‘Can the Earth survive against the aliens from outer space?’
The Body Stealers is a 1969 sci-fi horror film in which two investigators uncover an alien plot to take earthlings by snatching them out of the air. Also known as Invasion of the Body Stealers , Thin Air, Mach 4, Galaxy Horror and Alien Invasion.
The movie was directed by Gerry Levy (The Haunted House of Horror (uncredited co-director; Where Has Poor Mickey Gone?) from a screenplay co-written with Michael St. Clair.
The Tigon Pictures production stars George Sanders (Psychomania), Maurice Evans, Patrick Allen (Night of the Big Heat), Neil Connery, Hilary Dwyer, Robert Flemyng, Lorna Wilde and Allan Cuthbertson.
Plot [contains spoilers]:
When British paratroopers disappear in mid-air during routine jumps, former air force investigator Bob Megan is brought in to solve the mystery. While making inquiries at a military research laboratory headed by Dr Matthews, he has several encounters with a woman called Lorna who vanishes after each meeting.
One of the troopers is found barely alive and dies on arrival at the laboratory. An autopsy performed by Dr Julie Slade reveals that the man’s biochemistry had been altered. Megan learns that all of the missing troopers had received spaceflight training, leading Matthews to theorise that they are being adapted to survive in a non-Earth environment.
Travelling to Matthews’ cottage, Slade discovers that the human Matthews has been killed and his form assumed by an alien called Marthus. When Megan arrives, Marthus explains that the troopers were abducted as part of a plan to re-populate his home planet, Mygon, which has been devastated by plague.
Marthus attempts to kill Megan and Slade but is incapacitated by Lorna, who is revealed to be his alien companion. Lorna shows Megan the surviving troopers, who are being held in suspended animation, as well as her and Marthus’ spacecraft.
Megan asks Lorna to return the troopers in exchange for his promise to find a group of volunteers to assist her with the re-population. Lorna agrees and vanishes once again, taking Marthus and the spacecraft with her.
Contemporary review:
The BFI’s Monthly Film Bulletin said “As body-stealers, these aliens invite no comparison with Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1956]. The initial idea is promising, ‘but it is soon buried under a mountain of sub-plots and unexplained mysterious happenings; and the feeble, talkative script gives the cast little chance to make much impression.”
Choice dialogue:
Dr Julie Slade [Hilary Dwyer]: “This is all mad.”
Cast and characters:
George Sanders as General Armstrong
Maurice Evans as Dr Matthews and Marthus
Patrick Allen as Bob Megan
Neil Connery as Jim Radford
Hilary Dwyer as Dr Julie Slade
Robert Flemyng as Wing Commander Baldwin
Lorna Wilde as Lorna
Allan Cuthbertson as Hindesmith
Michael Culver as Lieutenant Bailes
Sally Faulkner as Joanna
Shelagh Fraser as Mrs Thatcher
Carl Rigg as Briggs
Carol Hawkins as Paula
Dixon Adams as David
Derek Pollitt as Davies
Johnnie Wade as Orderly
Clifford Earl as Sergeant in laboratory
Background:
The film was originally passed uncut as an ‘X’ for cinema by the BBFC before poor attendances led to the film being recalled and re-cut for an ‘A’ certificate. The cuts included edits to Lorna’s swimming scene to remove nudity and a shortening of the love scene between Lorna and Bob. The version issued by Anchor Bay in the Tigon Collection box set is the edited print.
Filming locations:
Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England
Tech specs:
1h 31m (91 min)
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
Trailer [720p]:
Free to watch online on YouTube [720p]:
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