Invasion of the Body Snatchers

"There was nothing to hold onto - except each other."

1956 1h 20m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🔥

97%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 1,240🍅97%Rotten Tomatoes●92Metacritic★7.7IMDB · 58,248

Science FictionHorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

“There was nothing to hold onto - except each other.”

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Cast

Kevin McCarthy
Dr. Miles J. Bennell
Dana Wynter
Becky Driscoll
King Donovan
Jack Belicec
Carolyn Jones
Theodora 'Teddy' Belicec
Larry Gates
Dr. Dan 'Danny' Kauffman
Kenneth Patterson
Stanley Driscoll
Virginia Christine
Wilma Lentz
Jean Willes
Nurse Sally Withers

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Don Siegel
Writers: Daniel Mainwaring, Richard Collins, Don Siegel
Languages: Danish, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

80 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

70 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Danish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Don Siegel, shot by Ellsworth Fredericks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carmen Dragon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert S. Eisen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Don Siegel directs. Ellsworth Fredericks behind the camera. Carmen Dragon scores. Robert S. Eisen cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Danish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

180 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 7.2× over at the box office.
470 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Danish, English.
6Directed by Don Siegel, shot by Ellsworth Fredericks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Carmen Dragon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Robert S. Eisen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter and King Donovan carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "There was nothing to hold onto - except each other.".
11IMDB entry: tt0049366 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 20 themes, including "small town", "based on novel or book", "alien", "black and white".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks
Original score: Carmen Dragon
Editing: Robert S. Eisen
Production design: Ted Haworth
Makeup / hair: Mary Westmoreland
Runtime: 80 min · 1h 20m
Status: Released
Budget: $416,911
Box office: $3,000,000
Return: 720% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Rotten Tomatoes: 97% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 92/100
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 58,248 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

3 wins total

Also by

Don Siegel

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Phills22026-06-02
★ 9/10
Invasion of the Body Snatchers has always been on the top of my list of best horror movies ever made. It is solidly suspenseful throughout from beginning to end. The stars even had wax moldings made of themselves to use as the pods, or counterfiet alien clones. It has a lot to say about how modern progress has alienated the individual by suppressing intinctive emotions. I've even recorded it without the tacked on beginning and ending added after test screenings so audiences would not feel excessively depressed about a negative finish. By some accounts, a few viewers didn't take the original version seriously enough.

Production companies