Lifeforce

Rating:
Summary: Nothing less than a high-camp spectacular!
Review: "Lifeforce" (1985) is the kind of movie that Norman J. Warren ("Terror", "Inseminoid", etc.) might have made if he'd been given $23 million to work with! This crazy-wonderful movie - which could only have been produced under the 'anything goes' ethos that prevailed at the Cannon company during the 1980s - concerns a beautiful space vampiress (the gloriously naked - and nakedly glorious! - Mathilda May) whose slumbering form is discovered by astronauts in an alien spacecraft hidden in the tail of Halley's comet. Brought back to earth, she revives and escapes from captivity, whereupon she rampages throughout London, draining the 'life force' from dozens of victims, who in turn become vampiric monsters themselves, throwing the entire British capital into chaos!

This big, bold, action-packed thriller - written by Don Jakoby and Dan O'Bannon, adapted from the novel 'The Space Vampires' by Colin Wilson - is nothing less than a high-camp spectacular, directed with tremendous visual flair and knowing humor by Tobe Hooper, riding high at the time on the critical and commercial success of "Poltergeist" (1982). Aside from a constant stream of rib-tickling dialogue (which has to be heard to be believed!), other highlights include May's constant, gratuitous nudity - two male vampires (Christopher Jagger and Bill Malin) are also discovered alongside May, just as naked and beautiful as their female counterpart, but they're virtually ignored for the duration of the movie! - and my favorite, the Prime Minister (Peter Porteous) being seduced and desiccated by his sexy alien secretary 'Miss Haversham' (Katherine Schofield)!!

Better still, a starry cast of British and American thesps play the material as though it's Shakespeare: Steve Railsback (from "The Stunt Man", 1980) gives it everything he's got as the astronaut who brings May back to earth and finds himself drawn to her on a psychic level (reminiscent of a similar plot-thread in "Quatermass and the Pit" [1967], which also concluded with London under attack from its own populace), while Peter Firth grits his teeth manfully as an SAS commander who takes charge of the unfolding situation. Of them all, only Frank Finlay has the decency to look embarrassed, though he brings genuine conviction to his role as an inquisitive scientific observer and he delivers one of the best, and most resonant, lines in the entire picture ("Here I go!"). Pastrick Stewart makes a guest appearance as an asylum director who meets a sticky end.

Photographed in glorious J-D-C Scope by Alan Hume (whose long career has encompassed the best and worst of British cinema, everything from "Carry On" comedies to James Bond extravaganzas), the film appears to be slightly over-matted on MGM's letterboxed (2.35:1) DVD - tops of heads are constantly lopped off at the top of the frame - resulting in an extremely wide image. As a consequence, the film's visual impact is greatly reduced on disc, where John Graysmark's sumptuous production design and John Dykstra's elaborate visual effects are reduced to a mere wisp of their big-screen glory - an updated anamorphic transfer is surely long overdue. By way of recompense, Henry Mancini's atypically triumphant music score is well-served by the remixed 5.1 soundtrack which sells the movie's sonic thrills with ear-blistering fidelity. All in all, if it wasn't for the nudity and violence, "Lifeforce" would be great fun for all the family. It may be camp and silly, but it's also genuinely spectacular and hugely entertaining, and it's a joy to see so much money being lavished on such a dubious commercial enterprise!

MGM's region 1 DVD presents the film in a definitive 'director's cut' running 115m 59s, approximately 15 minutes longer than the original theatrical release, and the only extras are a letterboxed trailer and an eight-page booklet which provides superficial details of the film's production history. Closed captions are included along with English subtitles via the menu, though MGM seems to have (foolishly) dropped the latter option from the majority of their subsequent DVD releases. Four stars for the movie, two for the DVD.

Rating:
Summary: A recommended cult classic from Tobe Hooper.
Review: This is a really bizarre, suspenseful, and entertaining if often at times ludicrous offering from director Tobe Hooper (POLTERGEIST, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) and writers Dan O' Bannon (ALIEN, TOTAL RECALL, DARK STAR) and Don Jakoby (ARACHNOPHOBIA). The film starts off as a space shuttle expedition to Halley's Comet discovers a spacecraft in the celestial body's winds that is home to ETs in suspended animation. But after three of the creatures are bought to earth, they destroy nearly the entire crew (sparing astronuat Steve Railsback) and escape to London to begin laying waste to the population. Under the guidance of their leader, a beautiful, body-baring female (Mathilda May), the aliens begin draining the souls of half the city's population and tranferring the energy to their kind in the spaceship and themselves in order to stay preserved. The process is adhered to the victims as well, starting off a seemingly uncontrollable chain reaction. Police officer Peter Finch teams up with the shuttle's survivor and scientist Frank Finlay to end the destruction. The film's problem is that it relies too much on nudity and a overload of brilliant SFX (by John Dykstra). But there is plenty that LIFEFORCE offers: a cast including Patrick Stewart in a small but standout role, a thundering score by Henry Mancini, and scenes reminiscent of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Not as good as the book inspiring it (Colin Wilson's THE SPACE VAMPIRES), but what's not to like?

Rating:
Summary: How to explain this film to your girlfriend . . . .
Review: The story is bad, the acting is terrible, and the special effects are lame. So, is there anything worthy of mentioning about this film? Yes, the fact that Mathilda May appears completely nude is worth admission and believe me she does indeed look great. With that out of the way, I must say that this film is certainly a guilty pleasure of mine simply because of Mathilda May. There is one interesting thing that I noticed about this film and I recently shared it with one of my lady friends who considers the film nothing but sexist eye candy. Whether or not it was Tobe Hopper's intention the film does indeed hint at the concept of female superiority. Notice that when the three aliens are discovered the female is in the center of the two males and elevated above them (think of it as a medal presentation where the female is in the gold medal spot). Also, realize that the two males are killed off almost immediately whereas the female escapes by kicking some serious male butt. The scene where she is coming down the stairs putting guys on their knees has got to be one of my favorites. And let's not mention the power that she has over Carlsen. So, if you're ever called a pig for watching this film just point out these little interesting points . . . my lady friend admitted that she has a whole new appreciation for the film! But regardless of the fact that Ms. May is nude, the film really is not very good and it gets three stars simply because I'm in such a good mood.

Rating:
Summary: lifeforce wish
Review: very good movie but i'd like to see it come out in widescreen anamorphic or full screen

Rating:
Summary: The best SciFi-Vampire movie available
Review: Do you like realistic space exploration? Do vampires give you a thrill? Do beautiful, naked women leave you wanting more? Does an ice-cool SAS Major battling to save the Earth from soul-sucking alien vampires and their zombie army sound like a good basis for a plot? If the answer to any these questions is "Yes" then buy this film.

The USA/UK Space Shuttle "Churchill" encounters a mysterious alien spacecraft hidden in the tail of Halley's Comet. Onboard are three humanoids in some form of stasis and the dried out bodies of alien bat-like creatures. When the shuttle returns to Earth orbit, the US rescue ship discovers no survivors and the craft's interior gutted by fire. However, in the cargo hold the humanoids seem to have survived intact, protected by their crystal cases. When the aliens are brought back to London for study and the sole survivor of the Churchill is located in the escape pod then things really start to move. The aliens come to life and escape, but not before killing a guard. When the dead guard returns to life and then kills a doctor then the authorities slowly start to realise that they have a serious problem, especially when more bodies start to turn up elsewhere in London...

Excellent special effects, and watch out for a pre-Star Trek NG Patrick Steward.

Rating:
Summary: Dated, Uninsipired Sci Fi
Review: Lifeforce is a mildly entertaining sci fi/horror film about swinging space vampires that will only appeal to those with tongue firmly in cheek.

Brought to you by the writer of "Alien" and the director of "Poltergiest", the movie comes across as a very weak combination of the two.

While unabashedly exploitive in the all of the worst ways, there are still one or two memorable moments (for example, one scene where a space vampire explodes when hit by a car, seems to have inspired a similar scene in Robocop).

But perhaps the most obvious (only?) reason to watch this campy experience is the beautiful Mathilda May, who spends a significant amount of her screen time nude.

On the DVD side of things, the 5.1 audio track is a welcome addition and the film transfer is decent.

In a rather telling footnote, however, the only extra features are an uncensored theatrical trailer, and an 8-page booklet with production notes and a behind the scenes article. I guess the fact that MGM didn't take the extra time or expense to program the information from the booklet onto the disc says it all!

Although I personally enjoyed it as a "guilty pleasure", this one definitely fits under the Rent-Before-You-Buy category.

Rating:
Summary: Suspend Your Disbelief and Enjoy ¿ Campy Sci-fi Cult Classic
Review: Movie Overview:
Space vampires wipe out shuttle crews and invade Earth to steal human kind's "life force."
Small side note:
Like all of the best space vampires, they are beautiful naked young people and scoff at wearing clothes.

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Review:
We've all had friends that made odd movie recommendations to us. When my friend told me that "Lifeforce" was one of the all-time classic vampire movies, I took up his suggestion and we rented "Lifeforce." I had no idea what I was in for!

The movie starts out on a very serious tone with the space shuttle "Churchill" (the film had many British film crew) exploring the Halley's comet. Hidden within the comet, they find a derelict alien spacecraft and we get to meet Carlsen, the shuttle's brash American commander (I think his character represents how Brits see Americans). Of course, Carlsen is unable to resist exploring the alien spacecraft so a team enters the wreck to explore. They find numerous bat-like alien corpses as well as three beautiful naked human-like aliens trapped in crystal cocoons, which they decide to bring back to the ship. At this point, the "Churchill" decides to return to earth. On the trip back, members of the crew contract a deadly disease and begin literally wasting away.

At this point, the film transitions back to earth at the SRC (Space Research Center), a sort of British NASA, headed by Dr. Fallada, a gray-haired eccentric scientist who has been studying "life forces." We learn that the "Churchill" returned to Earth orbit and isn't responding to communication attempts. Another shuttle is sent up to explore and they find a burned out "Churchill," which has been the victim of a freak fire. The crew has been burnt to bony crisps and the only survivors are the three alien humanoids in the crystal cocoons, which the new crew brings down from orbit to the SRC. The "Churchill's" record tape was, of course, destroyed in the fire.

At the SRC, the three alien humanoids (two male and one female) are put into quarantine and put under guard by bumbling British security men (The female's goofy guard looked like he came from the filming of a Benny Hill episode). The female humanoid, played by a beautiful naked Mathilda May, comes alive at this point and seduces AKA sucks the life force out of the bumbling guard with the classic line "use my body." Hereafter, she is known as "space girl" The guard becomes a living skeletal corpse AKA space vampire and tries to suck the life force out of other SRC employees until the SAS commander, played by Peter Firth, shows up and is appointed to hunt down the escaped space vampires. We also learn that Carlsen was the only survivor of the "Churchill" and he survived the shuttle disaster by leaving in an escape pod. He shortly joins Peter Firth and the two of them set off to catch the space vampires who can possess human bodies. During the chase, Railsback AKA Carlsen has many flashback scenes to "what really happened on the shuttle" and we learn that he has a "special connection" to "Space Girl."

At this point, the film starts to become campier and campier. As if "use my body" wasn't a silly enough line, the lines keep getting sillier. During an interrogation scene of a nurse suspected to be possessed by "space girl," Railsback tells Firth that he must be rough with the nurse because the vampire is a masochist and that Firth might want to leave. Firth nonchalantly replies "No worries, I'm a natural voyeur!" We find the vampire next in Patrick Stewart's body and the "female vampire" forces Railsback to give Stewart (the goof possessed by "Space Girl") a smooch. Yuck, but very funny. It doesn't take long for the search for "Space Girl" to turn into an invasion movie as "Space Girl" escapes with one of the male vampires and turns London into a zombie town. Firth and Railsback predictably hunt down the two space vampires and the ending isn't what one might have suspected (I don't want to give it away).

Despite the horrible sound of the plot, the film was enormously entertaining. My friend and I were laughing out loud at the silly scenes trying to take themselves seriously. I thoroughly enjoyed the film although it was incredibly cheesy. This is definitely no art film (despite some artful cinematography) although it was just plain fun!

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Plot:
- Don't watch this movie for the plot.
- Little to no character development.
- Lots of lost story leads.
- Wooden acting.
- B-movie sexual "naughtiness."

Special Effects:
- Unbelievable for 1985.
- Effects by John Dykstra (famous for "Star Wars")
- Great zombies.
- Great vampire death scenes.

Acting and Directing:
- Tobe Hooper - director known for "Poltergeist"
- Menachem and Yoram Globus - Israeli producers
- Mathilda May (Also was in "The Jackal" with Bruce Willis), the "Space Girl" AKA the naked space vampire
- Frank Finlay, as Dr. Hans Fallada, weirdo scientist
- Peter Firth, the SAS commander and voyeur
- Steve Railsback, Carlsen, the American "animal" astronaut
- Patrick Stewart AKA Jon Luc Picard (in a pre-Star Trek role)

DVD Features:
- No extras.
- No filmography.
- No special features.
- Does include subtitling / audio options.

Favorite Parts:
- Great zombies.
- Incredibly silly space vampires.
- Incredible cinematography during space shuttle / comet episodes.

- Loosely based on Colin Wilson's adult sci-fi novel, "The Space Vampires"
- Henry Mancini's wonderful operatic score
- Some of the campiest lines ever put in a movie!

I recommend this movie as a campy classic despite its' silliness.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

Rating:
Summary: SLEEPING BOOBIES ......
Review: EXCEPT for the still unsurpassed utter seediness of AUDREY MORRIS [Mr. Deltoid from 'Clockwork Orange'] as Sir Percy - this one's quite a hoot in acting class ..... this is HOW NOT to do it on screen and Boys and Girls - we DO have a stellar [pardon that pun] cast] - including Patrick Stewart [mouth to mouthing Steve Railback whitst posessed]; the venerable Frank Finlay [Iago to Oliver's Othello], just too many to mention - it's a hoot watching those guys trying to upstage each other in this futile little blast from a somewhat now dismissed Tobe [Texas Chainsaw Massacre]Hooper.

The effects? [Oh Dear, why is everyone floating yet a technician in full frame is on his feet???]

One can go on ........ [as for the uncanny Nicole Kidman lookalike ..... startling!]

QUARTERMASS is much more fun - this poor alien stepchild is somewhere between them all - but worth a rumble or two .....

Rating:
Summary: Sort of liked it.
Review: The problem with this film was it had the wrong title. It should have been called: "Attack of the Soul-Sucking Vampire Zombies from Haley's Comet." This would give viewers a much better sense of the true spirit of the film.

Rating:
Summary: An underrated Sci/Fi epic
Review: Though director Tobe Hoooper has had more downs than ups in his career, his film Lifeforce comes out being one of his best, following only Texas Chainsaw Massacre adn Poltergeist. Though initially a box-office failure, I found Lifeforce to be a refreshing story in the otherwise repetitive Science Fiction genre. That's whats sad about the genre; when filmmakers come out with somehting new and different, it flops, but if it's another ALien rip-off, box-office hit. This "vampire" story takes a new turn on the vampire myth, with aliens arriving on Earth that drain people of "lifeforce," the essence of life. I found most of the performances to be great, espiceally Peter Firth as British Agaent Kane. He makes this film totally believable. Steve Railsback is actually the weakest in the cast, but I have to hand it to him, he had a difficult role to play and he did a credible job at it. The effects are also very good for the time and the filmmakers use their fairly high budget to their addvantage. The one thing I hate about this film is that all people seem to recognize is the nudity. They forget about the story and focus on Mathilda May's body (though she I will say she does have a great body). This film goes far beyond the nudity. It drives me nuts when I ask someone if they've seen Lifeforce and they respond "is that the film with that hot naked chick?" So look beyond the nudity and find and marvel at the very creative story aided by the mesmerizing score by Henry Mancini and the London Symphony Orchestra. I found the film very good all the way through . Some seem to think the film fizzles out towards the end when London is in anarchy with zombies running around but I myself found it very exciting and the zombie scenes rivel those of even George Romero. One downfall is that the film fails to explain the relationship between the female space vampire and Steve Railsback very well, but overall this is the most refreshing sci/fi film that I have seen in years.

TRIVIA: The original U.S. theatrical and VHS release portrays a different opening title sequence. Also the mission statement of the Churchill spaceshuttle is written out for the audience to read whereas this newer release from MGM has it read aloud.