Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, that stars Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film, shot in Superscope, was partially done in a film noir style. Daniel Mainwaring adapted the screenplay from Jack Finney's 1954 science fiction novel The Body Snatchers. The film was released by Allied Artists Pictures as a double feature with the British science fiction film The Atomic Man (and in some areas with Indestructible Man.)
The film's storyline concerns an extraterrestrial invasion that begins in the fictional California town of Santa Mira. Alien plant spores have fallen from space and grown into large seed pods, each one capable of reproducing a duplicate replacement copy of each human. As each pod reaches full development, it assimilates the physical characteristics, memories, and personalities of each sleeping person placed near it; these duplicates, however, are devoid of all human emotion. Little by little, a local doctor uncovers this "quiet" invasion and attempts to stop it.
The slang expression "pod people" that arose in late 20th century American culture references the emotionless duplicates seen in the film.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected in 1994 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

Psychiatrist Dr. Hill is called to the emergency room of a California hospital, where a screaming man is being held in custody. Dr. Hill agrees to listen to his story. The man identifies himself as a doctor, and he recounts, in flashback, the events leading up to his arrest and arrival at the hospital:
In the nearby town of Santa Mira, Dr. Miles Bennell sees a number of patients apparently suffering from Capgras delusion – the belief that their relatives have somehow been replaced with identical-looking impostors. Returning from a trip, Miles meets his former girlfriend, Becky Driscoll, who has herself recently come back to town after a divorce. Becky's cousin Wilma has the same fear about her Uncle Ira, with whom she lives. Psychiatrist Dr. Dan Kauffman assures Bennell that these cases are merely an "epidemic of mass hysteria".
That same evening, Bennell's friend, Jack Belicec, finds a body with his exact physical features, though it appears not fully developed; later, another body is found in Becky's basement that is her exact duplicate. When Bennell calls Kauffman to the scene, the bodies have mysteriously disappeared, and Kauffman informs Bennell that he is falling for the same hysteria. The following night, Bennell, Becky, Jack, and Jack's wife Teddy again find duplicates of themselves, emerging from giant seed pods in Dr. Bennell's greenhouse. They conclude that the townspeople are being replaced while asleep with exact physical copies. Miles tries to make a long distance call to federal authorities for help, but the phone operator claims that all long-distance lines are busy; Jack and Teddy drive off to seek help in the next town. Bennell and Becky discover that by now all of the town's inhabitants have been replaced and are devoid of humanity; they flee to Bennell's office to hide for the night.
The next morning they see truckloads of the giant pods heading to neighboring towns to be planted and used to replace their populations. Kauffman and Jack, both of whom are "pod people" by now, arrive at Bennell's office and reveal that an extraterrestrial life form is responsible for the invasion. After their takeover, they explain, humanity will lose all emotions and sense of individuality, creating a simplistic, stressless world. Bennell and Becky escape, but are soon pursued by a crowd of "pod people". Exhausted, they manage to hide in an abandoned mine outside town. Bennell leaves a little later, coming upon a large greenhouse farm, where he discovers giant seed pods being grown by the hundreds. When Bennell kisses Becky after his return, he realizes, to his horror, that Becky fell asleep and is now one of them. As Bennell runs away, she sounds the alarm. He flees, eventually finding himself on a crowded state highway. After seeing a transport truck bound for San Francisco and Los Angeles filled with the pods, he frantically screams at the passing motorists, "They're here already! You're next! You're next!"
Dr. Hill and the on-duty doctor dismiss Bennell's account until a truck driver is wheeled into the emergency room after being badly injured in an accident. He was found in his wrecked truck buried under a load of giant seed pods. Finally believing Bennell's story, Dr. Hill calls for all roads in and out of Santa Mira to be barricaded, and alerts the FBI.

Cast

Starring:

Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles Bennell
Dana Wynter as Becky Driscoll
King Donovan as Jack Belicec
Carolyn Jones as Theodora "Teddy" Belicec

Featuring:

Larry Gates as Dr. Dan Kauffman
Virginia Christine as Wilma Lentz
Ralph Dumke as Police Chief Nick Grivett
Kenneth Patterson as Stanley Driscoll
Guy Way as Officer Sam Janzek
Jean Willes as Nurse Sally Withers
Eileen Stevens as Anne Grimaldi
Beatrice Maude as Grandma Grimaldi
Whit Bissell (uncredited) as Dr. Hill
Richard Deacon (uncredited) as Dr. Bassett

With:

Tom Fadden as Uncle Ira Lentz
Everett Glass as Dr. Ed Pursey
Dabbs Greer as Mac Lomax
Sam Peckinpah as Charlie, the gas meter reader

Production

Novel and screenplay

Jack Finney's novel ends with the extraterrestrials, who have a life span of no more than five years, leaving Earth after they realize that humans are offering strong resistance, despite having little reasonable chance against the alien invasion.

Budgeting and casting

Invasion of the Body Snatchers was originally scheduled for a 24-day shoot and a budget of US$454,864. The studio later asked Wanger to cut the budget significantly. The producer proposed a shooting schedule of 20 days and a budget of $350,000.
Initially, Wanger considered Gig Young, Dick Powell, Joseph Cotten, and several others for the role of Miles. For Becky, he considered casting Anne Bancroft, Donna Reed, Kim Hunter, Vera Miles and others. With the lower budget, however, he abandoned these choices and cast Richard Kiley, who had just starred in The Phenix City Story for Allied Artists. Kiley turned the role down and Wanger cast two relative newcomers in the lead roles: Kevin McCarthy, who had just starred in Siegel's An Annapolis Story, and Dana Wynter, who had done several major dramatic roles on television.
Future director Sam Peckinpah had a small part as Charlie, a meter reader. Peckinpah was a dialogue coach on five Siegel films in the mid-1950s, including this one.

Principal photography

Originally, producer Wanger and Siegel wanted to film Invasion of the Body Snatchers on location in Mill Valley, California, the town just north of San Francisco, that Jack Finney described in his novel. In the first week of January 1955, Siegel, Wanger and screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring visited Finney to talk about the film version and to look at Mill Valley. The location proved too expensive and Siegel with Allied Artist executives found locations resembling Mill Valley in the Los Angeles area, including Sierra Madre, Chatsworth, Glendale, Los Feliz, Bronson and Beachwood Canyons, all of which would make up the town of "Santa Mira" for the film. In addition to these outdoor locations, much of the film was shot in the Allied Artists studio on the east side of Hollywood.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers was shot by cinematographer Ellsworth Fredericks in 23 days between March 23 and April 27, 1955. The cast and crew worked a six-day week with Sundays off. The production went over schedule by three days because of night-for-night shooting that Siegel wanted. Additional photography took place in September 1955, filming a frame story on which the studio had insisted . The final budget was $382,190.

Post-production

The project was originally named The Body Snatchers after the Finney serial. However, Wanger wanted to avoid confusion with the 1945 Val Lewton film The Body Snatcher. The producer was unable to come up with a title and accepted the studio's choice, They Come from Another World and that was assigned in summer 1955. Siegel objected to this title and suggested two alternatives, Better Off Dead and Sleep No More, while Wanger offered Evil in the Night and World in Danger. None of these were chosen, and the studio settled on Invasion of the Body Snatchers in late 1955. The film was released at the time in France under the mistranslated title "L'invasion des profanateurs de sépultures" (literally: Invasion of the defilers of tombs), which remains unchanged today.
Wanger wanted to add a variety of speeches and prefaces. He suggested a voice-over introduction for Miles. While the film was being shot, Wanger tried to get permission in England to use a Winston Churchill quotation as a preface to the film. The producer sought out Orson Welles to voice the preface and a trailer for the film. He wrote speeches for Welles' opening on June 15, 1955, and worked to persuade Welles to do it, but was unsuccessful. Wanger considered science fiction author Ray Bradbury instead, but this did not happen, either. Mainwaring eventually wrote the voice-over narration himself.
The studio scheduled three film previews on the last days of June and the first day of July 1955. According to Wanger's memos at the time, the previews were successful. Later reports by Mainwaring and Siegel, however, contradict this, claiming that audiences could not follow the film and laughed in the wrong places. In response the studio removed much of the film's humor, "humanity" and "quality," according to Wanger. He scheduled another preview in mid-August that also did not go well. In later interviews Siegel pointed out that it was studio policy not to mix humor with horror.
Wanger saw the final cut in December 1955 and protested the use of the Superscope aspect ratio. Its use had been included in early plans for the film, but the first print was not made until December. Wanger felt that the film lost sharpness and detail. Siegel originally shot Invasion of the Body Snatchers in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Superscope was a post-production laboratory process designed to create an anamorphic print from non-anamorphic source material that would be projected at an aspect ratio of 2.00:1.

Original intended ending

Both Siegel and Mainwaring were satisfied with the film as shot. It was originally meant to end with Miles screaming as truckloads of pods pass him by. The studio, wary of a pessimistic conclusion, insisted on adding a prologue and epilogue suggesting a more optimistic outcome to the story, which is thus told mainly in flashback. In this version the film begins with a ranting Bennell in custody in a hospital emergency ward. He then tells a consulting psychiatrist (Whit Bissell) his story. In the closing scene pods are found at a highway accident, confirming his warning. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is notified.
Mainwaring scripted this framing story and Siegel shot it on September 16, 1955, at the Allied Artists studio. In a later interview Siegel complained, "The film was nearly ruined by those in charge at Allied Artists who added a preface and ending that I don't like". In his autobiography Siegel added that "Wanger was very much against this, as was I. However, he begged me to shoot it to protect the film, and I reluctantly consented […]".
While the Internet Movie Database states that the film had been revised to its original ending for a re-release in 1979, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique magazine notes that the film was still being shown with the complete footage, including a 2005 screening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honoring director Don Siegel.
Though disapproved of by most reviewers, George Turner (in American Cinematographer) and Danny Peary (in Cult Movies) endorsed the subsequently added frame story. Nonetheless, Peary emphasized that the added scenes changed significantly what he saw as the film's original intention.^{[citation needed]}

Theatrical release

When the film was released domestically in February 1956, many theaters displayed several pods made of papier-mâché in theater lobbies and entrances, along with large lifelike black and white cutouts of McCarthy and Wynter running away from a crowd. The film made more than $1 million in the first month, and in 1956 alone made more than $2.5 million in the U.S. When the British release (with cuts imposed by the British censors) took place in late 1956, the film earned more than a half million dollars in ticket sales.

Themes

Some reviewers saw in the story a commentary on the dangers facing America for turning a blind eye to McCarthyism, "Leonard Maltin speaks of a McCarthy-era subtext." or of bland conformity in postwar Eisenhower-era America. Others viewed it as an allegory for the loss of personal autonomy in the Soviet Union or communist systems in general.
For the BBC, David Wood summarized the circulating popular interpretations of the film as follows: "The sense of post-war, anti-communist paranoia is acute, as is the temptation to view the film as a metaphor for the tyranny of the McCarthy era." Danny Peary in Cult Movies pointed out that the addition of the framing story had changed the film's stance from anti-McCarthyite to anti-communist. 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".
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". 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".
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. DVD commentary track, quoted in Feo Amante's homepage.
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."
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." Film scholar 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."

Reception

Critical reception

Though Invasion of the Body Snatchers was largely ignored by critics on its initial run, Filmsite.org ranked it as one of the best films of 1956. The film holds a 98% approval rating and 9/10 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."
In recent years critics such as Dan Druker of the Chicago Reader have called the film a "genuine Sci-Fi classic". Leonard Maltin described Invasion of the Body Snatchers as "influential, and still very scary". Time Out called the film one of the "most resonant" and "one of the simplest" of the genre.

Legacy

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". In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten" — the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres — after polling more than 1,500 people from the creative community. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the science fiction genre. The film was also placed on AFI's AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films. The film was included on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Similarly, the Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 29th scariest film ever made. Time magazine included Invasion of the Body Snatchers on their list of 100 all-time best films, the top 10 1950s Sci-Fi Movies, and Top 25 Horror Films.

Home media

The film was released on DVD in 1998 by U.S.-label Republic (an identical re-release by Artisan followed in 2002); it includes the Superscope version plus a 1.375:1 Academy ratio version. The latter is not the original full frame edition, but a pan and scan reworking of the Superscope edition that loses visual detail.^{[citation needed]}
DVD editions exist on the British market (including a computer colorized version), German market (as Die Dämonischen) and Spanish market (as La Invasión de los Ladrones de Cuerpos).^{[citation needed]}
Olive Films released a Blu-ray Disc Superscope version of the film in 2012.

Remakes

The film was remade several times as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Body Snatchers (1993) and The Invasion (2007).
An untitled fourth remake from Warner Bros is in development. David Leslie Johnson was signed to be the screenwriter.

Related works

Robert A. Heinlein had previously developed this subject in his 1951 novel The Puppet Masters, written in 1950. The Puppet Masters was later plagiarized as the 1958 film The Brain Eaters, and adapted under contract in the 1994 film The Puppet Masters.
There are several thematically related works that followed Finney's 1955 novel The Body Snatchers, including Val Guest's Quatermass 2 and Gene Fowler's I Married a Monster from Outer Space.
A Looney Tunes parody of the film was released, entitled Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (1992). The adaptation was directed by Greg Ford and places Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Porky Pig in the various roles of the story.
The May 1981 issue of National Lampoon featured a parody titled "Invasion of the Money Snatchers"; the gentile population of Whiteville is taken over by pastrami sandwiches from outer space and turned into Jews.

Trama

Il dottor Miles J. Bennell racconta al collega dottor Hill una storia allucinante. La cittadina di Santa Mira è stata invasa da extraterrestri che copiano perfettamente gli abitanti ai quali si sostituiscono durante il sonno. Queste creature si replicano all'interno di enormi baccelli che crescono finché creano copie senza sentimenti ed eliminano gli originali.
Bennell prova a dare l'allarme, ma nessuno gli crede: la cittadina è diventata centro di smistamento dei baccelli e tutti gli abitanti sono ormai doppiati. Tenta la fuga insieme alla fidanzata ma durante il viaggio la donna non riesce a rimanere sveglia e si addormenta, diventando a sua volta replicante.
Sconvolto, raggiunge un'autostrada dove prova a mettere in guardia gli uomini del pericolo, ma viene arrestato e portato all'ospedale presso il dottor Hill, che ascoltata la storia lo giudica pazzo; ma proprio al termine del racconto di Bennell, giunge in ospedale un ferito coinvolto in un incidente stradale, era alla guida di un autocarro pieno di strani baccelli proveniente da Santa Mira. Il dottor Hill si rende conto che Bennell ha detto la verità e telefona per dare l'allarme generale. I soldati militari che avevano scortato Bennel sentendo la notizia comprendono il pericolo e avvertono sùbito l'esercito.

Produzione

Prodotto in un periodo in cui Hollywood lanciava film kolossal come I dieci comandamenti o Guerra e pace, L'invasione degli Ultracorpi fu girato in bianco e nero con costi ridottissimi. La sceneggiatura porta la firma di Daniel Mainwaring, ma il testo fu revisionato da Sam Peckinpah e dallo stesso produttore Walter Wanger (non citati nei crediti tecnici).
Il film è caratterizzato dalla pressoché totale mancanza di effetti speciali (eccettuati i baccelloni), dovuta al budget irrisorio di cui disponeva la piccola casa di produzione, la Allied Artists. Il climax ascendente di tensione e di suspense è costruito solo attraverso le atmosfere sinistre e angosciose.
L'epilogo pensato da Siegel originariamente non prevedeva alcuna prospettiva fiduciosa per il genere umano: egli avrebbe voluto infatti terminare il film con i replicanti che prendono il posto di tutti i cittadini di Santa Mira e il protagonista Kevin McCarthy che, puntando il dito verso il pubblico, esclama: «You're next!», ma la produzione impose al regista una conclusione più ottimistica e un "cappello" introduttivo (McCarthy che racconta in ospedale la storia).

Accoglienza

All'uscita nelle sale, il film dovette accontentarsi di modesti incassi, ma nel tempo si è guadagnato la qualifica di film culto ed è ricordato come uno dei più celebri film di fantascienza degli anni cinquanta.

Critica

«Capolavoro della fantascienza, L'invasione degli ultracorpi venne prodotto in economia in un periodo in cui Hollywood sfornava Kolossal [...]. Il film di Siegel non suggeriva possibilità di salvezza per il genere umano, ma la produzione impose al regista una conclusione più ottimistica [...]. Gli anni erano quelli immediatamente successivi alla "caccia alle streghe" scatenata da MacCarthy contro i comunisti e i presunti comunisti nel mondo dell'arte e dello spettacolo e, nel film, quel clima parossistico è facilmente avvertibile.»

(Fantafilm)

Al film furono date, senza riscontro con l'opinione dell'autore, diverse letture politiche: fu interpretato sia come una parabola anticomunista sia antimaccartista.. Siegel, molti anni dopo, affermò: «Né lo sceneggiatore, né io pensavamo a un qualunque simbolismo politico. Nostra intenzione era attaccare un'abulica concezione della vita». Al massimo alla pellicola può riconoscersi un blando spunto di riflessione critica sulla modernità (o di ironica critica ai critici della modernità, atteso che, tra le ipotesi iniziali per spiegare il fenomeno dell'invasione, viene evocata anche l'evoluzione tecnologica e la radioattività).
Un altro spunto di interesse è la riflessione morale, in un dialogo tra Miles e Becky, dove si osserva che l'uomo non si ribella quando perde pian piano la sua umanità perché vittima del cinismo, e si ribella solo a fronte di un'invasione aliena.
La storia di una cittadina riposseduta dagli alieni era già presente in due racconti di Philip K. Dick: La Cosa-Padre (1954) e L'impiccato (1953).

Rifacimenti

Nel 1978 Philip Kaufman ha realizzato un rifacimento del film a colori, questa volta carico di effetti speciali, dal titolo Terrore dallo spazio profondo, con Donald Sutherland come protagonista e Don Siegel e Kevin McCarthy come guest star.
Nel 1993 Abel Ferrara ha realizzato un secondo remake, Ultracorpi - L'invasione continua (Body Snatchers).
Del 2007 diretta dal regista tedesco Oliver Hirschbiegel un'ulteriore versione cinematografica del romanzo, Invasion (The Invasion), con protagonista Nicole Kidman nel ruolo di una psichiatra di Washington che viene a conoscenza di un'epidemia causata da una razza aliena.

Dr. Miles Bennell

[voiceover] It started — for me, it started — last Thursday, in response to an urgent message from my nurse, I hurried home from a medical convention I'd been attending. At first glance, everything looked the same. It wasn't. Something evil had taken possession of the town.
[discovering that Becky is also divorced] Well, I guess that makes us lodge brothers now...except that I'm paying dues while you collect them.
[voiceover] Sick people who couldn't wait to see me, then suddenly were perfectly all right. A boy who said his mother wasn't his mother. A woman who said her uncle wasn't her uncle.
[voiceover] Driving home, I had a lot of questions and no answers. How could Jimmy and Wilma seem so normal now. Surely I had done nothing to cure them. Maybe they wanted me to feel secure but why?
Maybe they're the result of atomic radiation on plant life or animal life. Some weird alien organism — a mutation of some kind...Whatever it is, whatever intelligence or instinct it is that govern the forming of human flesh and blood out of thin air, is fantastically powerful...All that body in your cellar needed was a mind...
In my practice, I've seen how people have allowed their humanity to drain away. Only it happened slowly instead of all at once. They didn't seem to mind... All of us — a little bit — we harden our hearts, grow callous. Only when we have to fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is to us, how dear.
Drugs dull the mind... maybe that's the reason.
Keep your eyes a little wide and blank. Show no interest or excitement.
I never knew fear until I kissed Becky. A moment's sleep, and the girl I loved was an inhuman enemy bent on my destruction. That moment's sleep was death to Becky's soul, just as it had been for Jack and Teddy and Dan Kauffman and all the rest. Their bodies were now hosts harboring an alien form of life; a cosmic form, which to survive must take over every human man! So I ran! I ran! I ran as little Jimmy Grimaldi had run the other day. My only hope was to get away from Santa Mira, to get to the highway, to warn the others of what was happening!
Help! Wait! Stop! Stop and listen to me!... These people who're coming after me are not human!
Look, you fools, you're in danger! Can't you see?! They're after you! They're after all of us! Our wives, our children, everyone! THEY'RE HERE, ALREADY! YOU'RE NEXT!
Don't just sit there measuring me for a straightjacket, do something! Call for help! Oh, what's the use?!
Doctor, will you tell these fools? I'm not crazy. Make them listen to me before it's too late.

Becky Driscoll

You know her uncle, Uncle Ira?...Well Miles, she's got herself thinking he isn't her uncle. She thinks he's an imposter or something.
They're like huge seed pods!
I want to love and be loved. I want your children. I don't want a world without love or grief or beauty. I'd rather die.
He's in here. He's in here. Get him. Get him.

Jack Belicec

[describing a body he found] It's like the first impression that's stamped on a coin. It isn't finished.
We can't let you go. You're dangerous to us. Don't fight it, Miles, it's no use. Sooner or later, you'll have to go to sleep.

Dialogue

Dr. Bassett: Oh, Doctor Hill.

Dr. Hill: Dr. Basset. Well, where's the patient?

Dr. Bassett: I hated to drag you out of bed at this time of night. You'll soon see why I did.

Miles: What's the matter with them?

Sally: They wouldn't say. You know, usually people can't talk enough about what's ailing them.

Dr. Kauffman: A strange neurosis, evidently contagious, an epidemic mass hysteria. In two weeks, it spread all over town.

Miles: What causes it?

Dr. Kauffman: Worry about what's going on in the world probably.

Miles: This is the oddest thing I've ever heard of. Let's hope we don't catch it. I'd hate to wake up some morning and find out that you weren't you.

Becky: [laughs] I'm not the high school kid you use to romance, so how can you tell?

Miles: You really want to know?

Becky: Mmm-hmm.

Miles: [after kissing her] Mmmm, you're Becky Driscoll, all right!

Becky: Is this an example of your bedside manner, doctor?

Miles: No, ma'am. That comes later.

Jack: Stop trying to rationalize everything, will ya? Let's face it, we have a mystery on our hands!

Dr. Kauffman: Sure you have. A real one! Whose body was it and where is it now? A completely normal mystery. Whatever it is, it's well within the bounds of human experience and I don't think you ought to make any more of it.

Miles: Look, I wouldn't if I hadn't looked in Becky's cellar! How do you explain away the body I saw there?

Dr. Kauffman: I don't think you saw one there.

Miles: You don't think I saw one here either?

Dr. Kauffman: I know you did because three others saw it too.

Miles: But I dreamed up the second one?

Dr. Kauffman: Doctors can have hallucinations too.

Dr. Kauffman: Less than a month ago, Santa Mira was like any other town. People with nothing but problems. Then, out of the sky came a solution. Seeds drifting through space for years took root in a farmer's field. From the seeds came pods which had the power to reproduce themselves in the exact likeness of any form of life.

Miles: So that's how it began...out of the sky.

Dr. Kauffman: Your new bodies are growing in there. They're taking you over cell for cell, atom for atom. There is no pain. Suddenly, while you're asleep, they'll absorb your minds, your memories and you're reborn into an untroubled world.

Miles: Where everyone's the same?

Dr. Kauffman: Exactly.

Miles: What a world. We're not the last humans left. They'll destroy you!

Dr. Kauffman: Tomorrow you won't want them to. Tomorrow you'll be one of us.

Miles: I love Becky. Tomorrow will I feel the same?

Dr. Kauffman: [shakes his head] There's no need for love.

Miles: No emotion? Then you have no feelings, only the instinct to survive. You can't love or be loved! Am I right?

Dr. Kauffman: You say it as if it were terrible. Believe me, it isn't. You've been in love before. It didn't last. It never does. Love. Desire. Ambition. Faith. Without them, life is so simple, believe me.

Miles: I don't want any part of it.

Dr. Kauffman: You're forgetting something, Miles.

Miles: What's that?

Dr. Kauffman: You have no choice.

Becky (after waking up): I went to sleep, Miles, and it happened.

Miles: Oh, Becky.

Becky: They were right.

Miles: I should have never left you.

Becky: Stop acting like a fool, Miles, and accept us!

Miles: No. Never! (runs away)

Becky: He's in here, he's in here. Get him! Get him!

Ambulance Driver: We had to dig him out from under the most peculiar things I ever saw.

Dr. Hill: What things?

Ambulance Driver: Well, I don't know what they are, I never saw them before. They looked like great big seed pods.

Dr. Hill: Where was the truck coming from?

Ambulance Driver: Santa Mira.

Dr. Hill: Get on your radios and sound an all points alarm. Block all highways, stop all traffic, and call every law enforcement agency in the state! [on phone] Operator, get me the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Yes, it's an emergency!

Taglines

They come from another world!
YOU'RE NEXT!
There was nothing to hold onto — except each other.
Incredible! Invisible! Insatiable!

Incipit

[Il dottor Hill viene scortato all'ospedale]
Dr. Hill: Oh, dottore.
Dr. Bassett: Dottore.
Dr. Hill: Dov'è il paziente?
Dr. Bassett: Mi scusi se l'ho fatta buttare giù dal letto.
Dr. Hill: Ma le pare...
Miles [urlando ai poliziotti che lo trattengono in una stanza]: Lasciatemi finché siamo in tempo!
Dr. Bassett: Non fa altro che urlare.
[Appena il dottor Bassett apre la porta Miles gli salta addosso nonostante i poliziotti cerchino di trattenerlo]
Miles: Dica a questi idioti che non sono matto! Datemi retta prima che sia troppo tardi!
Dr. Hill: Dica tutto a me. Lasciatelo.
Miles: Lei chi è?
Dr. Hill: Il dottor Hill, del manicomio provinciale.
Miles: No, non sono pazzo! [appena Miles si agita i poliziotti lo trattengono]
Dr. Hill: Lasciatelo!
Miles: Senta, dottore! Almeno lei mi ascolti! Mi dia retta, la prego! Sono un medico anch'io! Lei mi deve credere! Non sono matto! Io...
Dr. Hill: Sì, sì... Capisco... Adesso ci mettiamo a sedere, dottor Bennell, e lei mi racconterà tutto, mh?
Miles: Dunque, è cominciato giovedì della scorsa settimana. Ero a Boston per un congresso quando ricevetti un telegramma. Era Sally, la mia infermiera, che mi pregava di tornare subito a Santa Mira. Quello che feci. Scendendo dal treno, a prima vista, tutto mi sembrò normale... ma non lo era. [inizio dell'analessi]

Frasi

Citazioni in ordine temporale.

Malati che improvvisamente guarivano, un bambino che diceva che sua madre non era sua madre, una donna che giurava che suo zio non era suo zio... Qualcosa di strano c'era, ma vagliando con animo sereno tutto ciò... cosa restava? Ben poco. Era evidente che la madre di Jimmy era veramente la madre di Jimmy e che lo zio Ira era realmente lo zio Ira. (Miles) [voce fuori campo]

Me ne guardavo bene dal farlo capire a Becky, ma adesso per la prima volta avevo paura. L'isterismo collettivo, quello che secondo Dan Kauffman era la causa di tutto, non poteva spiegare la presenza di quel corpo in casa di Jack. (Miles) [voce fuori campo]

Rientrando a casa in macchina non pensai ad altro che a Wilma e Jimmy. Com'era possibile che fossero tornati normali così in quattro e quattr'otto? E senza che io avessi fatto niente per guarirli. (Miles) [voce fuori campo]

Prima la nostra città e poi quelle nei dintorni... Presto tutto il pianeta ne sarà invaso! (Miles)

Aiuto! Aiuto! Ferma! Ascoltatemi! Ascoltatemi! Ascoltatemi! Ferma! Ferma! Ferma! Ferma! Aspetta! Quelli che mi stanno inseguendo non sono esseri umani! Ascoltatemi! Siamo tutti in pericolo! Fermatevi! Fermatevi, vi scongiuro! Vi prego, ascoltatemi! Fermo! Fermo! Aiuto! Fermatevi! Mi ascolti lei, la prego, accosti! Ho bisogno del suo aiuto! È successa una cosa terribile! Fermatevi! Dove correte, incoscienti?! Ascoltate! Siamo in pericolo! Siamo tutti in pericolo! Il mondo intero è in pericolo! Ascoltatemi o sarà troppo tardi! Fermatevi! Fermatevi! Fermatevi! Fermatevi! (Miles) [in mezzo alla strada, rivolto agli automobilisti]

Dialoghi

Citazioni in ordine temporale.

Miles: Ho poi scoperto che la moglie d'un medico deve avere l'intelligenza d'un Einstein e la pazienza d'un santo.
Becky: E l'amore?
Miles: Non posso saperlo. Sono solo un medico generico. L'amore lo trattano gli specialisti.

Wilma: Sentiamo, gli hai parlato? Che ne pensi?
Miles: È lui. È proprio tuo zio.
Wilma: Non è lui!
Miles: Ma come fai a dirlo?
Wilma: Non è che sia tanto diverso. Anzi, esteriormente sembra identico. Ha la voce, i gesti, l'aspetto, proprio tutto dello zio Ira.
Miles: Ma allora è davvero lo zio Ira. Da' retta a me, mettiti il cuore in pace.
Wilma: Ma non è lui. È da bambina che lo conosco, è stato come un padre per me. Quando mi guardava, nei suoi occhi ho sempre visto come una luce accendersi dentro. Adesso non la vedo più.
Miles: E dimmi un po', Wilma, ci devono essere delle cose che solo tu e lui potete sapere.
Wilma: Oh, sì, certo. Gli ho fatto mille domande. Rammenta tutto con una precisione sbalorditiva, come se fosse veramente lo zio Ira. Ma, Miles... in lui non c'è emozione. Niente. Finge di provare qualcosa. Le parole, i gesti, il tono della voce: tutto è identico. Ma non il sentimento. No, ne sono certa: non è mio zio Ira.

Wilma: Miles, sto diventando pazza? Dimmi la verità.
Miles: No, no... Anche oggigiorno non credere sia così facile diventare pazzi.

Miles: Domani avrò bisogno di te, Danny. Ho un bambino e una donna con un po' di confusione nel cervello.
Danny: Il bimbo dice che suo padre non è suo padre e la donna che sua sorella non è sua sorella.
Miles: Ci sei andato vicino. Sapevo che t'eri dato all'ipnotismo, ma ora leggi anche il pensiero?
Ed: Non è un mago, gli avrò mandato una dozzina di casi del genere!
Miles: Una dozzina? Ma di che si tratta?
Danny: Non lo so. È una strana forma di nevrosi di natura isterica, un'epidemia vera e propria. Ce ne sono già più di cento casi.
Miles: Qual è la causa?
Danny: Preoccupazioni... nervi scossi, probabilmente.

[Esaminando un Ultracorpo]
Becky: La faccia sembra di cera...
Jack: La mia prima impressione è stata la stessa. Non è vera...
Miles: Giusto, manca di espressione. Nessun segno caratteristico, nessuna ruga...
Jack: Questo non è un morto.
Becky: Ce l'avete un cuscinetto per timbri?
Jack: Ce ne dovrebbe essere uno. Perché?
Miles: Voglio prendere le impronte digitali.
Becky: Se non è un cadavere cos'altro potrebbe essere?
Miles: Non lo so. Può sembrare pazzesco, ma ho l'impressione che se dovessi fare un'autopsia troverei tutti gli organi in perfetto stato. Come risulta il corpo all'esame esterno: assolutamente in ordine e pronto a funzionare.
[Le impronte digitali risultano anomale, prive dei segni tipici]
Jack: Nessun segno. Non è un cadavere, è un essere completo ma non finito.
Teddy: Quando sarà finito che faccia avrà? [...] Rispondimi, che faccia avrà?
Miles: Non ne ho la più pallida idea, cara.
Teddy: Quanto... quanto credi che sia alto?
Miles: Oh, uno e settantacinque, più o meno.
Teddy: Quanto peserà?
Miles: Una settantina di chili. È abbastanza magro.
Teddy: Jack è uno e settantacinque e pesa settanta chili!

Miles: Di qualsiasi provenienza, di qualsiasi origine essi siano, una cosa è certa: chi li governa, istinto o intelletto che sia deve avere una potenza incredibile! Ah, fantastica, superiore ad ogni limite umano! L'unica cosa che mancava a quel corpo in cantina era una mente! E stava...
Becky: Stava assorbendo la mia mentre dormivo, Miles!

Miles: Non dobbiamo chiudere occhio tutta la notte.
Becky: O ci sveglieremo trasformati in qualcosa di inumano.
Miles: Molte persone perdono a poco a poco la loro umanità senza accorgersene. Non così, tutto a un tratto, dalla sera alla mattina... Ma la differenza è poca.
Becky: Non tutti sono così, Miles.
Miles: Tu lo credi? Invece è vero. Ci si indurisce il cuore giorno per giorno... Solo quando dobbiamo lottare per difendere la nostra umanità ci accorgiamo quanto valga, quanto ci sia cara.

Danny (Ultracorpo): Miles, tu come me sei un uomo di scienza e come me sei in grado di apprezzare l'intima bellezza di questo fenomeno. Appena un mese fa Santa Mira era ancora una città come tutte le altre, piena di gente con mille problemi... Quand'ecco avverarsi il fatto incredibile: semi che avevano vagato per anni nello spazio finiscono in un campo qui vicino. Questi semi danno dei baccelli che danno il potere di riprodurre con assoluta fedeltà qualsiasi forma di vita animale.
Miles: La loro provenienza... è il cielo...
Danny (Ultracorpo): I vostri nuovi corpi stanno ora crescendo lì dentro: vi stanno riproducendo cellula per cellula, organo per organo. Non sentirete male, mentre sarete immersi nel sonno essi assorbiranno al vostra mente per farvi rinascere in un mondo tranquillo, senza problemi.
Miles: Ma dove tutti sono uguali.
Danny (Ultracorpo): Proprio così.
Miles: Povera umanità. Becky e io non siamo gli ultimi rimasti. Gli altri vi distruggeranno.
Danny (Ultracorpo): Domani non lo vorrai più. Domani sarai uguale a noi altri.
Miles: Io amo Becky. L'amerò domani come l'amo oggi?
Danny (Ultracorpo): Non è necessario, l'amore.
Miles: Niente amore, nessun sentimento, solo l'istinto di conservazione: non potete amare né essere amati, vero?
Danny (Ultracorpo): Lo dici come se fosse una mostruosità, ma non lo è affatto. Sei stato innamorato altre volte. Ma non è durato. Non dura mai. Amore, desiderio, ambizione, fede: senza tutto questo la vita è molto più semplice.
Miles: Non mi interessa la vita così.
Danny (Ultracorpo): Dimentichi una cosa, Miles.
Miles: Che cosa?
Danny (Ultracorpo): Non hai altra scelta.

Explicit

Miles [dopo aver raccontato la storia]: Lei non crede una parola! Sì, è fantastico, ma è la verità! Non state li a guardarmi come se fossi una bestia rara! Fate qualcosa, vi supplico! [i dottori lo guardano perplessi] Oh, è inutile...
[I dottori si appartano]
Dr. Bassett: Allora, che ne pensa, dottor Hill?
Dr. Hill: Secondo me si tratta di un incubo.
Dr. Bassett: Altro non può essere. Semi che provengono da altri mondi e che generano esseri umani! Mh, roba da pazzi!
[Due infermieri portano in barella un paziente appena arrivato]
Dr. Hill: Cosa gli è capitato?
Infermiere: Era al volante di un camion. Un autobus l'ha preso in pieno di fianco e l'ha rovesciato.
Dr. Bassett: Portatelo al pronto soccorso. [a Hill] Se ne occupa lei di Bennell, per favore?
Dr. Hill: Certo.
Dr. Bassett [all'infermiere]: Ha ferite gravi?
Infermiere: Una brutta frattura a tutt'e due le gambe. Lo abbiamo tirato fuori da sotto un mucchio di strani cosi che non avevo mai visto.
Dr. Hill: Che cosi?
Infermiere: Non glielo saprei dire con precisione, dottore. Sembravano... degli enormi baccelli.
[Miles e il dottor Hill si scambiano uno sguardo d'intesa]
Dr. Hill: Da dove proveniva il camion?
Infermiere: Santa Mira.
Dr. Hill: [ai poliziotti] Correte alla radio e fate dare l'allarme generale! Le autostrade devono essere bloccate, il traffico fermato, tutti i posti di polizia mobilitati! [al telefono] Centralino! Mi dia l'FBI^[1] di Los Angeles! Sì, è un caso d'emergenza!

Citazioni su L'invasione degli ultracorpi

Frasi promozionali

Forse domani potrebbe essere realtà?

Sono già qui... e tu sei il prossimo!

They are here already... You're next!

Walter Wanger ha creato il film di fantascienza definitivo!

Walter Wanger creates the ultimate science-fiction!