Join me May 22, 2016 4:00 at DC’s Hill Center for the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” It’s free!

It’s been called the most frightening film ever made. That’s because there is no razor-toothed monster, giant bug-eyed alien or special effects extravaganza as terrifying as a threat coming from the person you thought you knew and trusted. Were the film’s emotionless pod people supposed to represent Communists or McCarthyite conformists? Either way, they reflect the obsessions of the Cold War. Based on a novella by Jack Finney, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has been remade three times (so far), each time resonating with the deepest fears of its era.