The Puppet Masters Movie Review

Government official (Donald Sutherland) discovers that aliens are taking over the bodies of humans and if he doesn't find a way to stop the parasites they'll soon rule the Earth. The parasites are sufficiently yucky but, unfortunately, this adaptation is mediocre and generally wastes a talented cast. The filmmakers are fairly faithful to Heinlein's 1951 novel, but they missed the atmosphere of paranoia that he created. In that regard, the film doesn't measure up to the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers or, to take a more modern comparison, a really good episode of TV's The X-Files. AKA: Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters.

1994 (R) 109m/C Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner, Keith David, Will Patton, Richard Belzer, Yaphet Kotto; D: Stuart Orme; W: Terry Rossio, David S. Goyer, Ted Elliott; M: Colin Towns. VHS, LV HPH