A scene from 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. Courtesy MGM Home Video.
It’s a known fact that the months between the end of the Oscars and the start of the summer blockbuster season are generally filled with middling to mediocre movies that the studio is just looking to dump somewhere and (hopefully) make their money back. It’s a wasteland out there right now, but luckily, you don’t have to get caught in it.
Fangoria editor and radio personality Chris Alexander hosts a bi-monthly “Film School Confidential” at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto. Touted as a “film school with a B-movie twist,” Alexander has shown under-appreciated cinematic masterpieces like Brian De Palma’s Blow Out between screenings of less high-brow fare like John Carpenter’s Ghost of Mars and Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce.
This month, Alexander has a special treat for the moviegoers of Toronto: the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers in glorious 35mm! Canadian actor Art Hindle will also be in attendance sharing co-hosting duties of the film. After the screening, he’ll be answering questions about the making of the film and sharing his on-set experiences with co-stars like Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy (!).
Philip Kaufman’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a nightmarish masterwork of paranoid horror. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams play two colleagues who slowly discover that aliens are duplicating the San Francisco populace and that anyone, including their friends and family, may not be who they seem. Art Hindle plays the first “victim” of the pods in a horrifying and unforgettable sequence that shouldn’t be missed.
As with all of the movies in the “Film School Confidential” series, Alexander will give the film a short introduction consisting of snippets of his encyclopedic knowledge about the key figures involved and the film’s lasting legacy on cinema. For those self-declared cinephiles, Alexander also hosts an impromptu trivia session before the screening, and those with correct answers will end up with great prizes (DVDs, free rentals from Eyesore Cinema, and copies of the latest Fangoria, to name a few).
Invasion of the Body Snatchers will be screened March 30 at 9:30 p.m. in the Bloor Cinema. Tickets are $8 for members and $10 for non-members. Go to Chris Alexander’s website or the Facebook event page for more details.
Fraser Turnbull is a Toronto-based blogger.
