# Body Snatchers (1993 film)
**Body Snatchers** is a 1993 American science-fiction horror film directed by [Abel Ferrara](https://www.edgepedia.org/abel-ferrara), the third feature adaptation of Jack Finney's novel *The Body Snatchers*, after [Don Siegel](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-siegel)'s *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (1956) and [Philip Kaufman](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-kaufman)'s 1978 remake. It relocates the pod-people invasion to a United States Army base in Alabama and follows teenage Marti Malone (Gabrielle Anwar) as the people around her are replaced while they sleep.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers) • [2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/bodysnatchers)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / year | Abel Ferrara, 1993; 87 minutes, color[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers) |
| Source | Third large-scale film version of Jack Finney's *The Body Snatchers*, after Siegel (1956) and Kaufman (1978)[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/bodysnatchers) |
| Screenplay | Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, and Nicholas St. John, from a story by Raymond Cistheri and Larry Cohen[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers) |
| Principal cast | Gabrielle Anwar, Terry Kinney, Meg Tilly, Forest Whitaker, Billy Wirth[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers) |
| Festival | Shown In Competition at the 1993 Festival de Cannes[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/body-snatchers/) |
| US release | Rated R; AFI catalog dates it 1994, produced by Dorset Productions and distributed by Warner Bros.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59747-BODY-SNATCHERS?cxt=filmography) |
| Reception | 70% Tomatometer (33 reviews) and 47% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 65 on Metacritic[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_snatchers) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/body-snatchers/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Steve Malone, a scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency, arrives for an assignment at Fort Daly in Alabama with his wife Carol, their five-year-old son Andy, and his teenage daughter Marti. An eerie hush settles over the base: once-normal people become silent and blank-eyed, denying the reality of their own lives.[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/body-snatchers/) Alien pod-people have gotten into the base, taking the place of actual humans by pushing tendrils into their bodies' openings as they sleep. Marti is estranged from her stepmother ([Meg Tilly](https://www.edgepedia.org/meg-tilly)), who is the first to be replaced, to the terror of her little brother, who knows the woman is not his mother; at his military day-care center, all the children produce exactly the same finger paintings.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers)
Marti befriends Jenn Platt ([Christine Elise](https://www.edgepedia.org/christine-elise)), daughter of the base commander, General Platt ([R. Lee Ermey](https://www.edgepedia.org/r-lee-ermey)), and [Billy Wirth](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-wirth) plays Tim Young.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_snatchers) • [4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59747-BODY-SNATCHERS?cxt=filmography) The final scene has Marti and Tim flying away by helicopter and landing at a military base near Atlanta, an ambiguous ending that quotes Marti's infected stepmother: "Where are you gonna go, where are you gonna run, where are you gonna hide?", suggesting the phenomenon has spread far beyond the army base.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106452/plotsummary/)
## Origins and production
The idea of moving Finney's story to a military base came from Larry Cohen, the writer-director of *The Stuff* (1985). In this version, Environmental Protection agent Steve Malone ([Terry Kinney](https://www.edgepedia.org/terry-kinney)) is dispatched to test the effects of the military's actions on the surrounding ecological system.[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/pod-people-legacy-invasion-body-snatchers) The screenplay was written by [Stuart Gordon](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuart-gordon), Dennis Paoli, and Nicholas St. John from Cohen and Raymond Cistheri's story, and the film was produced by Robert H. Solo, who had also produced Kaufman's 1978 version.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers)
The crew included cinematographer Bojan Bazelli, editor Anthony Redman, production designer Peter Jamison, and composer Joe Delia.[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/body-snatchers/) • [4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59747-BODY-SNATCHERS?cxt=filmography) The Science Fiction Encyclopedia describes it as a low-budget production that in most areas went straight to video.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers)
## Themes and style
Earlier versions of the story carried social meanings; Siegel's pod people were said to represent the Red threat. The International Film Festival Rotterdam's program notes call Ferrara's version remarkably apolitical, focusing on the pure horror of the aliens, with a much more ominous tone in which panic-stricken earthlings are helpless. Ferrara said he did not want to improve on Siegel's film, which he admired too much.[2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/bodysnatchers) The Science Fiction Encyclopedia reads the film as a metaphoric examination of both the military and the nuclear family corrupting, and singles out the pod-people's siren-like alarm calls, like a military klaxon, as a memorable touch.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers) The Los Angeles Times called it the most stylized and visceral of the adaptations, set on a military base with references to Operation Desert Storm.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-jul-20-la-et-mn-second-look-20120722-story.html)
## Release and reception
The film was selected In Competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.[3](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/body-snatchers/) The AFI catalog dates the American release to 1994, citing a New York Times item of February 4, 1994, and a Variety review of May 3, 1993; the catalog lists it as outside the AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1893–1993).[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59747-BODY-SNATCHERS?cxt=filmography)
Critical response was mixed to favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 70% Tomatometer from 33 reviews against a 47% audience score, with the critics' consensus noting that it "may not topple previous adaptions, but it boasts an effective sense of dread and strong characterizations."[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_snatchers) Metacritic records a Metascore of 65, with 16 positive, 5 mixed, and 1 negative review among 22 counted.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/body-snatchers/critic-reviews/) Roger Ebert gave it four of four stars, writing that as sheer moviemaking it is skilled and knowing and "deserves the highest praise you can give a horror film: It works."[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_snatchers) Variety's review found it "an exciting thriller that compares favorably with Don Siegel's classic 1956 original."[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/body-snatchers/critic-reviews/)
## Place in the series
Body Snatchers is the third of four (so far) feature adaptations of Finney's 1954–55 novel, followed by Oliver Hirschbiegel's *[The Invasion](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-invasion-film)* (2007).[7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/pod-people-legacy-invasion-body-snatchers) • [10](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/body-snatchers) It differs considerably from the 1978 version despite sharing a producer, and the BFI feature ranks it as the weakest of the four adaptations to date, while the [Rotterdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/rotterdam) program notes treat it as a grim, self-contained variant on the material.[1](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers) • [7](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/pod-people-legacy-invasion-body-snatchers) • [2](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/bodysnatchers)
## References
1. [Body Snatchers, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (entry updated 5 April 2020)](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/body_snatchers)
2. [Bodysnatchers, International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR 1994 program)](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/bodysnatchers)
3. [Body Snatchers, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/body-snatchers/)
4. [Body Snatchers (1994), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59747-BODY-SNATCHERS?cxt=filmography)
5. [Body Snatchers, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_snatchers)
6. [Body Snatchers critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/body-snatchers/critic-reviews/)
7. [Pod people: the legacy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, BFI (22 October 2021)](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/pod-people-legacy-invasion-body-snatchers)
8. [Body Snatchers (1993) – Plot, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106452/plotsummary/)
9. [A Second Look: 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers', Los Angeles Times (2012)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-jul-20-la-et-mn-second-look-20120722-story.html)
10. [Body Snatchers, Screen Slate](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/body-snatchers)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Shared-title version families › Horror and monster shared-title families*
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