Body Snatchers 1993

"Where you gonna go, where you gonna run, where you gonna hide? Nowhere, cause there’s no one, like you, left"

Not having seen Body Snatchers since it came out on VHS way back when, and having fond memories of it at the chicken tender age of 16, I decide it was about time to revisit the third film based off the 1955 Jack Finney novel, The Body Snatchers. This movie has a lot going for it, a screenplay co-written by Stuart Gordon, directed by one Abel Ferrara, and based off of a classic story of fear and paranoia. Not surprisingly, Body Snatchers still holds up pretty well after all these years, and with a brisk runtime of 87 minutes, the film is quick and to the point, with no time consuming filler, or spoon feed back story for the movie goer to endure.

The story/set up is simple enough…we meet the Malone family, who are temporally living on a military base, where recently remarried father and EPA inspector Steve Malone (Terry Kinney) is testing hazardous waste stored by the military. Marti Malone, (Gabrielle Anwar) is his somewhat rebellious teenage daughter who is our main lead in the film, a girl going through a lot of growing pains with adjusting to her new stepmother Carol, (Meg Tilly) and having to relocate at a difficult age to such a non-teenage friendly location like a military base, she is a character going through the motions. Marti does however make friends with Jenn Platt, (Christine Elise) a slutty Billy Idol look alike, and daughter of a military General. Slutty Billy Idol look alikes usually lead to hanging with some boys, which is the case for Marti when she gets to hang with chopper pilot/vampire Tim Young (Billy Wirth) at an off base bar, which lands her in the shit house with her father when she returns home buzzed and past her curfew. One of the first signs that some of the locals are a little off, is in a chilling scene when Marti’s younger brother Andy,(Reilly Murphy) is the only kid in class to paint something different than the rest of his classmates, who all have painted almost identical pieces to one another. From here things get progressively worse for Martie and the rest of the Malone family, as more and more people seem to be acting less and less like themselves.

Body Snatchers does a nice job of not wasting a lot of time with pointless back story that would probably bog down the film, and take away some of the movies effectiveness. You can easily fill in the blanks, and get the idea what the Malone family is all about, along with the family struggles they are going through without any difficulty in doing so. The military base setting is a well thought out setting, as the military obviously has great resources, and access to all forms of transportation, weapons and communications, thus making it the perfect spot for an alien invasion to begin, and easily spread. Also, I must add that the military is THE definition of conformity, they wear uniforms and follow a strict, repetitive, daily regimen, with no choice to really do other wise, individuality is obviously out the window…much like pod people work. Plus, just knowing that the muscle of our country could be used against us in an alien takeover is quite the frightening scenario indeed…who would protect and save us then? Ferrara’s direction here is pretty top notch, and Body Snatchers is nicely shot with some great camera movement that I found to be very effective, especially during the more horror related scenes. The threat of the pod people is at times brilliantly done, with the use of shadows to insinuate that there is danger, without actually showing the threat itself, a smart decision considering the pod people are as faceless as the shadows that at times come to represent them. The score is decent, and at the right times it is fittingly ominous just when it needs to be.

Another positive aspect of Body Snatchers that works well for me, would have to be some of the acting. Overall, the cast is pretty solid, but a few of the actors really put forth strong performances, most notably so would be a genuinely chilling, Meg Tilly. In what is the turning point of the Body Snatchers, and a scene that is scary as genital warts, a dual "Snatching" is botched, and Steve is rounding up Marti, Andy and Carol to get the hell outta dodge, when Tilly delivers the truly frightening “Where you gonna run, where you gonna hide” monologue. A monologue that I would consider to be one of the most powerful, and effective moments in horror cinema. Although a very small role, Forest Whitaker puts forth a stellar and very convincing performance as the paranoid, and completely broken down Major Collins. Of course I should mention Mr. "Major Malfunction" himself, R. Lee Ermey who has a small role as General Platt, and as always, does a great job of playing…well, R. Lee Ermey…but with a real busted looking, Grecian Formula mustache. Gabrielle Anwar is pretty solid as she carries the bulk of the film, she has a great look, and really pulls off the lonely teen in angst. When I saw Body Snatchers in my mid teens, it was easy to relate to her, as I had moved from one end of the country to the other, so I kinda knew what she was going through. Plus, I cant fail to mention that I had the biggest crush on her for the longest time, and even now on Burn Notice she is still quite the stunner.

My only real complaints with Body Snatchers are very minor to say the least. At times he is okay, but overall I find Marti’s little brother Andy (Murphy) to be as annoying as having a boner when I have to make tinkle in the morning. Another issue I have is…well it’s very obvious that Marti is 17, (but looks even younger) and I tried to convince myself that her love interest Tim (Wirth) is probably 18 or 19...but it doesn’t work, the dude just looks like he’s 28 no matter what I tell myself. It was hard to get over the fact that he looks so much older than her, and not to the fault of Wirth in anyway, it just didn’t settle well with me, and was kinda creepy to be honest. But those complaints are pretty minimal, and maybe even a bit nit picky in the grand scheme.

Overall, Body Snatchers is a very solid horror film with a lot of things done right. The Body Snatchers "Snatching" is frightening, and visceral, while still being a visually beautiful act to witness in scenes that are genuinely scary. The Snatchers themselves are emotionless shells of the former human inhabitants, and as introduced in the 1978 version, when they spot a human they point and scream in a very alarming way that is powerful, and jarring …a sound similar to the one my mother made when she once caught me "growing hair on my palms." The very cool revenge themed ending, leaves you with a perfect set up for what could have been a very cool sequel, but the film was nothing more than a box office glitch upon its original release. It’s a pity that this film didn’t get much of a chance when it released in 93, MGM gave it the shaft and only put it out in a handful of theaters where its theatrical take was a measly $428,868 in the U.S. For me personally though, the film has a lot of meaning, is well thought out, and a lot of care was taken from the setting of the takeover, to the many parallels’ that can be found in Body Snatchers. I can very easily recommend Body Snatchers to any fan of the horror genre, and I hope if you haven’t yet seen it, then you give it a chance…maybe you’ll enjoy it as much as I did, and still do.