Wednesday, October 09, 2013

31 Days of Halloween - Day 9 - Movie 2


A group of plane crash survivors must band together against the threat of a protoplasmic alien parasite which turns its human hosts into blood draining vampires. At the same time they must overcome their hostility towards one another as their urges to survive drive them to selfish, reprehensible behavior.


Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) made a real impression on me the first time I saw it a few years ago. I remain impressed by it after a second viewing. It's a very bizarre film that wastes no time getting underway and never lets up once it starts. It has a really pessimistic view of humanity as a whole. The most altruistic characters survive the longest in spite of constantly helping the survivors who try to harm them, but ultimately there are no real rewards for them. The body inhabiting alien is genuinely creepy, occupying one of the passengers via a wound it creates in his forehead. The other humans it possesses, quickly deteriorate into dust once the aliens have used them up. The cast is mostly very good. The artifice of some of the effects work really serves the unreal quality of the movie as a whole. GBSfH is not as good as the similarly themed Matango, but it has a relentless energy to it that makes it very enjoyable.





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