An alien organism arrives on earth and starts taking over the human race by duplicating people while they sleep. The clones are identical in appearance but are usually missing their personality or well known character traits. By the time anyone figures it out, it’s almost too late. Almost.

Donald Sutherland plays health inspector Matthew, the one who puts together what is going on. We also get Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and Veronica Cartwright. They all act the shit out of their parts, whether they are human or alien pod people.

The movie is still pretty good for how old it is. It really nails the isolated, desperate tone. The survivors who haven’t been body snatched are on the run, out of options, and generally going from one tense moment to the next.

I also like the special FX, which are mostly convincing throughout. The growing pod people are unnerving, and there are some gruesome parts.

It’s good fun and terrifying that everyone is out to get you. I’d love to see an update/sequel involving a random guy who has somehow managed to be away from civilization when the alien takeover occurs. What exactly is the alien’s next step after they takeover? Just hang out and be pod people?

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