Review: Body Snatchers (1993)

Stars: Gabrielle Anwar, Forest Whitaker

Budget: $13 million

Directed By: Abel Ferrara

The Third iteration of the novel and second remake of the 1956 classic Invasion of the body snatchers. born in a time called the 90's where film was ever evolving into the shit storm its become today.
It suffered from THE SHORTENING where it's title was cut down to make the film sound more edgy and appeal to the new age where everything word wise was becoming shorter or abbreviated thanks to the internet. With the likes of LOL's and ROFL's quickly becoming the new way to communicate with people in online chat-rooms.

The resurgence of happy ending films rife in the box office also may have some effect on this movie. Still with a serious tone but with a message thrown in that USA wasn't going to this conformity shit sitting down!
What do i mean?
You'll see as I get to end of this review how the 70's version bleak outlook and ending just wouldn't do in this day and age!
This iteration is serious, sexy and hopeful everything that 90's movies embodied. Staring some of the newest up and comers who were willing to do their best no matter the movie damn it!
Gabrielle Anwar is our titular heroine just like the first remake a reasonably strong female character but also as a nineties piece of eye candy too as was the formula of those films. This version is considerably shorter than most others too clocking in at only 86 mins.
The 90's version also takes a large step away from the source material with it's characters too, no Bennell's or Belicec's. The setting is also slightly altered to a military base too. The main storyline of alien pods copying their subjects into emotionless clones and how we deal with it is still forefront though. This film also features early appearances by Forest Whitaker and Jen Tilly's sister Meg too.

So this adaptation we join a scientist sent to a military base with his family the Malones, Steve the father, a daughter from a previous marriage (Anwar) Marti, his wife and young son Andy. Steve has been sent to research adverse effects on the base. While travelling there Marti is attacked in a gas station and we are introduced very early on to the fact there's something wrong. The soldier is paranoid but he see's that Marti is scared he calms down and warns her about going to sleep.

Marti makes friends with another girl called Jenn on the base, Andy seems to have a harder time as he's made to feel an outsider by the bases daycare. He runs away but is picked by Tim a helicopter pilot, of course Tim and Marti hit off it's a 90's film!
Steve is approached by another medical officer Major Collins asking if the base could be having any effects like Narcophobia (fear of sleep). He believes if there's toxic links in the soil the effects would be more physiological than psychological.

Later in the night Marti and Jenn go to a bar where she meets Tim, She also see's the soldier from the gas station but he is acting strange and says he's never met her. That night while we see soldiers picking up pods out of a nearby river Andy goes into his mothers room only to see her crumble to dust. Her naked clone steps from the shadows making Andy run but when he tries to tell people no one believes him. The next night Marti and Steve are almost taken over too, Carol attempts to reason with Steve and his scientist side.
Explaining that all is clarity with an end to confusion and all other emotions it's a better way of living. He seems to be accept this somewhat but is dragged away by Marti and Andy, we then get this versions 'shriek'. It's not as soul destroying as the 78 version to me but i'm glad they kept in at least.

The rest of the infected people on the base come screaming out to try and capture Andy, Marti and their father. Marti and Andy hide in a warehouse while Steve goes to try and contact for help. Unfortunately in Collins office he meets a distraught Collins who exclaims its already to late, backed up by the fact that the phone-lines are blocked. Pod people show up and Steve hides, he listens in as they try to convert Collins over to their side with the same lines. Collins shoots himself in the head.

Steve comes back to his kids claiming to lead them to a way to escape in a vehicle but Marti believes her father has been turned into one of the clones. She swerves the car off the road attempting to escape with her brother Andy. She bumps into Tim as their father chases them, she grabs his gun shooting her former father multiple times.
Heading back into the heart of the base Tim attempts to steal a helicopter, unfortunately Marti and Andy are taken while he does. They are taken to where the remaining humans are being processed where they are sedated. When Tim goes to rescue Marti her almost complete doppelganger tries to persuade him to join her. Quickly ripping off the tendrils that connect the two of them her copy dies waking up the real Marti, they escape to try and Andy.

They bump into Jenn on the way out while both of them are trying the old trick of acting emotionless. except Marti betrays herself when Jenn mentions Andy, Jenn does the typical scream to alert the other duplicates to where they are. They both run towards the helicopter and Andy magically run out of nowhere to join them in escaping. Unfortunately while they are lifting off Andy goes mad trying to make them crash the vehicle. upset and distraught Marti fights her brother off ending up kicking him out of the helicopter, sending him falling screaming in the clones scream as he does.

I won't spoil any further but this one does end on a lighter note and hope that the invasion is stopped (despite a few pick up lines Carol mentions earlier on in the film) which i find is very reminiscent of films of the time, like independence day, the day after tomorrow etc. despite the bleak there's always hope that humans can fight back.
Invasion 93 might not be the best remake out of them all but it's a good midway point and unfortunately possibly one the last 'okay' entries in the series. In saying that THN awards Body Snatchers (1993) a strong 3 out of 5.