This classic demonstrates the axiom that in sci fi the idea is everything. 'The Body Snatchers' started out as a magazine serial, then it was refined into book form. Then came the first movie and the book was renamed, then it was updated for a second movie a quarter of a century later, which is this version. It all makes no difference. Smalltown USA is infiltrated by pod plants that turn into exact facsimiles of whatever they find themselves close to - other plants, discarded trash, human beings. It fundamentally similar to The Day of the Triffids but more claustrophobic (the facsimile people can seal off the township). Another neat twist is that the voices of science and reason - an absolute necessity in alien life form fiction - are themselves facsimiles. The best part of the movies - when Kevin McCarthy runs up against a speeding car - is here too, and indeed is one of the best-written sections of the novel. All in all, it's great fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment