Pod people (also known as body snatchers) is the colloquial term for a species of plant-like aliens featured in the 1954 novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney, the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the 1978 remake of the same name, and the 1993 film Body Snatchers. Although sharing themes, they are not in the 2007 film Invasion of the Pod People.
The novel Pod people are a race of nomadic extraterrestrial parasites from a dying planet. Realizing their planet's resources are nearing depletion, the pods evolved the ability to defy gravity and leave their planet's atmosphere in the search of planets to colonize. For millennia, the pods floated in space like spores, propelled by the solar winds, some occasionally landing on inhabited planets. Upon landing, they replace the dominant species by spawning emotionless replicas; the original bodies disintegrate into dust after the duplication process. After consuming all the resources, the pods leave in search of other planets. Such a consumption was apparently the fate of civilizations inhabiting Mars and the Moon. The Pods' sole purpose is survival with no attention to the civilizations they conquer or the resources they squander. The duplicates have lifespans of five earth years, and cannot sexually reproduce. Their invasion of Earth was short; unable to overcome resistance to their actions, the pods abandoned Earth, leaving behind their duplicates, but those died quickly.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 film)
One of the pod people hints at their extraterrestrial origin and purpose without explaining. Physician Miles Bennell, played by Kevin McCarthy, gets away from the town and tells his story to another doctor. A truck carrying pods is wrecked; thereafter, the second physician believes the tale. He asks the government agents to quarantine the town, but viewers are left to wonder whether they were successful. Prior to a rewrite, the ending was less hopeful about the fate of humanity, ending before McCarthy escapes. The final shot is Bennell standing on a highway shouting warnings at passing cars and into the camera.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)
The origin of the pod people clones in the 1978 film remains the same as in the first film adaptation. In this film, the aliens are in their preinvasion form. They appear as gelatinous creatures abandoning their ravaged planet somewhere in deep space. After landing on Earth, they assimilate leaves and become pink flowers; the aliens eventually grow the larger 6-foot-long (1.8 m) pods. This time, those subverted can scream in an eerie high-pitched alien voice, which is apparently used to alert other pod people of humans in their midst. They also seem to exhibit a kind of extrasensory perception. As one character stabs his almost-formed pod replacement, a replica immediately emits the alien scream. This version does not end with the same hope as the novel and previous movie, but ends with the pod people taking over almost everyone on Earth. The movie shows several ships with pods to be sent out into other parts of the planet. In the closing scene, Veronica Cartwright's character is happy to see the hero, played by Donald Sutherland, only to hear him emit the alien scream. A difference in the pods is seen between the original film and the remake. In the original, the pods burst to duplicate Miles and his friends while they are awake. In the remake, the pods and flowers stay dormant until the humans are asleep. The replicas are less emotional than the original, to the extent, except for "leader" replicas such as Dr Kibner, they do not appear to be able to fake emotional states and reactions. Also unclear is whether the replicas can eat, although one is seen drinking water in Elizabeth Driscoll's apartment.
Body Snatchers (1993 film) As in the 1978 film, these pod people emit the high-pitched scream to indicate nonconverts. Their extraterrestrial origin is hinted (suggested through a pan-in of the galaxy during the opening credits, and a statement by the replica general they traveled "light-years"). The bodies of these pod people also shrivel and disintegrate after they are killed, similar to the originals. As in the 1978 remake, this third version seems to preclude any hopeful conclusion by the ambiguous ending in which the two leads land after seemingly destroying the pod people, only to find the pilot is apparently one of the aliens, reflecting back to the eerie warning: "There's no one like you left."
The Invasion (2007 film)
In The Invasion, the aliens are a virus. After the person falls asleep, the virus rewrites human DNA. Then, these genetically modified post-humans vomit a gelatinous substance to continue the invasion. As their invasion snowballs, the pod people transform humans by injecting them with the substance under the guise of "influenza vaccines". As it continues across the globe, local conflicts are resolved, including the Iraq War and Darfur. However, certain illnesses during childhood render humans immune to the viral invaders. Medical scientists somehow create a miracle vaccine in a few months to "cure the pandemic". The treatment wipes the memories of the replicas, and the infected live "as though they were in a deep sleep". Similar to previous incarnations, the virus can kill its human host. Carol takes a photograph of a human after conversion, but the conflicting memories give the replica a heart attack. During Carol and Gene's exchange on the commuter train:
Carol: Where are your parents Gene? Gene: They didn't survive. Your family is my family now.
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