Welcome, all lovers of remakes (are there any?)! Welcome to my Radio Spot Reliquary.
Remakes! Sequels! Is there anything new?
I hear and read it all the time: People are sick of going to the movies and seeing the same things over and over again, or hearing about a new reworking of an old standard. Is there not anything new coming out of Hollywood? Is all new creativity lost? Is it all about finances and the belief that redoing a former blockbuster hit will once again generate the same amount of revenue?
Successful remakes are hard to find. Usually remakes are made of older movies with the idea of modernizing them to appeal to a fresh audience. Some are redone to highlight improved technology. Some work, some don’t. The ones that work have one thing in common: they are remade by fans of the original and want to do it in homage.
With all that said, two remakes stand out to me and definitely work: John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), and 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It is this latter movie I want to feature today.
The first version, filmed in 1955 and released in 1956, was well received and has achieved classic status. Its black and white photography gave it a Film Noir look which helped with the sense of paranoia and fear. It is played with all seriousness and the danger builds quickly as more and more residents of the small town of Santa Mira report that their closest family members are somehow different – changed with no emotions. Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter play the hapless couple who slowly sees their circle of friends and the townspeople they love change to become alien visitors who want to capture them and turn them into “pod people.”
Since it was so successful, filmmaker fans in the late 1970s decided to re-envision it, setting it in a large city – San Francisco – and producing it in color. Reviewers liked it and gave credit for its new approach. However, it lost its small town charm and tragedy with events now taking place within a city of countless, nameless individuals being taken over in large numbers. Close friends are changed, so the lack of trust and paranoia are still present, only the threat now exists on a much larger scale. The practical special effects are more advanced than the original, and the sound of the hatching pods is much more organic and alien. The newer version goes into more depth about the origin of the space seeds and the assimilation process, and, to its credit, fixes the original’s flaw in the lover’s reveal at the end. They are two different-looking movies and I enjoy both of them. In fact, they complement each other.
Which do you prefer?
Here are six spots for the 1978 release…three mono spots and three spots in stereo. The stereo spots are basically the same with minor differences, but the mixing is a little sharper and the background effects are more pronounced. Spots for the 1956 version are harder to find than an unopened seed pod. Granny Creech and I are both looking. Maybe someday…
Space seeds! Pods! Pod people! Don’t go to sleep! No emotions! Leonard Nimoy! Invasion of the Body Snatchers!
If you have radio spots you would like to share or talk about with Gary (the Radio Spots Guy), you can reach him at [email protected].
ZC Update: Zombos’ pod-person has been found and destroyed after Gary noticed that he mistakenly said Elliot Gould instead of Donald Sutherland in the photo caption.