The Original ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ Is Finally Coming to 4K

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the paranoid science fiction classic that had a generation feafrully checking their basement for giant alien pods, is finally coming to 4K Blu-ray. Kino Lorber’s lovingly-restored version of the film will be released on June 25. The film is largely considered one of the best science fiction horror movies of all time.

The centerpiece of the two-disc set is an all-new HDR/Dolby Vision master of the film, in both 2.00:1 and 1.85:1 aspect ratios, shot from a 4K scan of the best available 35mm film elements. It will also include two all-new audio commentaries; one by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson, and another by film professor Jason A. Ney. The disc also includes a number of special features from previous releases of the film, including an audio commentary by the film’s stars, Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, moderated by director and classic film enthusiast Joe Dante; a commentary by film historian Richard Harland Smith; featurettes “The Fear Is Real” and “The Stranger in Your Lover’s Eyes”; and a feature on the brilliant career and scandalous personal life of the film’s producer, Walter Wanger. The set will retail for $39.95 USD, and can be preordered now on KinoLorber.com.

What Is ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ About?

Adapted from Jack Finney‘s 1954 novel The Body Snatchers and directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, The Shootist), Invasion of the Body Snatchers is set in the fictional town of Santa Mira, California. Local doctor Miles Bennell (McCarthy) finds that several of his patients are convinced that their friends and family have been replaced by impostors – and soon finds out that they aren’t delusional at all. The residents of the town are slowly but surely being replaced by emotionless alien pod-grown duplicates. Together with ex-girlfriend Becky Driscoll (Wynter), he tries to stop the invasion – only to find there’s nobody he can trust. The concept of humans being replaced by pod people has been interpreted in a number of ways by reviewers, including as a metaphor for communism, McCarthyism, or 195os conformity.

A success upon its release, making $4 million USD on a budget of under $500,000, Invasion of the Body Snatchers spawned a number of remakes. Philip Kaufman remade the film in 1978, with Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, and McCarthy in a cameo role; the final shot of Sutherland emitting an alien shriek is one of the most indelible images in science fiction cinema. Less successful were cinematic iconoclast Abel Ferrara‘s 1993 Body Snatchers, and the 2007 Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig misfire The Invasion. A fourth remake was announced in 2017, but has yet to materialize.

Kino Lorber’s 4K edition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers will be released on June 25, 2024, and can be preordered now. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.