Language:
1956: the language used in this version shows what it would be like if you were in this town especially with you being one of the only ones left. A line in the first few scenes says “something evil has taken over this town.”
This language is used to warn the people, as they might want to leave!
The actors are American and it is set in a American town so, American accents are used, The characters are afraid of what has happened and many are upset and scared about what has happened to their loved ones, this is shown in their dialogue and body actions. When their body has been taken over they talk with no emotion they don’t talk, as much and they talk in one tone and it appears to be quiet freaky it is very dramatic and shows the idea of the film creator’s vision of what these “aliens” would be like.
1978: the language used in this one is very similar because of the fact that most of the actors are very scared when they find out what is going on. This is shown in body movement it affects them in such a way. As the 1956 version they talk with no emotion when they are taken over but the people who are not taken over are very much upset and angry by what has happened to their relatives and people they care about.
There is a lot of screaming and forceful words used between the characters that are alive because they obviously don’t want them to become a “Life-drained Zombie.”
It is once again set in America so there are American actors.
Sound
1956: this versions music is very grand, very bold with loud drums and cymbals and different instruments like orchestral instruments violins, cello’s and many other stringed instruments to create a sort of taking over music, which demonstrates a taking over theme.
Scary sounds like lots of harmonics and high-pitched feedback and such are
used like the big build-ups there is a screechy violin note played which makes the viewer expects something scary to happen and it makes you feel nervous as to what is going to happen.
1978: the music on this is very strange, eerie and peculiar it uses high pitch screechy feedback noises and horrid noises to create a very scary sound. Sound effects are used a lot in this version to add mystery to the film. I think the music is distorted and screechy on this version to create a much more scarier film to grip the viewers.
(Looking back on the old films I see how tame it is compared to the 1978 version
I think by this period peoples opinions had changed about what a scary film is.)
Lighting
1956: this version is very hard to tell what the light was like because it is in black and white although lights are made dimmer in areas to make it a little bit scarier and to build it up
1978: this version’s lighting is very good because it starts off with nice bright daylight and then as events unfold the lighting gets dimmer for me it made the film a little stranger deranged and twisted.
Special effects.
1956: special effects are not used as much in this film due to the time it was made in but in some cases like make up which brings a scary look to the actors faces when they have been taken over. Dummies are used in areas but look incredibly cheesy and
corny.
In many cases though it is a hard thing to do with the resources that they had and the time period that they where in.
1978: effects are used in this film it may have been a low budget film because they are nothing spectacular even compared to films from the late 70’s.
Things like when Dr Burnel’s partner’s face changes in to the scarier version this shows that special effects have moved on since 1956 but it is still poor though.
The pods which are used and the plants at the beginning are much more space like than the ones in the 1956 version and they are more like to my idea what they would look like.
Settings
1956: the film is set in a small town with a small population, people in the town know each another quite well and for Dr Burnel to see everyone been taken over must be traumatizing the film is kept around this region for all the film but Dr Burnel finds out that the whole of America will be taken over.
1978: the film is set in a large town with a large population. People do not know everybody and the taking over process is happening quickly. It is kept in the large town but different places are used. There is many confrontations with the people who are being taken over at the point rather than the 1956 version where you see them after they have been taken over.
Conclusion
I think after looking at the two movies I feel that the 1978 version was better because I enjoyed it more than the older one, although I feel that the first version’s storyline was better like the extra bits which were added (eg: everybody thinking Dr burnel is crazy) because it described the story a little better but the second one was better than in terms of special effects and sound because the music created more atmosphere to the film.
I think that if you crossed the two films together then you would get a better story line from the first and the sound and special effects of the second.
I think that the fact that the police and the army had something to do with it added a twist to the story.
I didn’t really enjoy the first one because it was dull but you could understand it better.
Since I started this piece we watched the 1993 version which I really enjoyed and I the story was based around the environment which I thought was clever, and it was at the time of GreenPeace and organizations where starting to make us aware what was happening to the environment.
I thought the story line was a little better on this one as well, the sound effects were better much more of a modern scary music. The special effects had improved vastly.
In all three films there has been a relationship and the woman has been got by the body snatchers then it has been the mans job to survive.
The 1993 version for me is based more around an action style film than a horror.
I think that maybe things like this could happen because if there is species on the other planets then it is not impossible I am sure that they would have advances in technology like we have had after all we can go in a rocket to space.
I think that the films would have been scary back then because nothing had been created like this but now they are rather tame, it is more of a psychological thriller than a horror.
Social & Historical
I’m sure that many people for thousand and thousands of centuries have thought about what there is in space and the future, people like Nostrodamus stick out in my mind.
Around the time both of these movies where produced nobody was sure what was out in the universe.
People kept things to themselves and where very protective over things of their own (family etc.) During my research I found out that many people where ignorant about what was out there in space (many people are still like this today maybe because they are scared of what is out there?)
Others like to explore these things and find out what is out there and share ideas about it.
Looking back on it now we started to come together as one instead of bombing countries left, right and centre and other countries started to care about other countries and spend the millions of pounds which are spent on bombs, military equipment and all other methods that we waste money, it would pay many times over to get the resources we would need to explore space.
It would also cloth and feed the entire world not one human being ignored we could come together as one and explore space together forever and find what is truly out there no movies needed.