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One of my all time favorites.

Boring

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This little known Tigon production stars the mightily chinned Patrick Allen as the rather smug, lascivious Bob Megan. First seen getting close and personal with a bleach blond female pilot, it isn't long before he's leering at any other pretty woman under the age of thirty. This is a world where everyone he meets is waiting to be picked up. Luckily, Allen's charisma saves the character somewhat.Parachutists are disappearing. This is why the military have called on Megan's expertise. The worrying thing is, they are disappearing mid-flight, with a crackling halo of light surrounding them.Supporting Allen are George Sanders as General Armstrong, Maurice Evans as Dr. Matthews and an especially wooden 'special guest' Neil (Sean's brother) Connery as Jim Radford.The locations are just as wonderfully 'of their time' as Megan's swagger. Filmed during a misty autumn, the period English landscapes are probably the film's highpoint. Aside from the interesting ideas, the pacing ensures 'The Body Stealers' is never in danger of becoming too exciting.The slowly evolving revelation that there is a distinctly sci-fi explanation for events places this firmly into perfunctory (but enjoyable) 'b-picture' territory. There's a brief appearance from a re-used prop from 1965's 'Dalek Invasion of Earth' in the finale.Charming but unspectacular.

An extremely lacklustre and slow-moving British alien invasion film of the 1960s. There were quite a few of these low-budget movies coming out around this time – stuff like INVASION, THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING, THE NIGHT CALLER – but THE BODY STEALERS is by far the worst I've seen. The budget is so poor on this one that literally nothing happens for 90% of the running time.For the most part we're stuck with jut-jawed wooden leading man Patrick Allen, following him around as he romances blonde women and barks gruff lines of dialogue at anybody who'll listen. Neil Connery pops up to support him, George Sanders is the cameoing veteran, and Robert Flemyng (THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR) lurks around in a natty uniform.The story, when you see it down on paper, actually sounds fairly interesting: parachutists are disappearing mid-air, zapped away by aliens, with only their suits and chutes arriving on the ground. Other than some footage of skydiving, this doesn't actually equate to much, and Allen's investigation into the disappearances goes absolutely nowhere.Of course, the women of the era are lovely and the film is fairly well shot given the paucity of its production budget. But there's no action, a real dearth of imagination, and rarely any special effects, and all of these are musts for a good science fiction movie. This boring outing is the worst Tigon film I've seen yet.

The tale of paratroopers who disappear, literally, into thin air, this film is an odd watch forty years later. It's primary interest lies more in what it says about the time, than the film itself.Released in 1969 three influences loom large.The year that Man first landed on the moon it reflects a fascination with, and fear of, what might lie in outer space. Militarily we were also in the midst of the Cold War when anything unexplained, and potentially evil, automatically raised the question of Communist involvement. And finally James Bond was the dominant screen character, and his shadow falls long here in more senses than one.Veteran, square jawed character Patrck Allen, bulldozes his way through the role of an expert,Bob Megan, called in to solve the awkward problem of disappearing parachutists. One extraordinary scene speaks volumes for the Bond "character" and perceptions of women at the time. Megan chances upon a scantily clad beauty enjoying enjoying a solitary moment taking in the evening and then makes advances on her which vacillate between sexual assault and rape. No sooner is he introduced to a shapely scientist in a pencil skirt than she too is subjected to his clumsy male machismo which in the 21st century looks appalling.Of course both women come back for more. When he IS offered sex on a plate by the blousey, but ageing, hotel owner he rebuffs her to reinforce yet another sexual stereotype, the ageing temptress who can't get it because she has had it.The Bond theme is further explored by the presence of Sean Connery's brother Neil, as Megans sidekick John Radford, in one of only two screen performances. Bearing a strong resemblance to Sean, his acting talents are strait jacketed by a preposterous script.A dreadful ending combines the worst of "Dr Who" and "The Champions", suggesting that a 30 minute running time, rather than three times that, would have suited all concerned somewhat better. A hopeless film, but a fascinating sixties curiosity.

The Body Stealers (a.k.a Thin Air) is truly one of the most dreadful movies you'll ever have the misfortune to see. Simply because there are some notable names on the cast list, you mustn't think that it is remotely good. Everyone in this movie must have needed some fast cash to clear their debts. How else can you explain such a strong cast being lured into such an obvious bomb? OK, that's a bit cynical - nobody actually sets out to make a bad film - but whatever the original intentions were, the resulting film is an utter loss. It's a science fiction story in which the military investigates several cases of parachutists vanishing in mid-air. For the first ten minutes, the peculiar mystery promises to build up to an intriguing resolution, but the promise rapidly evaporates as it becomes apparent that the answers are going to be childish rather than ingenious. This is hilariously bad, to such an extent that it makes even the worst episode of Doctor Who look like it had high production values! You'd have to be a disturbed eight year old to figure out what the hell is going on as the solution draws close. Still, why worry about it when clearly the actors involved don't look interested either? One interesting thing about the film is the inclusion of Neil Connery (Sean's brother) in a significant role... believe me when I say this guy is no actor!