Every Invasion of the Body Snatchers Movie, Ranked Worst to Best (2024)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers' tale of humans being replaced by emotionless alien clones has graced screens in four different decades. Jack Finney's 1954 sci-fi novel The Body Snatchers has been adapted into four different movies, each bringing its own unique spin on the tale. While it's become quite common in recent decades for any movie that's popular enough to get remade, it's not very often that the same story gets told in more than two films, barring public domain items like the works of Shakespeare and books like Dracula and Frankenstein.

It's not hard to see why the Body Snatchers story has proved so resonant. While being chased by a monster or a killer is scary, it's scary in an immediate way, and presents a clear external threat to be overcome. In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the identity-stealing aliens copy and dispose of prey while the unsuspecting victim sleeps, returning a copy that looks and sounds the same, but is now completely devoid of what makes human beings human. It's an insidious plot, one that deftly mixes themes of paranoia and suspicion with more generalized sci-fi alien invasion tropes, though not every Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie is as strong as the best.

The Invasion (2007)

The 2000s Retelling That Missed The Point Of The Body Snatchers Story

The Invasion

PG-13

Director

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Release Date

August 17, 2007

Cast

Nicole Kidman , Daniel Craig , Jeremy Northam , Jeffrey Wright

Runtime

99 Minutes

The clear bottom of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers totem pole is The Invasion, released in 2007. Starring A-list actors Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, The Invasion really should've turned out better than it did. Unfortunately, the production was troubled from the outset, and ended up seeing studio Warner Bros. bring in the Wachowski siblings to rewrite the script and V for Vendetta director James McTiegue to reshoot a large portion of the film, all uncredited.

The result was a severely compromised product that sported a ridiculous copout ending in which every snatched person is returned to normal. While The Invasion featured some impressive cinematography and special effects by the time its rollercoaster production journey was complete, it failed to win the hearts of audiences thanks to it seemingly overlooking the key themes that made other Body Snatchers movies so poignant.

Body Snatchers (1993)

The Loose 1990s Remake That Stands On Its Own As A Solid Sci-Fi Horror

Body Snatchers

R

Body Snatchers is a 1993 science fiction horror film, directed by Abel Ferrara and based on Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers. The story follows an Environmental Protection Agency agent and his family, who uncover a chilling alien invasion in a small military town, where humans are being replaced by emotionless duplicates. The film stars Gabrielle Anwar, Meg Tilly, and Forest Whitaker.

Director

Abel Ferrara

Release Date

February 18, 1994

Cast

Gabrielle Anwar , Meg Tilly , Terry Kinney , Reilly Murphy , Billy Wirth , Christine Elise , R. Lee Ermey , Kathleen Doyle

Releasing over a decade before The Invasion, Body Snatchers was far more in-keeping with the themes of paranoia and inevitability left by the chilling ending of Jack Finney's story. What's more, it features some truly disturbing practical effects that still hold up over three decades later. Directed by Abel Ferrara, 1993's Body Snatchers remake dropped the "Invasion of the" part, and moved the action to a military base.

Starring Gabrielle Anwar, Meg Tilly, Christine Elise and R. Lee Ermey, Body Snatchers was mostly praised by critics, who found it to be a worthy modern take on the concept. Roger Ebert famously raved about the film, giving it a perfect score. Sadly, audiences didn't agree, and Body Snatchers utterly bombed at the box office. However, some genre fans have rediscovered it as the decades have passed, and realized that while it's not as good as its predecessors, Body Snatchers 1993 is a creepy, suspenseful sci-fi/horror film in its own right.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

The Black-And-White Sci-Fi Horror With A Lasting Legacy

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Approved

Director

Don Siegel

Release Date

February 5, 1956

Cast

kevin mccarthy , Dana Wynter , Larry Gates , King Donovan , Carolyn Jones , Jean Willes , Ralphe Dumke , Virginia Christine

Runtime

80 Minutes

Taking second place in this ranking is 1956's original Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie, directed by Don Siegel and starring Kevin McCarthy. While it's not at the top of the list, that doesn't mean Body Snatchers 1956 isn't a terrific film. Somewhat overlooked by critics upon release, Siegel's film has since become regarded as one of the best sci-fi/horror movies of all time, and in 1994 was chosen for preservation in the US. National Film Registry.

Those who generally find older movies boring needn't worry, as this Invasion holds up just fine over 60 years later. The legacy of the 1956 adaptation of Body Snatchers is difficult to overstate, as it's a pivotal movie in the sci-fi horror genre and arguably influenced many staples of it that came afterward, such as The Twilight Zone. It also played heavily on contemporary themes of the time such as the Red Scare and McCarthyism, giving it increased social relevancy beyond the fact that it's both a highly-regarded classic movie and one of the best adaptations of Body Snatchers.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

The Definitive Version Of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

PG

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

*Availability in US

Director

Philip Kaufman

Release Date

December 22, 1978

Cast

Jeff Goldblum , Donald Sutherland , Art Hindle , Veronica Cartwright , Brooke Adams , Leonard Nimoy

Runtime

115 minutes

It's little surprise that the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers starring Donald Sutherland is still considered the best version of the story, and to this day, is still considered iconic — especially the utterly harrowing and nightmare-inducing final shot, which is a true testament to Sutherland's abilities as an actor. It's rare that a remake manages to top the original, but in the case of director Philip Kaufman's 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, it happened.

While 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers Invasion primarily functioned as a take on Cold War paranoia and was set in the small town of Santa Mira, the 1978 remake moves things to the hustle and bustle of San Francisco, and uses the pod people to reflect the societal alienation often experienced as part of life in a big city.

The cast of 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is stacked as well, with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and Veronica Cartwright all lending their talents. The icing on the cake is that Kevin McCarthy makes a cameo in a way that suggests Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978 is actually a stealth sequel instead of a remake.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Has Inspired Other Works

Another Life

Another Life is a Netflix original sci-fi series starring Battlestar Galactica and The Mandalorian star Katee Sackhoff. Sackhoff stars as Niko Breckinridge, the leader of a young crew of astronauts who travel to space to investigate an alien artifact. The series lasted for a total of two seasons on the streaming service.

Where to Watch

• stream
• rent
• buy

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

July 25, 2019

Cast

Katee Sackhoff

Seasons

2

While there have been four great movie adaptations, Jack Finney's story The Body Snatchers has inspired several other movies and TV shows (as have, specifically, the 1956 and 1978 movie versions). For example, the 2019 sci-fi horror Assimilate was loosely based on the same story, albeit with a modern twist. By incorporating elements like Social Media and YouTube, Assimilate manages to take a wider view of the impact of Body Snatcher-like beings taking over the world and replacing human beings with body doubles.

There have also been multiple TV shows that run with roughly the same idea and definitely take some inspiration from The Body Snatchers, such as 2005's Invasion (not to be confused with the 2007 movie). Invasion only ran for a single season, and focused on a town in Florida which, after a hurricane, is inundated with water-based creatures that merge with and then clone the inhabitants. It shared many thematic similarities with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Despite being incredibly acclaimed by critics, Invasion was unfortunately canceled after season 1 with little explanation (and its story, which was conceived as a five-season-arc, unfinished).

Another TV show that owes much to Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the 2019 Netflix series Another Life. Starring Katee Sackhoff, Slema Blair, Justin Chatwin, and Elizabeth Ludlow, among others, is much more overt with its aliens. A UFO crashes on earth, with a crystal tower growing on top of it. While the humans being replaced subplot isn't as prominent in Another Life, the influences of Invasion of the Body Snatchers are still incredibly plain to see when duplicates of various characters start to appear.