Halloween night is the perfect time to fire up some spooky melodrama as you wait for adorable candy-collectors to knock on your door.
Whether you’re turning down the lights and listening to classic radio shows like “The War of the Worlds” or “I Love a Mystery,” or streaming through a season of “The Twilight Zone,” Halloween is best served with a side of over-the-top acting, shoestring budgets and ham-drenched dialogue.
Film fans have a large library to choose from when considering such criteria, so narrowing down a subject for our Halloween Retro Review wasn’t exactly easy. But after some debate, and a few games of Rock-paper-scissors, we believe we’ve arrived at the perfect recommendation.
This October 31st, rollout your projectors or simply log into Amazon Prime, and celebrate the year’s spookiest night with the original 1956 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
The premise
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is one of those classics that even though you’ve heard the name a million times, you may have never taken the time to find out what it’s actually about. If you’re that person, it might be best to skip this section. “Body Snatchers” is most fun when you’re discovering the secrets of Santa Mira, California, with the film’s characters.
It’s not that the name doesn’t strongly suggest where the story’s headed, but body snatcher could mean any number of things — like, maybe it’s a story about kidnappers or grave robbers. If you’re still reading, however, that probably means you either know or would actually like to know. So fine: It’s about aliens. But keep in mind, the less you know about this movie the better.
The history
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is a film that comes up a lot in film history courses, and for good reason. The film is currently considered the 9th best science fiction movie of all time according to the American Film Institute and Time nagazine has it listed as one of the best 100 films ever made.
As far as pop culture goes, this is the movie that gave meaning to the phrase “pod people.” Forget the critical accolades, you need to see this movie if only to better understand the “pod people” reference.
Melodrama
“Body Snatchers” is so beautifully melodramatic. From its sweeping orchestral opening to the closeups of characters screaming into the camera, you can practically hear director Don Siegel yelling from behind the camera, “Bigger! Act bigger!”
The dialogue is fast and slick, while in no way resembling natural conversation — and yes, this is all absolutely a good thing.
You enjoy “Body Snatchers” in the same way you enjoy going to a nickelcade. Sure you can play flashier video games on your home console, but air hockey and Ms. Pacman are still the games that genuinely make you smile.
The concept
In the spirit of great late-night science fiction television, the concept is everything in “Body Snatchers” — and it’s a concept that will get inside your head.
There isn’t really a “jump moment” in the movie, but you’ll be thinking about plausible alien invasions long after your Halloween viewing. As Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of his home town, you’ll be asking yourself how mankind could ever counter or even detect such a simple invasion strategy. Then you’ll wonder if we haven’t already lost to such an attack. Then, you might even wonder if you’re an alien watching a movie about aliens taking over humans that look just like you.
Conclusion
There are other fun classics out there to consider on Halloween, but “Body Snatchers” is unique because of its ability to still genuinely creep out modern audiences.
If you realize going in that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is like a really long and amazing episode of “The Twilight Zone,” you’re going to love it. It’s paced perfectly for small interruptions as you get up to answer the door throughout the evening, and as an added bonus, one of its stars is none other than Carolyn Jones, who also played Morticia Addams.
We’re fairly confident you’ll love “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and believe it will be a perfect addition to your Halloween festivities. However, if we’re wrong and you hate it, there’s still a consolation prize for viewers. Next time you find yourself without a costume on Halloween, you can simply tell people you’re a pod-person version of yourself. You’re welcome.