Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 4K Ultra HD Review: A Classic Psychological Horror

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

This is the original 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The film would later be remade in 1978 starring Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams among others. As successful as the remake may have been, there is something special about this original. Made during the height of the Cold War, the Red Scare, and the boom in horror features from Universal and others, this black & white classic tapped into a heightened paranoia that no other horror film had done up to that point.

Directed by Philip Kaufman with a screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring based on the serialized story from Colier’s Magazine by Jack Finney, the story follows a small-town doctor, Dr. Miles J. Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) who realizes that the people of his town are having their bodies replaced by soulless, lookalike aliens hatched from pods. These “pod people” are determined to take over everyone, including Miles and his girlfriend Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter) who manage to be the sole holdouts.

The film is a fascinating character study and psychological thriller, it grows increasingly chaotic and each of the citizens of the town who are aware of what is taking place become increasingly suspicious of one another. Distrust spreads like a disease that may be just as pervasive as the soulless pod people.

Shot more like a film-noir than a traditional horror film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is visually striking, and this visual aesthetic helps draw the viewer into the fear as much as anything. There are no monsters in the traditional sense in the film, just people who were once friends and loved ones who may now look the same, but are different and emotionless, yet capable of pretending to have emotion. This is what makes the film one of the scariest and long-lasting of all the classic horror films.

Purchase Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on Amazon.com

The Video

Kino Lorber lists Invasion of the Body Snatchers as being from “Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Masters – From a New 4K Scan of the Best Available 35mm Elements.” So, this does not seem to be taken completely from the original camera negatives and it does not look that way. The grain structure is a little bit soft on the 4K disc, which is encoded in HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision with HDR10 metadata showing a MaxLL of 607 nits and MaxFALL of only 43 nits. There is no sort of stunning brightness on this 4K disc and the dynamics are only mildly more stark in the black and white cinematography on the 4K over the included Blu-ray which also taken from the new restoration. That said, I did find the Blu-ray seemed to look a little crisper, which is the opposite of how it should be. I went back and forth multiple times and the grain and detail on the Blu-ray just seems a little sharper. Overall, however, both discs are satisfying, clean, and natural in appearance with good shadows. The film is provided in both its SuperScope 2.00:1 and original 1.85:1 aspect ratios.

The Audio

The original monaural soundtrack for Invasion of the Body Snatchers is provided in a clean and full sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The dialogue is clear, dynamic range is decent for a film from 1956, and nom clipping can be heard.

The Supplements

Invasion of the Body Snatchers comes with four audio commentaries, two of them new, reversible sleeve, and a few featurettes.

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by Stars Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, Moderated by Filmmaker Joe Dante
• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Harland Smith
• Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson (NEW)
• Audio Commentary by Professor and Film Scholar Jason A. Ney (NEW)

Blu-ray Only:

• The Fear is Real: Featurette (1080p; 00:12:27)
• The Stranger in Your Lover’s Eyes: Featurette (1080p; 00:11:55)
• I No Longer Belong – The Rise and Fall of Walter Wanger: Featurette (1080p; 00:21:09)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – Trailer (1080p; 00:02:19)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – Trailer (1080p; 00:02:16)

The Final Assessment

A psychological horror in its purest form that plays up the 1950s paranoia to a tee, Invasion of the Body Snatchers arrives in a gorgeous new 4K restoration and transfer from KL Studio Classics ready for all classic horror fans’ collections. Highly recommended.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is out on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray July 16, 2024 from Kino Lorber

Purchase Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: Approved
• Studios & Distributors: Walter Wanger Productions | Kino Lorber
• Director: Don Siegel
• Written By: Daniel Mainwaring (screenplay) | Jack Finney (Collier’s magazine serial)
• Street Date: 16 July 2024
• Run Time: 80 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1 | 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 607 nits
  • MaxFALL: 43 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
• Subtitles: English SDH