Brooke Adams as stricken public-health inspector Elizabeth Driscoll.
Alamy
SO THE STORY goes, the night after Invasion Of The Body Snatchers’ LA release in December 1978, some marketing wag scattered replica pods around the city. Inundated with panicked calls from people seemingly afraid of being assimilated by aliens, the LAPD did not appreciate the stunt. As PR pranks go, it’s hammy stuff, but the frazzled reaction shows how deeply the film rattled audiences — especially with that screamer of an ending still ringing in their skulls (more on that later).