Body Snatchers (1993)

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writers (WGA):

Jack Finney (novel)
Raymond Cistheri (screen story) ...

Release Date:

28 January 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror | Thriller | Mystery

Tagline:

The Invasion Continues

Plot:

A teenage girl and her father discover alien clones are replacing humans on a remote U.S. military base in Alabama.

Plot Keywords:

Father | Military | Military Base | Alien | Clone

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Gabrielle Anwar	...	Marti Malone
Terry Kinney	...	Steve Malone
Billy Wirth	...	Tim Young
Christine Elise	...	Jenn Platt
R. Lee Ermey	...	General Platt
G. Elvis Phillips	...	Pete
Reilly Murphy	...	Andy Malone
Kathleen Doyle	...	Mrs. Platt
Forest Whitaker	...	Major Collins
Meg Tilly	...	Carol Malone
Stanley Small	...	Platt's Aide
Tonea Stewart	...	Teacher
Keith Smith	...	Soldier Gas Station
Winston E. Grant	...	Gas Attendant
Phil Neilson	...	MP Gate Captain

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #32088) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Craig Air Force Base, Selma, Alabama, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

This was the first film shot with Arriscope anamorphic lenses, which were created for Arri by the German manufacturer Isco-Optic.

Quotes:

Marti Malone: They get you when you sleep.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Faculty (1998)

Soundtrack:

I WANT YOU BACK

Good – but not in the same way as the original

The Malone family move to a military base to help contain a toxic spill. Many of the soldiers and families are behaving strangely but is it the toxins or something more sinister?

I'm not a fan of remakes, many try to just copy the success of other films while some lift the original scene for scene to poor effect. However this at least tries to do something slightly different with it by setting it in a military base and bringing the drama into the family setting. In fact this setting creates some of the best scenes – my favourite being where Carol tells her daughter Marti that `there's no one like you left'. The greater effects are good but really I preferred the paranoid tension of the 50's original rather than the horror of effects.

However I still think this is a very workable horror from a good director. Of course it suffers with comparison with the original – that's because the original is a sci-fi classic. But as it's own film it is pretty good. Indeed the ending is what director Siegel intended – but he was forced into having a more hopeful epilogue ending. Naturally it has it's weaknesses – the effects overpower the story at times but really I found this to be enjoyable as a horror.

The cast are one of the weak links. I love Kinney because I'm a big Oz (HBO) fan, but here he doesn't really make a mark. Tilly has all the good lines and she is actually quite good. Anwar is also very watchable. But Ermey is type cast in his usual military role and Whitaker is far too calm and reasoned to do the job – he needed to be more like McCarthy in the original.

Overall, this should be watched and not compared. In it's own right it is a good horror with only a few weaknesses that spoil it slightly. And if you do want to compare it to the 50's version then please remember than this is the type of ending that Siegel wanted and to me is one of the strengths of this film.