The premise of this film is very intriguing. What would you think if suddenly an adult person in his 40s or 50s with no prior case of violence nor any hint of previous mental instability, begins to rob all sorts of things and kill people without feeling any remorse?
The situation becomes even more tragic and even scary when another person starts to show the same type of behavior. One rational answer could be that this is the result of a new drug that is messing with people's brains, or perhaps some type of coordinated terror attack. But this movie belongs in the scifi genre so rational explanations aren't used in the story.
The reason behind these strange behaviors is shown in the first half of the movie, so there is no big twist regarding this part of the plot. The story is more focused on action rather than mystery, it is a battle against an unknown enemy that can hardly be beaten by conventional means.
Given the fact this movie is from the 80s, I think its plot was considered very original at that time and it must have been a little bit shocking to see how these people turned into murderous subjects with a lost look and just basic language skills.
The acting was acceptable, nothing mindblowing or spectacular. It is the plot that makes it enjoyable and very watchable. There were some things I didn't like, for example, some action scenes where a car is being chased weren't particularly exciting and they lasted too long.
If you enjoyed the older and yet more popular movie called "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" you will enjoy this one as well, although it is not as good. When trying to compare it with more recent productions, the only one I can come up with is The Outsider series from HBO, but that series is a supernatural story and this movie is a scifi story. The basic premises are somewhat similar.
The best
- The plot is enjoyable.
The worst
- Some action scenes were dated, and I don't mean the special effects, I mean the way the scenes were played out.
- It has no cool twists.
More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093185/ Review: AA In numbers: 6.5/10
