SciFiNow-August2018

W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^099

A SHORT

HISTORY

OF BODY

SNATCHING IN

THE MOVIES

Strictly speaking, the idea of Jack

Finney’s The Body Snatchers wasn’t as original

as some may assume. Robert A Heinlein’s

1951 science fi ction novel The Puppet

Masters equally fed on paranoia, (with a more

overtly comparable Communist threat) to tell the

story of mind-controlling parasites who conquer

humanity by attaching themselves to people’s

backs to control their nervous systems. The

story would be ‘plagiarised’ in the 1958 Roger

Corman cheapie The Brain Eaters, with Heinlein

successfully suing for some damages.

However, the concept is also arguably

comparable to both 1953’s It Came From Outer

Space and Invaders From Mars, with, in the latter

fi lm, the parasite attaching itself to your neck and

changing you. Both fi lms are considered the fi rst

‘body snatcher’ movies and fi rmly established the

‘they look like us’ theme. 

 Britain offered their own creepy variation

too, with both early Hammer-horror

sequel Quatermass 2 (1957) and female alien

fl ick Unearthly Stranger (1963) capitalising on

the human mistrust factor. 

 Much more recently, to make the Brits equally

proud, Edgar Wright concluded his Cornetto

Trilogy with the body snatching satire The World’s

End (2013). However, Robert Rodriguez’s The

Faculty (1998) kind of beat us to the punch two-

decades ago, with a similarly smart satire that

pits students against emotionless human-looking

alien teachers (including genre stars Piper Laurie

and Robert Patrick) with a few nicely judged digs

at and direct references to Jack Finney’s source

material for good measure.

Is that really a person
standing in front of you?

W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K

A SHORT

HISTORY

OF BODY

SNATCHING IN

THE MOVIES

Strictly speaking, the idea of Jack

Finney’s The Body Snatchers wasn’t as original

as some may assume. Robert A Heinlein’s

1951 science fi ction novel The Puppet

MastersMastersMasters equally fed on paranoia, (with a more  equally fed on paranoia, (with a more

overtly comparable Communist threat) to tell the

story of mind-controlling parasites who conquer

humanity by attaching themselves to people’s

backs to control their nervous systems. The

story would be ‘plagiarised’ in the 1958 Roger

Corman cheapie The Brain EatersThe Brain EatersThe Brain Eaters, with Heinlein , with Heinlein

successfully suing for some damages.

However, the concept is also arguably

comparable to both 1953’s It Came From Outer

SpaceSpaceSpace and  and Invaders From MarsInvaders From MarsInvaders From Mars, with, in the latter , with, in the latter

fi lm, the parasite attaching itself to your neck and

changing you. Both fi lms are considered the fi rst

‘body snatcher’ movies and fi rmly established the

‘they look like us’ theme. 

 Britain offered their own creepy variation

too, with both early Hammer-horror

sequel Quatermass 2Quatermass 2Quatermass 2 (1957) and female alien  (1957) and female alien

fl ickfl ickfl ick Unearthly Stranger Unearthly Stranger Unearthly Stranger Unearthly Stranger (1963) capitalising on  (1963) capitalising on

the human mistrust factor. 

 Much more recently, to make the Brits equally

proud, Edgar Wright concluded his Cornetto

Trilogy with the body snatching satire The World’s

EndEndEnd (2013). However, Robert Rodriguez’s  (2013). However, Robert Rodriguez’s 

FacultyFacultyFaculty (1998) kind of beat us to the punch two- (1998) kind of beat us to the punch two-

decades ago, with a similarly smart satire that

pits students against emotionless human-looking

alien teachers (including genre stars Piper Laurie

and Robert Patrick) with a few nicely judged digs

at and direct references to Jack Finney’s source

material for good measure.

| 099

SNATCHING IN

wasn’t as original

as some may assume. Robert A Heinlein’s

 equally fed on paranoia, (with a more

overtly comparable Communist threat) to tell the

story of mind-controlling parasites who conquer

humanity by attaching themselves to people’s

backs to control their nervous systems. The

story would be ‘plagiarised’ in the 1958 Roger

, with Heinlein

It Came From Outer

, with, in the latter

fi lm, the parasite attaching itself to your neck and

changing you. Both fi lms are considered the fi rst

‘body snatcher’ movies and fi rmly established the

 Britain offered their own creepy variation

 (1957) and female alien

 (1963) capitalising on

 Much more recently, to make the Brits equally

proud, Edgar Wright concluded his Cornetto

The World’s

 (2013). However, Robert Rodriguez’s The

 (1998) kind of beat us to the punch two-

decades ago, with a similarly smart satire that

pits students against emotionless human-looking

alien teachers (including genre stars Piper Laurie

and Robert Patrick) with a few nicely judged digs

at and direct references to Jack Finney’s source

Is that really a person
standing in front of you?