Unseen Terror 2017: Day 18

EPA worker Steve Malone is sent to rural Alabama, where he is hoping to test the possible effects that the nearby military base has on the ecosystem. Dragging his second wife Carol, stepson Andy, and his own daughter Marti with him, it doesn't take very long for the group to settle into their new abode. One day after young Andy runs away from school, seemingly scared of his new classmates' conformist-like behavior, he is picked up and delivered back to the house by helicopter pilot Tim Young, who Marti immediately bonds with. Within a staggeringly short amount of time, the Malone children begin to notice something highly unusual about the town: most of their familiars appear to be utterly without emotion. In fact, after one falls asleep, it's as if they are barely human anymore once they wake up...



There are two things that need to be said right off the bat before I type this review: I'm not a humongous Abel Ferrera fan (my thoughts on his 1979 effort The Driller Killer made that well-known), and despite my like for 1992's dark and sleazy Bad Lieutenant, his style of filmmaking just doesn't personally do it for me. The second is that this marks the FOURTH adaption that I've seen of author Jack Finney's classic 1955 story titled The Body Snatchers (five if you can count 1998's The Faculty). That is remarkably absurd, if not slightly unhealthy on my part. Still, two of those official interpretations and big screen handlings have been nothing short of great, with my only miss coming in the form of 2007's clunky and forgettable The Invasion. So I figured that with this year's Unseen Terror, there would be no better time than the present to visit 1993's Body Snatchers. Plus, with a shocking amount of recognizable names working in the script and story departments (Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli of Re-Animator & From Beyond, Larry Cohen of The Stuff & Q-The Winged Serpent), it just seemed that it was too big to fail.


After the final, depressing minutes wrapped up, I'm certainly glad that I took this chance, as this particular version manages to try something a little different to separate itself from its predecessors. For starters, Body Snatchers feels even more self-contained that I expected it to be, and despite the obvious threats and implication of future domination, most of its running time has the film's long tenure inside of a military base. To me, it didn't appear that the priority of spreading this "infection" worldwide seemed to be the main focus of its (many) antagonists though, or at least not until when we spot one leader passing off instructions to vehicles about their destinations. I'm not quite sure if that was the wisest move to make though, considering that there are several stretches where it does begin to drag a little until the events pick up. Speaking of that, Body Snatchers seems to have a bit more of a focus on providing more thrills and action than any other translation of the source material, though it isn't without some genuinely chilling and disturbing moments thrown in between. And yes, it does include a new version of the now infamous "Snatchers Scream."


While Body Snatchers does lack some of the same star power that the 1978 picture possessed (cue review plug), it isn't slouching in the acting department. Gabrielle Anwar, who some modern fans will recognize from Burn Notice and The Tudors is our main heroine, and she does play a damn fine one. The panic and paranoia seeping throughout her being does feel quite human and fairly realistic, as does her younger costar Reilly Murphy, who plays her kid brother and initial discoverer of the sudden change in loved ones and cohorts. Meg Tilly (The Big Chill) also has a great, if not criminally small role as their soon-to-be emotionless stepmother. She is involved in a particularly great sequence wherein she delivers a monologue about why resisting is utterly futile (don't sue me). It comes across as somewhat understandable, especially when you think about how dark and dreary this cruel world can be. Unfortunately, Anwar's costar Billy Wirth (The Lost Boys) just isn't given enough of a strong character or background to work with, and while we should be feeling concerned for his own safety, he just felt rather flat (the same can be said for Forest Whitaker's supporting role). Truth be told, most of the soldiers and personnel are fairly boring as well, even before the replacement process has begun. If this was supposed to be a metaphor for how soulless the armed forces can be, then they somewhat succeeded. I'm still a fan of the concept of fearing change and shattering the typical portrait of American society that was so vividly found in the other flicks though.


Complaints and quirks aside, I did find Body Snatchers to be a pretty decent watch, even if it doesn't really hold a candle to the other movies that came before it. The mood and atmosphere are appropriately chilling, the special effects rather nice (watching the "husks" dissolve is a standout), and it ultimately gets the vibe and feeling of hopelessness right, which is possibly one of its two or three most important aspects. As of this review, Ferrera's vision is available on a Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, and most services such as YouTube and Amazon Prime have it for rent. Ultimately, whatever iteration of the story you choose to temporarily or permanently purchase depends on how much you are willing to spend, or if you have a preference for certain decades' releases.



Just don't give any of your time to Invasion of the Pod People though. It's Asylum's knockoff, and you'd be better off letting one of these aliens destroy your body instead.




Tomorrow, we hop forward a bit and see if an Indiegogo fund can truly help (love)craft a competent horror movie!

Unseen Terror 2014: Day 31

Elizabeth Driscoll, an employee at the San Francisco health department, awakens one random day to find that her boyfriend is acting unusually cold and seemingly distant. Upon contacting Matthew Bennell, her colleague from work, they discover that even more individuals around the city have been seemingly sucked of all emotions. Though others are more believing of the fact that maybe it is just pure coincidence, the two are decidedly convinced that something is awry, and begin to investigate further. After a mutual friend comes across a blank-looking, rapidly-changing body in his bathhouse, the trio uncover the reason for these odd occurrences: alien organisms from a dying planet that are intent on replacing the entire human population.

So, we've finally come full circle. We've reached the end. With these upcoming paragraphs, I will be concluding this year's Unseen Terror, my yearly, though not only foray into horror movies that I have never seen. When I began piecing together this year's October blog-o-thon, I couldn't have imagined that I'd be opening and closing with essentially the same story, even if they are written and directed by two entirely different grown men. True, their release dates are separated by more than a few years, but Philip Kaufman's remake/re-imagining of the classic Invasion Of The Body Snatchers should not be thought of as just another hollywood revamp. In some ways, it equals or rivals the original film released twenty two years earlier, and certain aspects could arguably be superior to its previous adaptation.

For starters, the score is a lot more straight up horror-based, which I didn't think was possible given that Carmen Dragon did a phenomenal job himself before this version came out. Denny Zeitlin composes pieces that don't feel completely confined to their own decade. It doesn't sound like a soundtrack from the 1970s, but rather like something that could fit in at nearly any time or year. This is all the more surprising when you consider that it's done by a man whose primary media-related work outside of this was Sesame Street. The fear and underlying message of conformity still remains from the 1950s, as does some of the same plot elements and sequences (there's even a Kevin McCarthy cameo!), but it ultimately plays out more like a traditional suspense/horror flick than a science fiction shocker. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The '78 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers is immediately more open with showing the viewer how these creatures have arrived on our planet, expanding on their reasoning and logic behind why they choose to do what they're currently doing. Never before have I been so creeped out by watching flowers bloom and plants grow. We're also given an explanation and answer for what exactly happens to the original bodies once the replicating process has wrapped up (something that the original never made completely clear to the audience), and it is fairly unsettling, if not a tad bit disgusting. I've never wanted to see a naked woman less in my entire life. Thanks folks. Another standout moment is the extraterrestrial beings emitting a very shrill, slightly animalistic cry when a human is discovered hidden in their group or walking in the streets, which bears a similarity to the cries of the Nazgul from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Though I was fully and begrudgingly aware of this iteration's ending going in (do not partake in a google image search if you want to avoid spoilers), I feel that it is far more appropriately bleak than the original's, with a final act that simultaneously breaks your heart and somewhat restores hope. This prior knowledge proves to be an irrelevant factor in the overall entertainment of the motion picture, since the build up and main story is incredibly well done, with the tension becoming nail-bitingly fierce. Now that I think about it, and as blasphemous as it sounds, I may just recommend Philip Kaufman's version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers over Don Siegel's 1956 picture of the same name. There's a great cast full of equally exceptional performances (it is so bizarre seeing Leonard Nemoy in something that isn't related to Star Trek), it tones down some of the blatantly old-school"heebie jeebies" vibe that could unfairly be classified as lame by today's youth, and is, to quote Marge Gunderson, pretty darn good.

Yeesh, did that dog with a human face look really, really stupid though. And it doesn't make the best amount of sense. Scratch that, it makes NO sense whatsoever. But shit, I watched a movie with a caterpillar-dog not that long ago, so perhaps I'll cut it some slack.

Tomorrow, I shall spend a good portion of my day NOT watching any horror films, and will be giving my senses a break. That being said, I will be happy to discuss my final thoughts on this year's iteration of this "blog-o-thon" that I thoroughly enjoy doing, and will even disclose information about pictures that didn't make the cut!

Unseen Terror 2014: Day 1

And lo, it arrived. A day unlike any other. A day which would begin a marathon of nearly forty motion pictures associated with the genre that perturbs and bothers most of humanity: horror. It is a journey that very few would ever choose to partake in.

Except for a pretty darn good amount of people on the internet. Such as James Rolfe. And Chuck Dowling.

Eh, screw it.

I'm in my fourth year of doing this. Yes, I'm as surprised (and slightly disappointed) as you are. Over the years, I've felt that this has become slim pickings for me, at least in terms of providing quality entertainment for which to write about. Still, the advent of streaming sites, assorted video hosting services, and good books will always help keep my interest piqued and my passion fiery. So let's dive in, shall we? And for those of you who are new to my yearly tradition, I say welcome! I always welcome feedback, comments, and your own thoughts.

In the small town of Santa Mira, California, doctor Miles Bennell has been receiving an unusual amount of strange complaints and calls from patients, all based around the same peculiar observation: the claim that their loved ones aren't themselves. Though they may still physically resemble the same individuals, the emotions of these people are seemingly stagnant. Some initially dismiss it as "mass hysteria," but the good doctor has his reservations. Soon, he slowly unravels a horrifying extraterrestrial-based plot that aims to replicate and replace every human being in the world.

My first exposure to this now-classic science fiction/horror piece came from two different, although eerily similar sources. First, there was the Looney Tunes short "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers," which you can still watch at this link. The second was a short from the comic books based on "The Simpsons" entitled "Immigration of the Body Snatchers," which you can read at your local comic book shop…hey, I was a weird kid, okay? Either way you slice it, I was very familiar with the original source material, although I had never actually sat down to watch it in its entirety.

Which is a damn shame, especially considering how well and still effective a movie like Invasion of the Body Snatchers really is. For starters, it is brilliant in its simplicity. The idea of all living creatures, be they bipedal homo sapiens or other specimens, being replaced by soulless, emotionless, and "blank" aliens, is a concept that could truly worry any rational-thinking person on the planet. If you were absolutely convinced that such an act were occurring, but felt that nobody would listen to you and that there was no easy way out from this madness, wouldn't you too go a little mad? Invasion plays exactly like an old serial, or even an old short from a comic book. Oddly, neither of those provides the source material for this particular film (that belongs to the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney), but head honcho Don Siegel, later of Dirty Harry fame, directs this script (adapted by Daniel Mainwaring) with an honest-to-god seriousness and overwhelming sense of paranoia, and it isn't hard to see why it is held in such high regard all of these years later. Oddly enough, the movie was primarily shunned upon its release, which I can only assume was due to the abundance of "heebie jeebies" films being released throughout the decade.

While Siegel is certainly a good director, and composer Carmen Dragon (yes, that's really his name) weaves together a pretty outstanding score (keep an ear open when watching the Looney Tunes homage I discussed above), I feel like one of my main gripes lies in something that has just always been a pet peeve of mine. Invasion of the Body Snatchers' acting can be quite hokey at times, even if a large portion of it is mostly confined to parts of the first act. Don't get me wrong, Kevin McCarthy is FANTASTIC as Dr. Miles Bennell, and Larry Gates and King Donovan (how badass of a name is that?) are enjoyable as two of his confidants who discover this horrible breach in their mostly-secluded community. The others? Well, Dana Wynter is a classic 1950s beauty, but I thought she could have expressed a little more emotion here and there (I'm not enough of a scumbag to make a joke in relation to the title), primarily because of her decision to take on the pivotal role of Bennell's ex-girlfriend who is stuck in the middle of this horrible conspiracy after returning home to discover her cousin's uncle acting rather odd himself. I'm sorry if it sounds blasphemous, but while I certainly respect an immense amount of actors and actresses from this time period, most of their methods and performances just don't seem to click with me the way that some of the more prominent roles from the mid-60s and onward do. Besides, Wynter's American accent begins to slip towards the end. And I'm a real nitpicking jerk when that type of stuff happens.

My assholery aside, the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of those stories that can stand the test of time and be told, updated, or reinterpreted while still never losing its primary themes or failing to creep out the audience. Its message on the fear of conformity, especially in a post-war period or tragic timeline, or even the grievances of disgusting tactics began by McCarthyism (which in short, is a form of witch hunting through defamation) can resonate with most cinephiles. There's also the metaphor of sleeper agents lying in wait to get us when we are at our most vulnerable (perhaps the fear of falling asleep played one of several influences on a young Wes Craven), which can still be felt today with such shows as The Americans and movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Most importantly, you could also choose to just view it as a good science fiction story, and enjoy it all the more (though I personally could have done without the seemingly forced prologue and epilogue). After all, they've only remade this THREE FRIGGIN' TIMES since its release, though you can probably skip the last of the three mentioned.

And heck, I don't think that the title "The Capgras Delusion" would have helped garner as much attention anyway.

Tomorrow, we're going to make things slimy, as I begin a brief foray into the realm of bugs (and sequels!) with Mimic 2!