OLD MOVIE REVISITS: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956 and 1978). / “Night of the Living Dead.” / “The Reader.”

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (Roku, Tubi, Amazon Prime) science-fiction horror films based on the 1955 novel “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney. The 1956 original and 1978 remake describes the town of Mill Valley, in California's Marin County, being invaded by seeds that have drifted to Earth from space. 

       I saw these movies many years ago but a decade or so between them. This time, I revisited them in succession. The black and white original, directed by Don Siegel, seemed like a different movie from the 1978 version by Philip Kaufman--although, of course, it's the same alien story.

       They also act almost robotic or by the numbers in those 1950s movies and the tones of dialogue, monotonous. Almost cartoonish. The 1978 feature, starring Donald Sutherland, had more drama and structured plotline. And scarier, too.

       I may watch Abel Ferrara's 1993 remake or adaptation “Body Snatchers,” if I can find it in Tubi or Roku, where most really old movies are available. 🎥💻📽

<>“Night of the Living Dead” (1968, Roku) independent zombie horror film directed, co-written, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero. 

       The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by flesh-eating reanimated corpses. Although the monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls,” they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture. However, the ghouls here don't really look like ghouls. Or zombies. They look more like draculas and “floating ladies.” Anyhow, this movie set the zombie tone.

       Before the TV series “The Walking Dead” elevated zombie lore into a massive global obsession, I think the best zombie movie that I saw was 1978's “Dawn of the Dead,” also directed by George A. Romero. It was set in a shopping mall in color photography. There was a 2004 remake of this movie, directed by Zack Snyder, but I don't remember seeing it. 🎥💻📽

<>“Cannonball” (1976, Roku) road race comedy film, directed by Paul Bartel and starring David Carradine. The film is one of two released in 1976 (the other is “The Gumball Rally”) that were based on a real illegal cross-continent road race that took place for a number of years in the United States. The same topic later became the basis for the films The Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II and Speed Zone. 

       Nothing much really happened here, except with a lot of explosions. All car crashes meant a huge-ass fireball as though there's a ton of dynamite in those vehicles. However, movies of this kind was box-office magnets then. 🎥💻📽