Alien Abduction (2005)
Hospital for Alien Abductees
An early film from The Asylum set in a hospital for alien abductees, which director Eric Forsberg evokes with some paranoia and a great ending
Body Snatchers
Body Snatchers (at least in the usage on this site) refers to non-human entities that steal human appearance. They can create identical duplicates of the human body, take over control of human minds or else this can be a form of Alien Possession. The key aspect of this is body snatchers replicate every aspect of humanity except for emotions.
Body snatchers appeared in a number of other classic works of the 1950s Alien Invasion film beginning with It Came from Outer Space (1953) and others of era, culminating in the key paranoia classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
The theme has regularly reappeared ever since then. Most commonly, body snatchers are alien invaders. In other variations, they can be Android duplicates, Parasites, plants or some form of Doppelganger or the idea of the changeling. Another variant on the theme is of the creature that hops between bodies, discarding one as its use runs out.
Historically, body snatchers is also a term given to those who rob graves, another recurrent theme in genre material. To avoid confusion, these are listed here as Grave Robbers.
Alien Trespass (2009)
1950s SF Homage
Homage to 1950s SF films, in particular It Came from Outer Space and The Blob, made not as a parody but as an affectionate tribute to the era with everything played seriously
Alien Uprising (2012)
Alien Invasion
Low-budget British alien invasion film shot in a hyperkinetic style using as many social collapse cliches as possible. Jean-Claude Van Damme turns up to deliver explanations for everything
Alienoid (2022)
South Korean Time-Hopping SF Action
A South Korean SF film that comes with a wide canvas involving alien invasion, time hopping between two eras and some epic action in possibly one of the most head-scratching plots seen in some time
Alienoid: Return to the Future (2024)
South Korean Time-Hopping SF Action
The second part of the Korean time-hopping/alien invasion film where many of the plot strands from the extremely confusing first film are at least wrapped up
Annihilation (2018)
Mysterious Alien Zone
Alex Garland’s second directorial effort after Ex Machina. Clearly influenced by Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, this features a group venturing into an alien-affected zone where Garland does a fine job of creating a sense of the otherworldly
Antlers (2021)
Wendigo Creature
A wendigo film, this comes with impressive prospect and backed by no less names than Guillermo Del Toro and David S. Goyer
Apollo 18 (2011)
NASA Moon Landing/Alien Possession Found Footage Film
Clever and well made Found Footage film about a NASA crew encountering something alien on The Moon’s surface. Falls somewhere between Alien, Apollo 13 and Paranormal Activity
Appendage (2023)
Malignant Twin
In a similar vein to James Wan’s Malignant, a film with a heroine who has a malignant twin force its way out of a wound in her side and proceed to take over her life
The Arrival (1996)
Alien Infiltration and Takeover
An alien invasion and takeover film that was clearly inspired by the success of tv’s The X Files. This is a smart effort that emerges as something unworldly in David Twohy’s hands
Assimilate (2019)
Body Snatchers
A body snatchers film, shot partially as Found Footage where teens shooting a video make the discovery that people in their town are being replaced
The Astronaut’s Wife (1999)
Alien Possession
Charlize Theron becomes paranoid and suspects her space shuttle astronaut husband Johnny Depp of returning possessed by an alien. Essentially an SF version of Rosemary’s Baby
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)
Comic-Book Superheroes/Animation
Animated film featuring a team-up between the sons of Batman and Superman, which ends up being far more fun than you expect
Battle for Pandora (2022)
Planetary Exploration/Alien Body Snatchers
The Asylum’s mockbuster take on Avatar: The Way of Water, which ingeniously exploits the fact that Saturn has a moon called Pandora. The rest is a low-budget body snatchers film
Battle of the Stars (1978)
Italian Space Opera
The success of Star Wars saw a host of copies made over the next few years. This was one of several low-budget Italian space opera knockoffs of this period, featuring invading aliens from Ganymede
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Space Opera
Mini-series that reconstructs the old Battlestar Galactica into smart and intelligent SF with strong characters, a gritty realism and sensational effects. A tv series followed and became one of the best SF shows of the 2000s
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (2009)
Space Opera
This was the second of the films spun off from the 2000s Battlestar Galactica revival series, and ingeniously retells the events of the series as seen through the eyes of the Cylons
Blasted (2022)
Laser Tag Team vs Alien Invaders Comedy
Norwegian comedy where two friends who were a champion laser tag duo in their teens are now in adult life where they are forced to pair back up to fight off alien invaders
Body Snatchers (1993)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers Remake
Abel Ferrara’s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is an overlooked film that settles in with an undeniable creepiness that is just as effective as the earlier versions. The metaphor for the pod people is more diffuse in this one but that does not mitigate the film’s effect
The Borrower (1991)
Head-Snatching Alien
The film that Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer director John McNaughton chose to make next – about an an alien criminal sentenced to Earth who is forced to ‘borrow’ people’s heads to replace its own
The Brain Eaters (1958)
Alien Body Snatchers
A B budget variant on the 1950s an alien body snatchers film uncreditedly based on Robert Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters. Other films in this niche created great paranoid atmosphere but here the results only look cheap and tatty
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
Possession by Evil Alien Brain
B movie in which John Agar is possessed by a glowing alien brain, this unfortunately fails to live up to either its lurid vigour or its bad movie reputation
Breach (2020)
Parasites Aboard a Space Mission
Another of the last films made by Bruce Willis, before his retirement. Here Bruce is on form and gives a decent performance. The film is an Alien copy with the crew of a space mission under attack by a parasitic lifeform
The Brøken (2008)
Mirror Body Snatchers
Variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers with body-snatching doppelgangers emerging from mirrors. Directed with an impressive air of subtle, brooding disquiet, this manages to run up some reasonable twists on an oft-told tale
Candy Stripers (2006)
Bimbo Alien Body Snatchers
Throwback to the 1950s SF film where alien body snatchers take over the nurses of a hospital. This fails to find the right cheesily absurd tone needed
The Cat (1992)
Cop vs Aliens/Hong Kong Action
This is a completely demented Hong Kong film about alien body snatchers who are hiding in an apartment building on Earth
The Changed (2021)
Body Snatchers Film
Tony Todd heads a B-budget body snatchers film about a neighbourhood being taken over by beings that promise a great transformation
Chompy and the Girls (2021)
Gonzo Comedy/Other-Dimensional Entities
Hilariously bizarre film with people dealing with an entity that is man with a massive mouth that is intent on swallowing an army of identical little girls
A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
Anthology of Christmas Horror Stories
An anthology that offers a quartet of Christmas horror stories, including ones of zombified elves and a Krampus monster. Hosted by William Shatner who plays a radio talkshow host in the wraparound
Chrome Angels (2009)
Biker Girls vs Killer Androids
Hearkening back to the spirit of 1980s B budget killer cyborg/android movie, an entertainingly preposterous film in which a girl biker gang are pitted against a mad scientist and his army of killer androids
Cosmic Sin (2021)
Space War
Another among the shoddy last films Bruce Willis-made before retirement, an SF film about a rogue military team that decide to declare war on aliens. This is laughable in terms of military tactics
The Dark Tower (2017)
Stephen King Adaptation/Portal to a Parallel World
Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman gives us an utterly mangled version of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series that has little resemblance to the books, yet makes little sense if you haven’t read them
The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1962)
Alien Infiltration
This was one of the last gasps of the 1950s alien body snatchers genre. Conducted on a low budget, this nevertheless comes with some modest effect as a scientist and his family face mysterious doppelgangers
Disturbing Behavior (1998)
High School Mind Control Experiments
A smart and modestly enjoyable film that plays like a high school version of The Stepford Wives where troubled students are being brainwashed and turned into preppy high-achievers
Don’t Fuck in the Woods 2 (2022)
Body-Snatching Parasites
Don’t Fuck in the Woods was a reasonably smart slasher film that came with an attention-grabbing title. This is a sequel that introduces body-snatching parasites to the mix
Dreamcatcher (2003)
Alien Body Snatchers/Stephen King Adaptation
Lawrence Kasdan directs an adaptation of the Stephen King novel about a group of men on a weekend get together in the woods who find themselves in the midst of an alien invasion
Encounter (2021)
Alien Invasion/Possible Mad Person’s Delusion
A standout work that starts as Riz Ahmed snatches his two boys, fearful of alien body snatchers, before leaving us wondering if this is not all in Ahmed’s mind
End of the World (1977)
Aliens in a Convent/Looming End of the World
A thorough embarrassment on Christopher Lee’s resume – an early Charles Band film in which Lee is a stranded alien inhabiting the cloned body of priest in a convent of nuns
Evil of Dracula (1974)
Japanese Vampire
The third in a trilogy of spookily eerie Japanese vampire films. This echoes the basics of Hammer’s Lust for a Vampire in being set at a girls’ boarding school, which is spun in interesting ways
The Faculty (1998)
Alien Body Snatchers Take Over a High School
Robert Rodriguez directs from a script by Scream writer Kevin Williamson. This wittily deconstructs the 1950s alien body snatchers film by way of The Breakfast Club
The 5th Wave (2016)
Alien Invasion/Young Adult
Wannabe in the fad for Young Adult films. An alien invasion story that takes place without drama or engagement in anything that happens. This seems more interested in its teen love triangle than combatting the alien threat
Final Days of Planet Earth (2006)
Alien Invasion
Darryl Hannah is the queen of a species of body-snatching insects intent on invading Earth. This is a clear winner head and shoulders above any other contenders for the most ridiculous alien invasion work ever made.
Futureworld (1976)
Android Amusement Park/Westworld Sequel
A sequel to the original Westworld. Here the cleverness of Michael Crichton’s film is rehashed as a B movie plot about the amusement park now hosting android takeover conspiracies
Get Out (2017)
Sinister Small Town/Racial Mind Control
A rehash of The Stepford Wives recast along racial lines. It is a surprise to see a mainstream horror hit with a strong message about racism, not that Jordan Peele neglects the horror element either
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Japanese Monster Bash
The 28th Godzilla film, made for the series fiftieth anniversary and bringing every monster ever created by Toho together for a massive battle. The results are immensely satisfying
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
Body-Snatching Alien Vampire
A thoroughly demented Japanese sf/horror film about passengers of a crashed plane being menaced by a body-snatching alien vampire. Quite unlike any other Japanese monster movie, the colour schemes alone leave you giddy
Grey Skies: The Alien Conspiracy (2001)
Alien Invasion Anthology
The first in a trilogy of connected video anthology films that tell stories about alien visitors and abductions
Harvest Lake (2016)
Backwoods Horror/Plant Erotica and Body Snatchers
This starts out seeming a backwoods horror before plants in the woods start erotically influencing the characters, resulting in a series of provocative scenes that combine plants and sex
The Hidden (1987)
Body-Hopping Alien
This was a minor cult hit at the time and concerns an alien that hops between human host bodies while having the invincibility of a Terminator. The idea is played with considerable panache and directed with great flair
The Hidden II (1994)
Body-Hopping Alien
The Hidden was a wittily enjoyable hit about body-hopping aliens. This is a cheap sequel that substantially reuses material from the first film, while missing everything that made the original work
Honeymoon (2014)
Sinister Backwoods Happenings
A newlywed couple head to a cabin in the woods for their honeymoon. This seems to be a traditional backwoods horror but instead travels into an increasingly unnerving and way out territory
Hornet (2018)
Transformer Robot
An Asylum mockbuster aimed to exploit the release of the Transformers spinoff BumbleBee. This has the unique distinction of being a Transformers-type film shot as Found Footage
Horror Express (1972)
Body-Hopping Alien Aboard a Train
Wonderfully madcap film with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing travelling aboard the Trans-Siberian Express in the 1900s realising they are facing a body-hopping alien
The Host (2013)
Alien Body Snatchers
Andrew Niccol, a director of smart conceptual sf, seems mismatched on an adaptation of a Stephenie Meyer novel but Niccol tones down Meyer’s overripe teen romance to deliver a smart take on the alien body snatchers genre
The Human Duplicators (1965)
Android Takeover Plot/Alien Invasion
This is regarded as a bad movie classic. An alien invasion tale, it was the first film on the theme of humans being replaced by androids. No worse than any other B movie of the era, it does suffer from a dullness
I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016)
Teenage Serial Killer vs Shapechanging Monster
Unique and quite remarkable film about a teen in a nowhere town who recognises the traits of a serial killer in himself and then discovers that aging neighbour Christopher Lloyd is actually a shapechanging monster
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
Alien Duplication and Takeover
Defying the sensationalistic title, this is actually a fairly reasonable entry in the 1950s alien body snatchers fad in which wives discover their husbands have been taken over by aliens come to Earth to repopulate their species
I Married a Monster (1998)
Alien Duplication and Takeover
Rather tatty remake of I Married a Monster from Outer Space made for tv. This is routine tv filler that has been churned out with little care or feel for the original.
I Was a Zombie for the FBI (1982)
1950s Alien Invasion Film Homage
Obscure title that when seen is revealed to be a surprisingly well-made (in places) homage to the 1950s alien invasion genre and replication of the era’s style of filmmaking
Infection (2005)
Alien Body Snatchers/Dashcam Found Footage
Albert Pyun makes an alien body snatchers film that has been shot Found Footage style and takes place entirely from the viewpoint of the dashcam camera of a police car
Invader (1992)
Amok Alien-Possessed Military A.I.
A completely ridiculous film that throws in an incomprehensible mix of an amok A.I.’s that takes over a stealth plane, UFOs, mind control and military conspiracy and proves badly made on every single count
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Alien Body Snatchers
Classic of the 1950s alien invader genre in which a young boy discovers that the adults around him are being taken over by Martian invaders. Director William Cameron Menzies makes striking use of sets to further a sense of alienation
Invaders from Mars (1986)
Alien Body Snatchers
Tobe Hooper’s remake of the 1950s alien invaders classic for Cannon Films has much better effects and more technical proficient than the original but misses any of its paranoid, alienated mood
The Invasion (2007)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers Remake
The fourth film version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers starring Nicole Kidman, this badly miscues many key scenes and is missing all the paranoid mood of the original film
Invasion Earth: The Aliens Are Here (1988)
Aliens Invade Movie Theatre/1950s SF Film Clip Compilation
A film about the alien invasion of a movie theatre that is screening an all-night marathon of old films. This has been constructed around clips of old 1950s sf films
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Alien Duplication and Takeover
The finest film to come out of 1950s SF cinema, concerning an invasion of pods that replicate people but for their emotions. The sense of paranoia and psychological tension is unsurpassed
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Alien Duplication and Takeover
An excellent remake of the Cold War classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The original has now been smartly retooled for the 1970s and slots right into the Me Generation era with paranoia perfectly intact
It Came from Outer Space (1953)
Alien Body Snatchers
The very first alien body snatchers film. With Jack Arnold’s eerily haunted landscapes and a memorably literate Ray Bradbury script, this is one of the classic SF films of the 1950s era
It Came from Outer Space II (1995)
Alien Body Snatchers
It Came from Outer Space was one of the classics of the 1950s SF film. Here it was resurrected as a cable-made sequel. Without Jack Arnold or Ray Bradbury on board, the results are dreary
It Conquered the World (1956)
Alien Invasion
One of the early directorial films from Roger Corman, a surprisingly vigorous and well written variant on the alien body snatcher film featuring one of the memorable alien creations of the era
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Slasher/Mind-Control Parasite
The ninth of the Friday the 13th films and the most variant and fun of the series. This cheerfully turns expectations on their head and readily punctures the series cliches
John Dies at the End (2012)
Reality-Expanding Drugs/Gonzo Supernatural Investigators
Phantasm series director Don Coscarelli makes a mind-expanding effort that seems a conceptual collision between Donnie Darko, Limitless, a slacker version of Supernatural and Dr Strange
Justice League: Warworld (2023)
Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes
Another of the animated DC Comics films in which various of their regular characters find themselves incarnated in simulated combat arenas
Kinds of Kindness (2024)
Black Comedy Anthology
Yorgos Lanthimos has become a critically celebrated name in recent years. Here he has made an anthology of three surreal tales that come in his customary black deadpan
Lifechanger (2018)
Bodyswapping Entity
A unique and original variation on the bodyswap theme, told from point-of-view of an entity that passes through various bodies in a murderous spree as it tries to make its way back to the girl it loves
Little Joe (2019)
Body Snatching Plants
A modestly effective variant on the body snatchers theme with a scientist developing new plants coming to the realisation that the plants are taking over people’s minds
Meatball Machine (2005)
Gonzo Japanese Splatter Film/Bio-Mechanoid Creatures Battle
In the late 2000s, Japan has produced a series of films drenched in gore, featuring absurd creature effects and action moves; this was the first of them – a wonderfully cartoonish film with rival bio-mechanoid creatures fighting
Monolith (1994)
Cops vs Body-Hopping Alien
Ridiculous action film produced at the peak of The X Files popularity about two detectives against a body-hopping alien and sinister government agency
Mortuary (2005)
Creature in the Crypt/Body Snatchers
Another effort in the sad slide into shabby amateurishness that marked that latter years of Tobe Hooper’s career, a muddled effort set around a mortuary involving body-snatching fungus and deformed relatives in the crawlspaces
Nemesis (1993)
Cyberpunk/Cyborg Takeover
Albert Pyun’s finest film. It is another of his standard killer cyborg films but comes with an often hauntingly written gritty Cyberpunk edge that makes it quite unique
Night Slaves (1970)
Alien Body Snatchers
TV movies of the 1970s can be this unexplored treasure trove of sophisticated and intelligent genre treatments. Case in point being this effort, a variant on a 1950s body snatchers film in which a man with a steel plate in his head discovers that the people of a small town are being taken over at night by aliens
Nightmare Cinema (2018)
Horror Anthology
A above average entry in the recent trend of horror anthologies featuring episodes from different directors, including Joe Dante and Mick Garris, featuring at least a couple of standout entries
No One Will Save You (2023)
Woman Fights Off Alien Invaders
A woman alone in a farmhouse fights off invading aliens. Undeniably, effective, this is an uncredited remake of the classic Twilight Zone episode The Invaders
The One I Love (2014)
Married Couple Encounter Mysterious Doppelgangers
Going by the title you could easily dismiss this as an indie relationship drama (as I initially did) but what we instead get is a fascinatingly cryptic doppelganger film where a couple go on a retreat only to encounter idealised versions of themselves who seem intent on stealing their lives
Parasyte Part 1 (2014)
Body-Snatching Shapeshifting Parasites
Live-action adaptation of a manga about the war between body-snatching parasites that are capable of rearranging their host’s bodies. This plays out as a madcap version of The Thing relocated to a Japanese high school
Parasyte Part 2 (2015)
Body-Snatching Shapeshifting Parasites
Parasyte Part 1 was a manga adaptation filled with wild effects sequences. This sequel is an even better film that expands the characters and ideas in quite fascinating directions
Plus One (2013)
Doppelgangers Invade a House Party
An interesting and unusual film where teens attending a house party find that it has been invaded by doppelgangers of themselves who are taking over their lives
The Puppet Masters (1994)
Alien Body Snatchers
This adaptation of the Robert Heinlein novel was not a success when it came out but is a modest addition to the alien body snatchers genre with some undeniably effective moments
Quatermass 2 (1957)
Alien Body Snatchers
The second of the Quatermass films. An alien body snatchers tale that suggests even the British government has been infiltrated. This is regarded by many as the best of the series
Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)
Anime/Videogame Adaptation
The second of the Resident Evil anime films. This is set before the release of the T-Virus and focuses on origin stories for some of the characters
Scream and Scream Again (1970)
Mad Scientist/Android Takeover Conspiracy
Cult Anglo-horror film with a series of vampire killings that lead to Vincent Price trying to replace bureaucrats with androids
Seedpeople (1992)
Alien Body Snatchers
Full Moon Entertainment produce a cheapo B-budget copy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Significant Other (2022)
Alien Body Snatchers
An alien body snatchers film conducted with a series of smart whiplash twists and turns – even surprisingly a sense of humour
Slither (2006)
Alien Mutation and Zombies
James Gunn directs a film about body-snatching alien slugs that proves enormous fun and comes packed to the edges with numerous genre references and homages
Snatchers (2019)
Body Snatching Parasite Comedy
Really quite funny film in which a teenage girl becomes pregnant with a body-snatching parasite. Think Mean Girls meets The Hidden
Something is Out There (1988)
Cop and Alien Partner vs Body-Hopping Alien
Mini-series that was a popular hit in its day, which largely steals its premise of a human and alien cop hunting a body-hopping alien from The Hidden. What makes the show work past its rather ordinary story, is the two leads and their wittily sparring Lethal Weapon-type relationship
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2003)
War with Aliens/Alien Body Snatchers
Passable video-released Starship Troopers sequel the heads more in the direction of a body snatchers film. Directed by Phil Tippett
The Stepford Children (1987)
Android Teenager Replacements
The second of three sequels to The Stepford Wives. I found the original implausible on any level and this is quadrupled when you get to replacing their children with android duplicates. A film that has been generated without anybody sitting and thinking about the premise on a practical level
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Android Housewife Replacements
Ira Levin’s original novel wherein the men of a town replace their wives with subservient android duplicates seems to have its satiric point blunted when it comes to the film adaptation
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Android Housewife Replacements Comedy
Frank Oz conducts a remake of The Stepford Wives, which becomes a broad comedy take on the gender wars in the modern world