Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

There are two Invasion of the Body Snatchers: the original and the remake. Both of them are very good. The original was made back in ye olden days of black and white and came about during one of the heights of the Cold War hysteria. The film explores mass paranoia and hysteria. The remake in 1978 does much of the same, except it occurs during the Vietnam era. It takes place in a city rather than a rural area and is still very exceptional.

The story begins with a woman named Elizabeth Driscoll and a health inspector named Matthew Bennell. Elizabeth begins to get hysterical as she becomes convinced that her husband has been replaced with someone else who looks exactly like him but is devoid of all emotion.
Matthew attempts to help her by taking her to a psychiatrist friend of his. The psychiatrist mentions that many people are coming in with reports of "replacements" and that some sort of mass hysteria is loose.
Soon, however, it becomes apparent that this mass hysteria is no delusion. Pod people are replacing loved ones and strangers alike, slowly taking over the entire population. Matthew Elizabeth and two friends of theirs, Jack and Nancy Bellicec, soon find themselves alone in a world of complete strangers out to assimilate them into their emotionless, alien world.

The horror doesn't jump out at you but the suspense builds and layers ontop of itself. The movie chills you to the core as the protagonists slowly lose their ability to fight back and are taken in by this expressionless mob. The paranoia and suspicion in the film is palpable and the viewer slowly begins to feel profoundly alone.

To my surprise, when I describe this film to others I'm usually met with shock. I suppose I can understand, with a title like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" the film can easily seem like a cheesy joke. The truth is almost the opposite, Invasion of the Body Snatchers enters the sweetspot of horror where the viewer begins to feel cold and frightened because of what is inside and outside himself, not just what he is seeing on the screen.

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Watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I'd recommend the remake, for starters. There is a skull crushed in once, and also boobs, if you need more convincing. It could very well be one of the best horror films you ever watch. It is one of the best horror films I've ever watched.
Just wait for the ending, it'll really get you.