Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

This low-budget, 1956 spine-tingler, adapted from the novel by Jack Finney, is considered a sci-fi masterpiece.

In the small American town of Santa Mira, the initially sceptical local shrink Dr Binnell (Kevin McCarthy) gradually becomes concerned by increasing visits from townsfolk complaining that their nearest and dearest are simply not themselves. Moreover, that they are in fact imposters. As a sense of paranoia gradually spreads, Binnell's investigations reveal that the complaints are not mere delusion and that the previously peaceful town is in fact being taken over by an alien force, doppelgangers who resemble their earthly counterparts in almost every way, save for a lack of human emotion. (BBC)

Less