The 2007 version of The Invasion is regarded as the least impressive adaptation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was poorly received by critics, with a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and performed poorly at the box office, earning just $40 million against a $65 million budget.
What makes the ending stand out is Dr. Carol Bennett’s discovery of a cure to halt the alien invasion. However, there’s a twist: the invaders promised peace, but once humanity had the cure, people returned to their violent tendencies.
Dr. Carol Bennett discovers the cure but the true cost of peace is revealed in the film’s twist (Photo: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers/Solofilm)The movie finishes on a seemingly positive note, but this soon turns out to be deceptive. While the social commentary in the film was strong, it couldn’t make up for the lack of depth due to the film’s high-budget approach.
Body Snatchers (1993)
The Aliens Claim They Have Already Infected The World
The 1993 film Body Snatchers is the least well-known adaptation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, directed by Abel Ferrara. This movie relocates the story to a military base in Alabama, where employees are replaced by emotionless clones grown from plant-like pods.
In true Body Snatcher fashion, these clones are perfect replicas but lack any emotion. In the movie’s bleak ending, two survivors, piloting an attack helicopter, attempt to destroy the pod people as they attempt to escape and spread the infection.
The film concludes with the survivors landing at a new base, where one of their replaced friends reveals there is no safe place left and that the rest of the world is already infected.
This unsettling realization hints that the infection has spread worldwide, but the lack of direct impact, as the characters only hear the news, takes away the shock value seen in previous adaptations.
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Running Through The Streets Yelling For Help
The first Invasion of the Body Snatchers film, directed by Don Siegel in 1956, is the pioneer of this eerie alien concept. Shot in black and white, the film stars Kevin McCarthy as Miles Bennett, a man who is hospitalized in Los Angeles while claiming that aliens are replacing his neighbors.
The film builds on his growing panic as the alien doppelgangers infiltrate the town. The ending of this film is considered a classic. Miles realizes that his girlfriend, Becky, has turned into one of the aliens, and in a desperate attempt to alert the authorities, he sounds the alarm.
The scene of him running through the streets screaming for help remains a powerful moment, and it was famously adapted in the 1978 remake, with McCarthy making a cameo.
In contrast to the darker endings in the later adaptations, the conclusion here offers some hope, with the police and doctors believing Miles and setting out to stop the invasion.
Interestingly, the film had an alternate, more pessimistic ending, where Bennett runs through the streets, yelling, but this time no one believes him or helps him.
Both endings work effectively, and the movie, often interpreted as an allegory for the Red Scare, has earned its place as a beloved sci-fi classic, added to the National Film Registry in 1994.
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
The 1993 Body Snatchers brings a chilling, lesser-known take on the alien invasion tale (Photo: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers/Solofilm)The Final Scream
The 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers stands out as one of the most impressive horror remakes ever. Not only did it surpass the original in many ways, but it also overshadowed many other films made for theatrical release at the time.
Featuring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy, this version follows a group of survivors trying to escape the alien invasion, where the pod people replace humanity.
What makes the ending of the 1978 version particularly chilling is the moment when Elizabeth Driscoll realizes that she has lost all her allies. The climax intensifies when, after calling out Matthew’s name on a university campus, she hears him emit a high-pitched alien scream.
This realization, paired with her horrified reaction, cements the film’s ending as one of the scariest and most unforgettable moments in horror movie history.
