L'invasion des Voleurs de Corps

"Avoid All Duplicates" was written in all caps in between a picture and reflection of Kevin McCarthy right behind the words "To: Matthew" as I stood there ogling the sci-fi/horror legend at a film memorabilia fest in Memphis, fall of '97. Kevin had been instructed not to "customize" his autographs in order to try to accommodate the mass of people in line, but mine, CUSTOMIZED!!! Take that event coordinators! Anyway, that's another story (too be accompanied by the actual autograph), for another time.

Why am I talking about Kevin McCarthy and the warning "Avoid All Duplicates"? Because this past weekend I finally saw the 1978 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright and Leonard Nimoy.

I had of course seen the 1956 version, as well as the 1993 version "Body Snatchers" (with the devastatingly gorgeous, Gabrielle Anwar) but for some reason, probably because I was 6 when it came out, the 1978 version had passed me by in order to make way for more modern tales of horror and Sci-Fi. And, seeing as "Invasion..." is more of a psychological thriller with tinges of horror with a basis in a science fiction concept, I teethed on Clive Barker growing up, and enjoyed having my guts ripped out late at night in the country trying to read "The Damnation Game".

Back to my thought. The 1978 "Invasion..." was brilliant. Donald as the main character, Dr. Matthew Bennell was flawless, Goldblum and Nimoy as pseudo-rivals was the utmost compliment to the lead, and Adams and Cartwright were jaw-droppingly perfect as 70's woman/geek-next-door-you'd-really-like-to-slam hotness, screaming and barely being of any help at all, anti-heroines...BRILLIANT! It also featured a fantastic cameo by none-other than Kevin McCarthy himself which seemed to almost tie the two films together. And, the ending...FORGET ABOUT IT!!!

So the only one I've not seen yet is "The Invasion" which came out last year, but I will, as it has Daniel Craig and he's done no wrong cinematically.....so far, along with Jeffrey Wright and Veronica Cartwright, (wonder what role she'll have in this one?). In the mean time, '56 of course ranks highest, followed by '78 and then...well you get the picture. Happy viewing.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(((03)))