Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Arrow UHD)

Director: Philip Kaufman
Screenplay: W.D. Richter, Jack Finney
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, Leonard Nimoy
Country: USA
Running Time: 115 minutes
Year: 1978
BBFC Certificate: 15

What would you do if aliens invaded? It’s one of the classic sci-fi questions posed by stories dating back as far as H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds and one that has attracted a wide variety of answers over the years. Some may choose to fight joining a resistance; some may run, going into hiding and praying for everything to be over soon. But then there’s the question asked by Philip Kaufman’s 1978 Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, a remake of the 1956 b-movie from director Don Siegel, itself adapted from Jack Finney’s story – what if you can’t even trust your friends, the people who you’re supposed to be fighting alongside?

Donald Sutherland leads the cast of this take on the classic story of the Pod People, starring as Matthew Bennell, an everyman-like health inspector who discovers during his day-to-day work that something is wrong with the people of San Francisco. When he and his friends begin to notice patterns of abnormal behaviour, of people who don’t seem “quite right”, they uncover a plot by unknown creatures from outer space to clone the human race and gradually make planet earth their own.

Sutherland is excellent in his role as Bennell, a man with a mundane day job who gets thrust into the midst of an alien invasion and reacts with exactly the amount of panic and paranoia you’d expect! But Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an ensemble piece and joining Sutherland are a startlingly young Jeff Goldblum as his friend, health spa owner Jack Bellicec, and a brilliant Leonard Nimoy playing very much against his “Spock” archetype as a psychiatrist who thinks he has all the answers to the weirdness. Easily standout in the cast, however, are Brooke Adams as Bennell’s friend and former lover Elizabeth Driscoll, and Veronica Cartwright as Jack’s wife Nancy; both are playing strong and capable women who very quickly come to the realisation as to what’s actually happening to the people of their city, only to be gaslit by pretty much every male in the cast!

Kaufman’s Body Snatchers is easily one of the most unsettling alien invasion films I’ve seen; a slow burn story with a brooding build up that’s only heightened by the realism in the direction as Kaufman shoots a large amount of long takes and naturalistic shots, allowing the actors to actually act, capturing small moments and subtle background details as the world begins to fall apart. There’s a remarkable sense of paranoia cutting through the story which is underscored by Danny Zeitlin’s pulsing soundtrack and the overall fantastic sound design on the film; from the hum of the city to the building sense of panic and, ultimately, the horrific screeching of the Pod People. The sparingly used practical effects also contribute to this with some remarkably grimy and squishy body horror visuals, with one particularly effective jump scare that’s likely to thoroughly get anyone not expecting it! All of this leads to a remarkably bleak finale, complete with a final shot that’s unfortunately iconic; sadly, along with Norman Bates in Psycho and Citizen Kane’s Rosebud, the now well known image of Bennell fully gives away what should be a gut wrenching final twist to a film that pulls no punches in putting both its characters and the audience through the wringer.

It’s great to see another classic getting the UHD treatment from Arrow and, once again, they’ve put out a superb looking film. Having only previously seen this on a DVD release, the clarity of the image and the gloriously vintage colours, emphasised further by a lovely HDR picture, are properly given time to shine here. Sadly the same can’t be said for the audio mix which I found to have some unfortunately soft dialogue, however I can’t be sure this isn’t a holdover from the original transfer of the film. Either way, though, this is a great package and an essential film for the collection of any discerning sci-fi fan.

Bonus Features

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original uncompressed stereo 2.0 and 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio sound
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Philip Kaufman
• Discussing the Pod, a panel conversation about Invasion of the Body Snatchers and invasion cinema featuring critic Kim Newman and filmmakers Ben Wheatley (Kill List) and Norman J. Warren (Satan’s Slave)
• Writing the Pod, an interview with Jack Seabrook, author of Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney about Finney’s original novel The Body Snatchers
• Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod, a documentary on the making of the film featuring Philip Kaufman, Donald Sutherland, writer W.D. Richter and more
• The Man Behind the Scream: The Sound Effects Pod, a look at the film’s pioneering sound effects
• The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod, cinematographer Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) discusses the look of and influences on the visual style of the film
• Practical Magic: The Special Effects Pod, a look at the creation of the special effects from the opening space sequence
• Original theatrical trailer
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
• Six postcard-sized artcards
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by David Cairns and Charles Freund, and archival interviews with director Philip Kaufman and writer W.D. Richter
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

While this release is once again chock full of the usual excellent features Arrow is famous for, it is also unfortunately the same selection of bonus content from the 2013 Blu-Ray release. While this is not necessarily a bad thing as this selection of documentaries and commentaries are hugely informative, it is, as per the companies other UHD releases, another moment where fans need to consider if a double dip is worth it. Thankfully, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a fantastic film and, for new collectors in particular, this is an easy set to recommend.