BODY SNATCHERS doesn't really deserve to be held up against its predecessors, for it exists on an entirely different level of filmmaking. Directed by the treasured Abel Ferrara, this is a film about people more than it is a film about body snatchers. Humanity, and guilt are in play here within a story familiar to us. A family goes to a military base because the father has work to do there. The mother is the first to go, possessed by a body snatcher that kills her and imitates her body. The little boy suspects the mother of this change, and warns his older sister (Gabrielle Anwar). Everyone starts to turn and the older sister flees with a military boy to destroy the aliens. Ferrara's spin is specific and seductive. For one thing, the ending (which I shall not reveal) ends the film on a note contrary to the usual: everyone's fucked mentality. But for another, more integral piece of work, Ferrara creates a tension with the family. The sister and brother don't like each other because they don't share the same amount of time with their parents. The sister hates the father because he's a constricting asshole, and the mother is a stepmother which makes her a foreigner inhabiting a specific persona just like how the alien inhabits her. BODY SNATCHERS is well filmed and fun, scary but substantial in every scene and every gesture. It's a great film.
Body Snatchers: ★★★★
great read
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