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Upon its release in 1956, Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers was widely perceived as another 'B' movie thriller in the cycle of science fiction and horror films that proliferated in the 1950s. Yet the film addresses numerous issues brewing in post-war US society, including the Cold War, McCarthyism and the changing dynamics of gender relations. In the fifty years since the film's release, its reputation has grown from cult status to become an acknowledged classic of American cinema. With its narrative of emotionless alien duplicates replacing average folk, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was the first post-war horror film to locate the monstrous in the everyday, thus marking it as a pivotal moment in American horror film history four years before Psycho.
In this first comprehensive critical study of the film, Barry Keith Grant traces Invasion's historical and generic contexts to explore the importance of Communism and conformity, post-war modernity and gender politics in order to understand the film's cultural significance and metaphorical weight. He also provides an account of the film's fraught production history and offers an extended discussion of the distinctive contributions of the production personnel. Concluding with a consideration of the three remakes it has inspired, Grant illustrates how Invasion of the Body Snatchers' enduring popularity derives from its central metaphor for the monstrous, which has proven as flexible as that of the vampire and the zombie.
In this first comprehensive critical study of the film, Barry Keith Grant traces Invasion's historical and generic contexts to explore the importance of Communism and conformity, post-war modernity and gender politics in order to understand the film's cultural significance and metaphorical weight. He also provides an account of the film's fraught production history and offers an extended discussion of the distinctive contributions of the production personnel. Concluding with a consideration of the three remakes it has inspired, Grant illustrates how Invasion of the Body Snatchers' enduring popularity derives from its central metaphor for the monstrous, which has proven as flexible as that of the vampire and the zombie.
Book Description
A comprehensive analysis of the film that includes an account of the its fraught production history, a comprehensive thematic and stylistic analysis and consideration of the three remakes.
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2 reviews
Clear, concise, insightful, and eminently readable
25 Jun 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although much has been written about "Invasion..." in the past, this is the first book to draw all the disparate sources together into a "summary statement" of the film as a whole. Thank you, Professor Grant, for distilling the essence of previous commentary/research and presenting it in clear, succinct prose. This may sound like something that any competent literary craftsman could pull off, but this book constitutes more than a mere precis. Professor Grant has so internalized his source material that he comes to conclusions swiftly, painlessly, and convincingly. (My only reservations in this regard occur in Chapter 6 which deals largely with gender role interpretations. I may not be convinced here, but I can see his points.)
You will save yourself hours by consulting this volume first before any other. Being intimately familiar with the film and a fair amount of the commentary/criticism, I had the pleasure of learning new information as well as solidifying older ideas that hadn't really taken root previously. An eminently readable and informed look at a classic film.
You will save yourself hours by consulting this volume first before any other. Being intimately familiar with the film and a fair amount of the commentary/criticism, I had the pleasure of learning new information as well as solidifying older ideas that hadn't really taken root previously. An eminently readable and informed look at a classic film.
Very informative for fans of the movies...
24 April 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Nice book illustrated with interesting scenes from the Body snatchers films. the over emphasis on the communist scare of the 50's gets a bit old after a while. I usually view these movies as less than political, and watch them for their scares. All in all, another great BFI book, highly recommended.
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