❉ Released on Blu-ray from BFI just in time for Halloween, on 25 October 2021.
Directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), this milestone of science fiction taps into the paranoia and uncertainty of its times to present a chilling critique of post-war American society. Invasion of the Body Snatchers remains an enduring and suspenseful classic.
Presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, with a huge range of contextualising extras, fans can experience the thrills and horrors of this highly influential movie like never before.
When multiple residents of a Californian town begin to suffer from identical frenzied delusions, Dr Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) suspects the community is in the grip of a new kind of epidemic. But his investigations soon reveal the terrifying truth, uncovering not a medical emergency but a hidden extra-terrestrial invasion that threatens mankind’s very existence.
Special features
❉ Presented in High Definition
❉ Newly recorded audio commentary by filmmaker and critic Jim Hemphill (2021)
❉ 50th anniversary commentary with stars Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, and Gremlins director Joe Dante (2006)
❉ John Player Lecture: Don Siegel (1973, 75 mins, audio only): Don Siegel looks over his career with Barry Norman
❉ Sleep No More: Invasion of the Body Snatchers Revisited (2006, 27 mins): a look at Body Snatchers’ production history
❉ The Fear and The Fiction: The Body Snatchers Phenomenon (2006, 8 mins): considering the film’s themes and critical interpretations
❉ What’s in a Name? (2006, 2 mins): how the Invasion got its title
❉ Return to Santa Mira (2006, 13 mins): key locations and the film’s production design are explored
❉ A selection of complementary archive shorts, with British propaganda short Doorstep to Communism (1948, 11 mins) and groundbreaking botanical cinematography in Magic Myxies (1931, 11 mins) and Battle of the Plants (1926, 11 mins)
❉ Original theatrical trailer
❉ Trailers From Hell: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (2013, 3 mins): Body Snatchers fan Joe Dante celebrates the film
❉ Gallery
❉ Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Dr Deborah Allison, an archival feature by J Hoberman from Sight and Sound, May 1994, a biography of Don Siegel by Charlie Bligh and notes on the special features (First pressing only).
Product details
USA / 1956 / black and white / 80 mins / English language, with optional subtitle for the Deaf and partial hearing / 2.00:1 aspect ratio / BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)
❉ ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (1956) released on Blu-ray on 25 October 2021. RRP: £22.99. Pre-order/order from the BFI Shop here
❉ News source: BFI.
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