Jack Finney's 1954 novel is a story that has been adapted four times during four different decades. First in 1956. Then in 1978. Abel Ferrera took a crack at it in 1993. The fourth version was on 2007. Why do we keep returning to this story? The 50s were a time of the McCarthy hearings and the Red Scare. The 70's pod people were a stand-in for new age group think. The 90's version was about military authoritarianism. The 00's one...well, the less said about that one the better. Ignoring that one, we have three directors fully capable of crafting an effective thriller: Don Siegel, Philip Kaufman and Abel Ferrera. Siegel and Ferrera worked in genre pictures before and after their take on the body snatcher story. What makes Kaufman such an interesting choice is that he didn't really have genre cred leading up to or after his film. We got The Right Stuff and should all be grateful for the one-two punch.
There's a genuine sense of unease from the get go. The first example being the priest (Robert Duvall in an awesome cameo) on the swing. Michael Chapman's cinematography lends a pseudo-documentary feeling to the film. We see a man running in the background while Elizabeth (Karen Allen) is walking down the street. Background characters are seen staring at the main characters. The sense of disorientation is overwhelming. In fact, the first two thirds play out almost as a conspiracy thriller. Something in line with the likes of what Alan Pakula was doing during this time. When the sci-fi elements do start getting introduced, it makes it all the more palpable and frightening.
The scene in question comes during the 3rd act. Where Matthew and Elizabeth see a ship and hear Amazing Grace, a song about hope and rebirth. The song selection is outright sinister. "What happens to us?" Elizabeth asks in an earlier scene. Dr. David Kibner responds "You'll be born again into an untroubled world. Free of anxiety, fear." as he injects her with a needle. A means of sedation so the process can be quick and painless. Now I don't know if a pod accidentally left it on, but I'd like to imagine they put Amazing Grace on on purpose. To not only give a sense a false hope for anyone who hasn't been taken over yet, but to recontextualize the meaning of the song to suit their beliefs. This isn't the end. It's just the end of living a body racked with fear and anxiety.
It's a sense of hopelessness that pervades the rest of the film and is only punctuated with an exclamation point from a gaping, screaming mouth.
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