10 Scariest Opening Sci-Fi Movie Scenes Ever

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is on a shortlist of films that can always be remade, its story repurposed to represent the social and political mores of the time. And with every generation since the 1956 adaptation, we've seen a new interpretation, each with a new setting.

1978, arguably the best, is easily the most frightening, and the opening scene less about abrupt shock or terror, but an atmosphere-setting, paranoiac's fever dream that only intensifies until the thrilling conclusion. As the credits role, we witness the alien species - just globs of translucent gel floating through space - quietly invade San Francisco. They land on plantlife and insidiously start to grow stems. Soon, a teacher on a field trip casually picks on from a leaf.

But the invasion, unbeknownst to her, has already begun. A nun walking past her gives her a knowing look and a priest (an uncredited Robert Duvall) sits silently on a swingset, knowing that it's just begun.

Donald Sutherland's health inspector starts to investigate the duplicate bodies later in the film, wandering through the crowded city as more and more faces watch him, the soundtrack pulsating like an alien heartbeat.