MovieChat Forums > Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Discussion > Never caught this before because the mov...

Never caught this before because the movie had been spoiled so long ago.

posted 14 years ago by HikerBoy57
11 replies | jump to latest

(Spoliers, obviously)

...but after Matthew meets with the man in the park, the director is clearly trying to give us an "is he or isn't he?" vibe about Matthew in the following apartment scene. Sutherland is unusually emotionless in this scene, and is pulling off some creepy stares. Also, we never find out what happened in that meeting in Union Square (apparently just a red herring both for Matthew the character, and us in the audience), which ramps up the confusion. Not until the pod attack do we know for sure.

Most of us have known the ending of the film for years, so we know that Matthew isn't changed (yet), but to a first time viewer these scenes would cast his identity in doubt, for a while. I'd noticed it done with Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright at other moments, but because I just KNEW Sutherland makes it to the penultimate scene, it never occurred to me to find him suspicious. Upon rewatching, though, he really is weird in this scene. Good misdirect by Kaufman!

The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 14 years ago

I agree, he did the same with Goldblum & Cartwright, just like with them, you are hoping that they were okay. When I first saw it, I thought that Matthew was doing what Nancy told him and hiding his emotions, but when she came up to him at the end and he gave her that look. I knew he was gone, great & chilling ending for sure.

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit' me!" Hudson in Aliens.

[–] Wicked_Genius 12 years ago

this movie is over 30+ years old. the rules to spoilers do not count here

[–] fortunate1 11 years ago

You're absolutely wrong, wicked: for as long as new moviegoers are born and become curious, there will never be a statute of limitations on announcing spoilers. Phrased differently, common courtesy always matters.

[–] kevinn02 10 years ago

Wicked is right. If you don't want to be spoiled, you shouldn't be here.

The unholy triumvirate:
The Bat, the Trek, the Bond

[–] sage2112 9 years ago

Why in the heck would you come to a film's message board before viewing the movie? Of course there's gonna be spoilers even if it's courteous to not post them.

Are you one of those morons who rides their bicycle right in the lane of a 45 mph street just because the law says you can?

[–] fortunate1 9 years ago

The internal contradictions roiling your post, sage, not to mention its poor grammar reinforce my point ten times over.
Thank you.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] greenbudgie 12 years ago

I was told of Donald Sutherland's chilling last utterance in the film. That is why I wanted to see it. It is definitely the most horrific ending to a film I can remember. Perhaps it did spoil it for me because I was anticipating it all the time. I hate to think what effect it would have had on me had I not known what was coming.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 11 years ago

I was told of Donald Sutherland's chilling last utterance in the film. That is why I wanted to see it. It is definitely the most horrific ending to a film I can remember. Perhaps it did spoil it for me because I was anticipating it all the time. I hate to think what effect it would have had on me had I not known what was coming.

When I first saw it, I hoped that Matthew was still human, but was almost certain that he wasn't because the odds were so stacked against him (during his scene in the greenhouse, it's clear that he's one of the last human stragglers in the city). Hearing his inhuman scream and the expression on his face was still disturbing, but it wasn't much of a surprise.

[–] HikerBoy57 11 years ago

All of you are talking about the final scene. If you read my original post, you'll see that I was referring to the SCENES AFTER MATTHEW HAS MET THE MYSTERIOUS MAN IN UNION SQUARE. Especially when they are all trapped in the apartment together.

The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.

[–] henrimaine 9 years ago

When I first saw it, some 15 years ago on TV, I had no idea what the ending would be. Before the infamous last scene, I was certain that Donald Sutherland is still human and is just trying to act as an emotionless alien. His final scream was quite a shocker.