Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Alias: Pod People

Type: Alien

Location: Civilized area

Height/Weight: The pods are the size of average logs. The people are that of an average human.

Affiliation: Evil

Summary: All of your folks are acting rather different. They look and sound the same, but there is no drive or emotion apparent in all of them, as if they never quite grasped the subtleties of being human. No, you are not just living another day in your typical stepford suburbia, there is something legitimately wrong. Mainly because a bunch of aliens decided that we'd make the perfect template for continued life.

History: Nomadic in nature, a colony of spores had been drifting through space for quite some time. Their mission was to find an ideal planet to settle on and continue their race in the pursuit of survival. Earth tuned out to be a good option, and pretty soon, they were budding all over a small town. A few assimilated humans later, and they were spreading their influence at a near-unstoppable pace.

Notable Kills: Nothing special.

Final Fate: After the pod people stockpile some trucks full of pods, one of the drivers bungles it and crashes. The non-copied humans take notice, and the world at large finally decides to take action.

Powers/Abilities: If a pod is placed near a host, it will assimilate said host, and produce a carbon copy of it, albeit a rather cold and distant version. They also breed at an alarming rate.

Weakness: Anything conventional.

Scariness Factor: 4-While it would be easy to just destroy all the pods the moment anyone saw one, it's the sheer paranoia that undermines the effort. By the time they come, anyone could be a pod person. Your friend, your loved one, anyone.

Trivia: -Of all the films that stood as metaphors for McCarthy-era fear of communism, this is often regarded as the most well-executed.

-In 1994, the National Film Registry chose to preserve this film for its significance.