pseudopods and replace the original person with the clone.The special effects, despite being from 1978, still manage to impress me and work out nicely in favor of the movie, despite being so old, just goes to prove that practical effects, when done properly, works marvelously. Well, aside from the dog, which looked atrocious.The cast is impressive in this 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" as there are some very talented people on the cast list, which include Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, Leonard Nimoy and Kevin McCarthy.If you haven't seen this remake already then it is about high time that you do so.And let's just be honest, whom amongst us haven't imitated the last scene of this movie at least once? It is just iconic and classic.

When the first "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" culminated with the image of Kevin McCarthy frantically alerting passing drivers that 'they' were coming', and the camera zoomed on his face with his fourth-wall breaking "You're Next!", I wished it was the point the film could fade out, it couldn't get any better or iconic than that. But the film was told in narration and we had to get back where we started and get a rather flat and uninspired happy ending. Don Siegel didn't intend to make a political allegory but wished it could end on that apocalyptic note, studio politics interfered. Those were the 50's... and thankfully, not the 70's. So when I started the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman, I knew similar mistakes wouldn't be made. What also enhanced my expectations is that I recently saw the two versions of "The Thing" and I thought John Carpenter transcended the low-budget B-movie feel of the original and made a moviein a league of its own. 1956 "Body Snatchers" was far superior to "The Thing" and the material even more promising because in the post-"Star Wars" era, the visual and sound effects had reached unprecedented levels of efficiency. Just like Carpenter or later Cronenberg, Kaufman didn't 'retell' as much as he enriched a story, amplified it.And it was the smartest move. Kaufman didn't ignore that viewers were familiar with the original concept: a small town, odd behavior, pod people spreading all over the territory. So the 'surprise' effect wasn't the priority, we knew what it is all about. But Kaufman doesn't care for the "what" but rather the "how". The opening credits, with the patience and meticulousness of a gardener, shows us the whole 'invasion', the way gelatinous alien creatures leave a planet at the verge of destruction to land on Earth, literally to be dropped on vegetation so that mysterious flowers with tentacle-like tendrils cover tree leaves. This is not only a triumph of special effects but a foreshadowing of the scenes that will show, step by step, and in growingly macabre detail the whole assimilation process. And then one of the flowers is picked up by health inspector Elizabeth (Brooke Adams) and the first to be affected is her husband. One day, he's cheerful, flirtatious, funny and cares about sports, the day after, he's dressed formally and doesn't let any emotion slip. We're confronted to the dramatic shift of personality, having a foretaste to these deceptive moments where characters we got used to got infected. Siegel told then showed, Kaufman shows then tells.One method isn't better than the other, each one fits the format of its respective film. The original starts with a mystery that can fit a small town, but San Francisco in the late 70's isn't obviously the likeliest place to spot these changes on a high scale... unless they escalate quickly. So, being more ambitious in terms of thrills and special effects, Kaufman had to get right to the point and once the suspicion is arised and Elizabeth's colleague and former boyfriend Matthew (Donald Sutherland) starts his investigation, the story picks up.And we get the cameo of Kevin McCarthy reprising his trademark role, warning drivers that they're still here. What happens to the man and the emotionless reaction of the onlookers leave no doubt that we're already in a critical situation and the countdown has started. There is just enough time to be introduced to the couple of friends played by Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy steals the show as the cheerful doctor ending all Mr. Spock at the end. And being aware that we expect new stuff, once the film gets too close to the original, Kaufman gets showy again in the "how" department. There is a moment that is too great for words, resembling that long close-up in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Matthew is sitting in the garden and slowly falls into sleep, his eyes keep open for such a while I thought the image was paused, and then he closes his eyes, and what we have is one magnificently repulsive creation or procreation moment, even more effective than "The Thing". Stop motion animation can be effective for practical effects involving quick and fast movements, but here we deal with vegetal livings and plants, their movements are smooth and slow and when a plant deflowered, the image was so disturbingly sexual I wasn't surprised by what came from it.The film features many moments like this that are both disgusting and scary yet visually hypnotic, one of the creatures start growing and moaning and then you realize it had a frizzy crop of hair, you've got to wonder if Sutherland's curly hair style wasn't chosen for that scene only. Kaufman gives the story a visual and scary edge, accentuating the level of horror and terror while the original was more in the realm of science fiction. And there's always this kinship with Carpenter's "Thing" in the way the horror is amplified, take that awful shrill sound whenever the pod people spots a human and point their fingers at him, just like pigs being slaughtered, take these awful jump scares involving dead, unfinished or "finished" bodies, hell, just take the ending. Of course, ending on a good mood would have been a bad move and Kaufman knew it. Personally, when I saw Mccarthy reprising his role, I knew Kaufman would be foolish to end with the same image with Sutherland, because it was too predictable and one tribute was enough, but gosh, I didn't expect it to end in such a horrific way. And when the most horrific part of a horror film is the end and it doesn't seem contrived or gratuitous, you know you've just had experienced high-art cinema. This is perhaps one of the greatest remakes ever because for all its replications, it had found an originality of its own.

On the short list of truly great horror/sci-fi remakes, one that often gets left out is the 1978 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Pre-dating John Carpenter's "The Thing" and David Cronenberg's "The Fly" (two films that set an extremely high bar for all other remakes), Director Philip Kaufman's take is the second adaptation of Jack Finney's novel, "The Body Snatchers" and is a real head-spinner, even forty years after its release. It's influence -- while not widely reflected on -- can be heavily felt in the sci-fi leaning pop culture landscape that would sprawl out in its wake.Boasting eye-popping special effects that still look amazing (and, at times, repulsive) even today, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is no doubt a cut above the average studio horror fare of the time, carrying an air of weight and sophistication that puts it in line with a film like Ridley Scott's "Alien." Kaufman slowly but surely raises the tension and paranoia with a steady hand, effortlessly engaging the viewer from beginning to end with characters that look and feel real, caught up in a surreal experience that looks and feels like a waking nightmare. The film is as dread-filled as it is, at times, visually arresting. Of course, the film also boasts an impressive ensemble cast, lead by a heavily permed Donald Sutherland and a down-to-Earth and charming Brooke Adams. Rounding out the cast are Veronica Cartwright (also of "Alien"), Jeff Golblum giving it all the Jeff Goldblum he can give, and Leonard Nimoy, stepping away from Spock for a change of pace. All five main leads look and feel real, selling the dread perfectly, thus sealing the deal.The kind of film that will leave certain images (and sounds) burned into your brain for years after the fact, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is absolute, must-see viewing for genre fans of all shapes and sizes. Kaufman's efforts have surely stood the test of time, and the movie just grabs you by the jugular and refuses to let up until its bone-chilling, music-less end credits. The term "they don't make 'em like they used to" sure gets thrown around a lot, but in this case it is more than apt. One of the best remakes of all- time and definitely one of the most criminally under-rated movies of its era in general.

This movie had an amazing story that gives a nice thrill and makes you wonder what will happen next. It was as adventurous as scary and it will leave you excited during the whole film. The reason i liked this movie was because it was special and was not boring like the modern movies we have today. Many actors in the movie were awesome and there was one character that i loved the most and that was a beautiful girl named Nancy, i wont tell you what she will do in the movie but I can say that she was probably the smartest of them but she did make a mistake, you will understand what I mean after you watched the whole film. I usually don't watch scary movies but this one took the cake and i really recommend it.