Editing Invasion of the Body Snatchers (section)

==Reception and legacy {{Anchor|reaction}}==

===Critical reception===
Though ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was largely ignored by critics on its initial run,<ref name="georgeturner">Turner, George. "A Case of Insomnia". ''American Cinematographer'' (American Society of Cinematographers), Hollywood, March 1997.</ref> [[Filmsite.org]] ranked it as one of the best films of 1956.<ref>[http://www.filmsite.org/1956.html "The Greatest Films of 1956."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113064707/http://www.filmsite.org/1956.html |date=2010-11-13 }} ''AMC Filmsite.org''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> The film holds a 98% approval rating and 9.1/10 rating at the film [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. The site's consensus reads: "One of the best political allegories of the 1950s, ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is an efficient, chilling blend of sci-fi and horror."<ref>[https://rottentomatoes.com/m/1010678-invasion_of_the_body_snatchers/ "Movie Reviews, Pictures: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916005949/https://rottentomatoes.com/m/1010678-invasion_of_the_body_snatchers/ |date=2010-09-16 }} ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]''. Retrieved: February 9, 2016.</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|92|16|access-date=March 10, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=Invasion of the Body Snatchers |id=invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956 |type=movie |access-date=March 10, 2025}}</ref>

In recent years, critics such as Dan Druker of the ''[[Chicago Reader]]'' have called the film a "genuine Sci-Fi classic."<ref name="druker">Druker, Dan. [http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/Film?oid=2188855 "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520151308/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers/Film?oid=2188855 |date=2013-05-20 }} ''[[Chicago Reader]]''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] described ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' as "influential, and still very scary."<ref name="Maltin"/> ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' called the film one of the "most resonant" and "one of the simplest" of the genre.<ref name="timeout">[https://timeout.com/film/reviews/76141/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.html "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202085456/https://timeout.com/film/reviews/76141/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers.html |date=2009-02-02 }} ''[[Time Out (magazine)]]''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Mark Steyn described it as "a big film", despite its limited budget.<ref name="Steyn">[https://www.steynonline.com/11225/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers "'Review of Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."]</ref>

''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was selected in 1994 for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/awards "Award Wins and Nominations: 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers',"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515152458/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049366/awards |date=2011-05-15 }} ''IMDb''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> In June 2008, the [[American Film Institute]] revealed its "[[AFI's 10 Top 10|Ten top Ten]]"—the best 10 films in 10 "classic" American film genres—after polling more than 1,500 people from the creative community. ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' was acknowledged as the 9th-best film in the science-fiction genre.<ref>[http://www.afi.com/10top10/scifi.html "AFI's 10 Top 10."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312075056/http://www.afi.com/10TOP10/scifi.html |date=2012-03-12 }} ''AFI.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> The film was also placed on AFI's ''AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills'', a list of America's most heart-pounding films.<ref>[http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/thrills100.pdf?docID=250 "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716072119/http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/thrills100.pdf?docID=250 |date=2011-07-16 }} ''AFI''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref>

The film was included on [[Bravo (U.S. TV channel)|Bravo]]'s ''[[The 100 Scariest Movie Moments|100 Scariest Movie Moments]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071030070540/http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Scariest_Movie_Moments/index.shtml  "Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments."] ''Bravo.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Similarly, the [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] named it the 29th scariest film ever made.<ref>[http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/chicago-critics-scariest-films/ "Chicago Critics' Scariest Films."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604013812/http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/chicago-critics-scariest-films/ |date=2015-06-04 }} ''AltFilmGuide.com''. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> IGN ranked it as the 15th-best sci-fi picture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://au.ign.com/articles/2018/11/15/top-25-sci-fi-movies-of-all-time?page=4|title=The 25 Best Sci Fi Movies|last=Fowler|first=Matt|date=January 22, 2020|website=IGN|access-date=January 22, 2020}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine included ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' on their list of 100 all-time best films,<ref name="Schickel">Schickel, Richard. [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953144_1953652,00.html "All-Time 100 Movies."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816053536/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953094_1953144_1953652,00.html |date=2011-08-16 }} ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', February 12, 2005. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> the top 10 1950s Sci-Fi Movies,<ref name="Corliss">Corliss, Richard. [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1866039_1866042_1865918,00.html "1950s Sci-Fi Movies."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330041004/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1866039_1866042_1865918,00.html |date=2009-03-30 }} ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', December 12, 2008; retrieved January 11, 2015.</ref> and Top 25 Horror Films.<ref name="TimeTop25">[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1676793_1676808_1676843,00.html "Top 25 Horror Films"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414110424/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1676793_1676808_1676843,00.html |date=2009-04-14 }}, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', October 29, 2007; retrieved January 11, 2015.</ref> In 1999, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' listed it as the 53rd best movie of all time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time by Entertainment Weekly|url=https://www.filmsite.org/ew100.html|access-date=2020-12-04|website=www.filmsite.org}}</ref> Similarly, the book ''Four Star Movies: The 101 Greatest Films of All Time'' placed the movie at #60.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kinn|first=Gail|title=Four-Star Movies: The 101 Greatest Films of All Time|year=2003|publisher=Running Press |isbn=1579123155}}</ref>

''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' might have influenced the Japanese [[tokusatsu]] film ''[[Warning from Space]]'', which was released in Japan a week before Siegel's film.<ref name=Animated>{{cite web |author= Randall Cyrenne |year= 2020 |title= Warning From Space |url=https://animatedviews.com/2020/warning-from-space/ |website= Animated Views |access-date=2025-01-19}}</ref>

===Themes {{Anchor|themes}}===
Some reviewers saw in the story a commentary on the dangers facing the United States for turning a blind eye to [[McCarthyism]]. [[Leonard Maltin]] wrote of a [[Joseph McCarthy|McCarthy]]-era subtext,<ref name="Maltin">Maltin's 2009, p. 685.</ref> or of bland [[conformity]] in postwar [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]-era America. Others viewed it as an allegory for the loss of personal autonomy and individualism in the [[Soviet Union]] or [[Communism|communist]] systems in general.<ref>Carroll, Noel. "[...] it is the quintessential Fifties image of [[socialism]]", ''Soho News'', December 21, 1978.</ref>

For the [[BBC]], David Wood summarized the circulating popular interpretations of the film as: "The sense of postwar, anticommunist paranoia is acute, as is the temptation to view the film as a metaphor for the tyranny of the McCarthy era."<ref name="Wood">Wood, David. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/05/01/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_1956_review.shtml "'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129185956/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/05/01/invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_1956_review.shtml |date=2009-01-29 }} ''[[BBC]]'', May 1, 2001. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref> Danny Peary in ''Cult Movies'' pointed out that the studio-mandated addition of the framing story had changed the film's stance from anti-McCarthyite to [[anti-communist]].<ref name=peary/> Michael Dodd of ''The Missing Slate'' has called the movie "one of the most multifaceted horror films ever made", arguing that by "simultaneously exploiting the contemporary fear of infiltration by undesirable elements, as well as a burgeoning concern over homeland totalitarianism in the wake of Senator Joseph McCarthy's notorious communist witch hunt, it may be the clearest window into the American psyche that horror cinema has ever provided."<ref>Dodd, Michael. [http://themissingslate.com/2014/08/31/safe-scares-how-911-caused-the-american-horror-remake-trend-part-one/ "Safe Scares: How 9/11 caused the American Horror Remake Trend (Part One)."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011012106/http://themissingslate.com/2014/08/31/safe-scares-how-911-caused-the-american-horror-remake-trend-part-one/ |date=2014-10-11 }} ''TheMissingSlate.com'', August 31, 2014. Retrieved: January 11, 2015.</ref>

In ''[[An Illustrated History of the Horror Film]]'', [[Carlos Clarens]] saw a trend manifesting itself in science-fiction films, dealing with dehumanization and fear of the loss of individual identity, being historically connected to the end of "the [[Korean War]] and the well-publicized reports of [[brainwashing]] techniques."<ref>Clarens 1968 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref> Comparing ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' with [[Robert Aldrich]]'s ''[[Kiss Me Deadly]]'' and [[Orson Welles]]' ''[[Touch of Evil]]'', Brian Neve found a sense of disillusionment rather than straightforward messages, with all three films being "less radical in any positive sense than reflective of the decline of [the screenwriters'] great liberal hopes."<ref>Neve 1992 {{Page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref>

Despite a general agreement among film critics regarding these political connotations of the film, actor Kevin McCarthy said in an interview included on the 1998 DVD release that he felt no political allegory was intended. The interviewer stated that he had spoken with the author of the novel, Jack Finney, who professed no specific political allegory in the work.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McMullen |first=E. C. Jr. |title=Invasion Of The Body Snatchers movie review |url=http://www.feoamante.com/Movies/GHI/invasion_bsnatch_56.html |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=Feo Amante's Horror Thriller |language=en}}</ref>

In his autobiography, ''I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History'', [[Walter Mirisch]] writes: "People began to read meanings into pictures that were never intended. ''The Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is an example of that. I remember reading a magazine article arguing that the picture was intended as an allegory about the communist infiltration of America. From personal knowledge, neither Walter Wanger nor Don Siegel, who directed it, nor Dan Mainwaring, who wrote the script nor original author Jack Finney, nor myself, saw it as anything other than a thriller, pure and simple."<ref>Mirisch 2008, pp. 39–40.</ref>

Don Siegel spoke more openly of an existing allegorical subtext, but denied a strictly political point of view: "[...] I felt that this was a very important story. I think that the world is populated by pods and I wanted to show them. I think so many people have no feeling about cultural things, no feeling of pain, of sorrow. [...] The political reference to Senator McCarthy and totalitarianism was inescapable but I tried not to emphasize it because I feel that motion pictures are primarily to entertain and I did not want to preach."<ref>Interview with Don Siegel in Alan Lovell: ''Don Siegel. American Cinema'', London 1975.</ref> Film scholar [[Jay Telotte|J.P. Telotte]] wrote that Siegel intended for pods to be seductive; their spokesperson, a psychiatrist, was chosen to provide an authoritative voice that would appeal to the desire to "abdicate from human responsibility in an increasingly complex and confusing modern world."<ref name="Telotte 1983 pp. 44–51">{{cite journal |last=Telotte |first=J. P. |author-link=Jay Telotte|title=Human Artifice and the Science Fiction Film |journal=Film Quarterly |publisher=University of California Press |volume=36 |issue=3 |year=1983 |issn=0015-1386 |doi=10.2307/3697349 |pages=44–51 |jstor=3697349}}</ref>

===Subsequent adaptations===
Three subsequent adaptations of ''The Body Snatchers'' have been made: ''[[Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)|Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1978), ''[[Body Snatchers (1993 film)|Body Snatchers]]'' (1993), and ''[[The Invasion (film)|The Invasion]]'' (2007).

An untitled fourth adaptation from [[Warner Bros.]] was reported to be in development in 2017. [[David Leslie Johnson]] was signed to be the screenwriter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-remake-warner-bros-1202500763/|title='Invasion of the Body Snatchers' Remake in the Works at Warner Bros.|first=Dave|last=McNary|date=19 July 2017|website=variety.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106192127/https://variety.com/2017/film/news/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-remake-warner-bros-1202500763/|archive-date=6 November 2017}}</ref>

The novel also inspired ''[[Assimilate]]'' (2019).

The film inspired the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] TV series ''[[Invasion (2005 TV series)|Invasion]]'' (2005 TV series), a subplot in [[Netflix]]'s ''[[Another Life (2019 TV series)|Another Life]]'' (2019 TV series), and the Disney+ series ''Goosebumps: The Vanishing'' (2025 TV series).