Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Don Siegel

Released in 1956, Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers is now regarded as a classic of the science fiction genre. A chilling, unsettling film tapping into Cold War, McCarthy-era paranoia, the film was initially regarded as a low budget exploitation picture, one of many being produced during the decade’s science fiction boom. With its depth of ideas and Siegel’s cinematic flourishing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers transcended genre confines to be viewed as a landmark film, open to multiple interpretations and unwilling to become a dated piece of cinema like so many others from the period.
Still potent and exhilarating, its anti-complacency message has a continued relevance. And its still disturbs, its narrative progression and gathering sense of doom a lesson in terror for any filmmaker.
Paul Outhwaite examines the film’s evolution from B-movie to classic, drawing on the source material of author Jack Finney’s serial, The Body Snatchers and placing the film in a social and historical context. Exploring the small town setting and the film’s subversion of archetypes, Outhwaite’s analysis broadens the parameters of previous interpretations.