The Friday Night Fright: The Body Stealers
This is a (very) cheap Invasion of the Body Snatchers knock-off from British production company Tigon Pictures. When parachutists start disappearing in midair the government calls in Bob Megan, ace skydiver and major flirt, to get to the bottom of things. Megan it seems is none too bright and it takes him almost a full 90 minutes to figure out what’s going on even though he’s been bonking one of the aliens for half the film.
The film features George Sanders, almost at the end of his career and a pale shadow of his former self, as an army General and Maurice Evans, one year after terrorising Charlton Heston as Dr. Zaius in Planet of the Apes, in supporting roles.
Also on hand is Neil Connery, brother of Sean. It’s strange watching Neil, he’s so much like Sean yet lacking something in the charisma and looks department. You can’t blame him for having a go but it’s no wonder his film career came to an end after this film. Still it must have been a step up from the Bond rip-off, OK Connery.
The star of the show though is Patrick Allen. For people of a certain age Allen will always be the voice of Barratt Homes and it’s hard to take him seriously as a sort of cut-price, cardigan wearing, Bond. Or as a lady-killer, seducing Lorna Wilde (as an equally budget Ursula Andress) on an English beach. No exotic locales here.
The climax just accentuates the cheapness of the whole affair, with a spaceship from Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. coming out of mothballs to act as the invading alien’s ship. Hard to believe that the same company produced Michael Reeves’ superb Witchfinder General only the year before.
