Science fiction taught us to be scared or at least highly suspicious over emotionless creatures (or creations), but what if they are family? What if their emotionlessness is also the promise of a life devoid of the tormenting effects of feelings? How would that premise, so scary back then, holds up today?I don't think Jack Finney, author of the original novel could have predicted that at the dawn of the 20th century, his "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" would inspire three movie adaptations, and three damn good ones at that. I guess he foresaw that there was something universal and timeless about the story, which explains how it could regularly reinvent itself. Indeed, each film reflects the social mood of its era, each one borrowing a little something from the predecessor yet providing a novelty that fits its own context.In 1956, Don Siegel entered "pod culture" with a story set in small Californian town. In Philip Kaufman's version of 1978, the town was San Francisco, the era made soullessness even less visible and the film was more generous in horror artistry and introduced the now iconic pod scream and signal. Intentionally or not, the first was an allegory of conservative conformism while the second a commentary of the failure of counterculture with modernity alienating people from each other and maybe the pointed finger as the brutal demonization of social outcastsNow, we're in 1993, and the director is Abel Ferrara. It's been a while since I saw his movies but they always struck me with their nihilistic feel and the way violence could have an exorcising effect without being enjoyed in the proper term of the word. His characters are often prone to bitterness, devoured by their own demons and barely capable to show emotion. It's not a coincidence that one of his fetish actors was Christopher Walken, who's so intimidating you could never tell if you had to fear him or avoid him, a natural-born pod man. So there wasn't many joy in his films but a form of subtle introspection within doomed but not meaningless lives.His 1992 "Bad Lieutenant" was a masterpiece and highlighted one of his greatest talents which is not to sell out for cheap and predictable genre tropes. One can say that his use of violence could make him a good candidate for a horror film, but even then, you can sense there's a Ferrara touch in the story, it is faithful to the novel in structure and story, but in spirit, it is different. And even by tackling the genre, Ferrara doesn't indulge in an exercise in style and, he sticks to his guns and dares to play it in a surprisingly low key way. His most inspired idea was to flip the genders and center the story on a young teenage girl played by Gabrielle Anwar, in fact, he tells a totally different story.Marti is 16, she lives with her father (Terry Kinney), her step-mother (Meg Tilly) and little half-brother and strikes you as the typical angry teen who gets alone with nobody. This is an interesting departure from the first films where the shifts of personalities occurred within happy couples or families. We're in an interesting case of new marriage where members seem estranged one to another, quite an irony when the change is meant to be the pivotal point. So if the little boy feels the children in school all act bizarrely the same or that his "mother is dead", the dysfunctional thing will serve as a perfect alibi. Ferrara tricks the card already by making the slights change more difficult to notice. Another example the the film is set in a military base, so the emotionless façade is in line with the soldiers' rigid conformity, as pointed out by Roger Ebert who gave the film four stars. I liked the film but within its short runtime, it doesn't try to play with our minds for too long, Ferrara knows that we all wait for the first pods to appear and on that level, he gets as graphic and visually generous as Kaufman, but in a rather sordid and disgusting way, the tendrils don't have this macabre but bizarre sensuality and the sight and sounds of "unfinished" bodies are pretty unsettling, not to mention those damn finger-pointing screams.Kaufman's art was almost beautiful and give the film a sort of hypnotic beauty, "Body Snatchers" is gloomy from the start, there's no cheerful neighbors to welcome the family, the means of socialization are quite minimal: people drink and sleep all day and barely talk to each other. Even Marti makes only two friends, the general's daughter and a handsome soldier, the rest of the environment involvement military police under the commandment of the late R. Lee. Ermey, far less colorful than his legendary Hartman but even more intimidating. His confrontation and speech to a mentally cornered Forest Whitaker and is perhaps the most depressing "explanation moment" of the trilogy. Even the Alabama military base is a sort of anachronistic sepia-toned town so typical of these "Great Depression" movies of the 70's. In the end, we don't know if the body snatching either is a predictable evolution or a deliverance. It's interesting that the only outburst of pure humanity are either suicide or intense hatred, not our most positive assets. Ebert said that the film reflected the "no future" depression of the 90's, the AIDS period, I think Ferrara took an interesting angle that fit the disillusioned spirit of his characters, driven yet undefeated. Indeed, just because one hates his life doesn't mean he should accept someone to suck the life out of him, that's the point.As usual, the 'body snatchers' say something about what we are, but also what we don't want to be. Maybe as long as we'll be "afraid to sleep", the story will be relevant enough to inspire more remakes like the 2007 one.

Chemist and his family move to a military base in Alabama to investigate the level of toxins in their water--could this pollution be the reason why the military personnel are exhibiting such odd behavior? "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with both a new milieu and environmental overtones, also a heavy emphasis on the grisly body duplications. The protagonist this time is the chemist's teenage daughter, who also provides an infrequent voice-over in the past tense. Director Abel Ferrara makes the attempt to slowly build suspense, however his morose, darkly-filmed opening (some 30 minutes in) backfires; tension doesn't so much mount as it does bide its time. Adaptation of Jack Finney's novel "The Body Snatchers" was worked on by several writers who provide lots of activity but no interesting people. Some effective and hair-raising moments, a good performance from Meg Tilly in a small role, but a fiery finale that falls flat. ** from ****

I'm guessing I would have liked this a little better had I seen it closer to its release date. Now I can't help but compare it to The Faculty, which I absolutely love, so it was a little dull to me.The effects are pretty decent, and the story is kind of cool, there are some cool elements here and there, but all in all I wasn't that impressed. But like I said, had I seen this in the early nineties, I would probably have been fascinated by the story. It's short, which is a good thing, and it's pretty bleak which I like. It does take a while for it to get going, and when it does, it doesn't go all that fast. It's not a nail biter. Yeah yeah, it's alright, but for the ultimate Alien-taking-over-human- bodies-movie, I'd definitely go with The Faculty. (which is based on the same premise, btw)

The second remake of the sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers is decent but nowhere near as good as the original or the 1978 version. Part of the problem lies in the story's familiarity. Changing the setting does little to help the fact that you feel like you know what's going to happen throughout the movie. Actually, changing the setting in this case only serves to hurt the film, as the military base backdrop does more to diminish the paranoia than add to it. There are some good scenes and some creepy moments but ultimately there's a lack of real suspense and no surprises.The quality of the acting varies. Terry Kinney is solid and Meg Tilly is great when the scary business starts. Forrest Whitaker overacts. Christine Elise and R. Lee Ermey do what they always do -- portray themselves. Gabrielle Anwar is a little weak and Billy Wirth is wooden. Director Abel Ferrara, one of the most overrated directors in cinema history, does fine here. Nothing exceptional, but fine.The movie is entertaining enough. It moves at a decent pace and provides some creepy moments. What it does not do, however, is break new ground or have layers to it like the original film or, to a certain extent, the '78 remake. It's just good time killer. That's all.