Invasion of the Body Snatchers

A doctor returns to a small California town and notices his patients all arrive with the same complaint: my relatives are not themselves anymore. The faces are the same, the voices are the same, the memories are intact. The only thing missing is feeling. Don Siegel directed, from Jack Finney's novel. Shooting ran 23 days between March and April 1955 and the budget closed at 382,190 dollars. Siegel wanted night shot for night, which added three days. The ending is not the one Siegel cut. He and screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring were happy with a finish where Miles screams among the passing trucks; the studio added a prologue and an epilogue. Siegel was blunt about it afterwards, saying the people running Allied Artists nearly ruined the film. What it is about has been argued for seventy years. Some read a critique of McCarthyism and conformity, others an anti-communist warning. Both Finney and actor Kevin McCarthy denied any political intent. Siegel sat in between: the reference to totalitarianism was inescapable, but he tried not to emphasise it. Critics ignored it on release. It grossed 3 million dollars, entered the National Film Registry in 1994 and now sits at 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Who it is for: viewers who like science fiction arriving through horror, and anyone curious about fifties political paranoia. Who it is not for: anyone wanting effects. All the tension here is built out of performance and light.