THE ANNIHILATORS (1985) A man discovers his girlfriend has been replaced by a robot; he destroys it but winds up framed for murder and sets out to learn the truth behind the mysterious “dynamators” replacing people. A stock TV movie and an unsuccessful series pilot.
THEY LIVE! (1988) is an example of the Secret Masters subgenre in which the infiltrators are already running things (Henry Kuttner’s Don’t Look Now being a similar case in print), in this case ET investors striking bargains with Earth’s power elite to milk the Working Stiffs. Unfortunately, Roddy Piper makes as stiff a hero as could be imagined and far too much of this John Carpenter film is devoted to mindless violence.
END OF DAYS (1999) probably won’t amount to more than a footnote but it does have Gabriel Byrne recruiting Arnold Schwarzenngger’s coworkers for the service of Satan, so it will fit in my chapter on supernatural infiltration/paranoia themes. Quality wise, nothing in here that SUPERNATURAL doesn’t do better.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), as noted previously, is terrific.
SCANNERS (1981) and INVASION (1992) were both on my list as possibles, but neither one actually qualifies. It’s funny how familiar watching the movies and writing down credits feels (I always take them off the screen—even the best movie reference books and Web sites may get them wrong). And how much easier it is with digital technology giving me such a clear freeze-frame.
Pingback: Thank you Netflix! | Fraser Sherman's Blog