An exceptional remake of a classic that manages to equal and perhaps surpass the strengths of its predecessor, Philip Kaufman’s earthier, existential variant is set at the end of a socially and politically fraught 1970s San Francisco where “flower people” still flourish, only a more unsettling kind. A small group of radicals—including Brooke Adams’ Elizabeth and her coworker/confidant Ben played by Donald Sutherland—seem to be the only ones noticing that people are turning into uncanny shells of their former selves. The film’s horror taps into the fear of conformity, submission to authority, corporatization and a deep distrust of a government that is no longer a protector but party to the terror. Adams and Sutherland’s believable, tender portrayal of their budding romance only adds shock and heartache to a nightmare vision intensified by creepy visual details, an eerily minimal soundtrack, sophisticated special effects and disorienting camera angles. The film unnervingly envisions this painfully imaginable, always relevant, homogenizing plague for which all the usual remedies no longer exist. – Brittany Gravely