Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

I think everyone has probably heard of this movie before, but I'd never seen it so I was glad it was on the list.

Despite being on the bucket list, the film wasn't really on my radar to watch until I saw a video recently where someone commented on how amazing the ending was. So after I saw that, I wanted to watch it as soon as I could.

I loved this film.

The premise is such an interesting one. The audience has an outsider's perspective, which makes things that much more intriguing because we have no idea who these characters were before the film started. We have to take everything at face value.

It's so well written - a lot of the horror elements of the film come directly from the dialogue. The idea in itself is scary, but seeing and hearing the reactions of the characters makes it even scarier.

The pacing is great - at 1/2 an hour in, so much has already happened. Things are teased out really slowly, and the situation escalates in a way that has you completely glued to the screen.

One of the best things about the film is that there's so much the audience don't see. We feel what the characters feel, we believe them and we're scared for them, but we don't actually see any evidence, particularly in the first half.

We truly have to rely on the characters and that makes us so much more invested in them.

I didn't expect it to be as scary as it was. The idea is scary but the way it's executed is what really pushes things over the top. The actors do such a great job playing the duplicates, and Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter do an amazing job of making us connect with their characters.

Despite being quite short it absolutely packs a punch. This is a must-see for horror fans, and is definitely worthy of the 'classic' title!