Review #673: 'Lifeforce' (1985)

Of all the crazy films Cannon Films put out there between their emergence in 1967 to their demise in 1993, I doubt any are quite as out-there as Lifeforce, Tobe Hooper's half space-opera, half end-of-the-world thriller. Although it's far from his best film, Hooper clearly had big visions for Lifeforce and, with some confidant support from the film's producers, it looks visually impressive. Starting out as essentially an Alien (1979) rip-off (didn't they all around this era?), the film moves on to vampire movie, action movie, zombie movie and then disaster movie. It's an insane trip, but, if you can forgive its many, many flaws, this is actually a lot of fun.

The crew of space shuttle Churchill locate an alien craft inside the corona of Halley's Comet, and inside they find hundreds of dead alien bodies, as well as three humanoids, suspended and frozen inside glass pods. On their return journey, all contact is lost with mission control. The rescue mission find the entire crew dead from a fire, but the humanoids intact. The aliens are taken back to a research centre in London, watched over by Dr. Fallada (Frank Finlay). While there, the female alien awakens and sucks the 'life force' out of a guard, turning him into a shrivelled zombie. She escapes, and S.A.S. operative Col. Caine (Peter Firth) and Col. Carlsen (Steve Railsback) - whose escape pod from Churchill is found in Texas - start trying to track down the mysterious alien vampire.

If the movie has one trump card, it is in the form of Mathilda May, who plays the female vampire. She is a woman of such staggering beauty that you can understand Carlsen's relentless pursuit of her, and the storyline that she has placed a kind of a love spell on him seems that little bit less ridiculous. Special mention must also go to John Dykstra (winner of the Academy Award for Star Wars (1977)), whose special-effects are still impressive to this day. The problems are that the plot is too convoluted, the acting is awkward, and Tobe Hooper over-reaches himself. It seems like his vision was so big, that he forgot to make it small enough to fit into 116 minutes and make a coherent movie. Still, it's a million times better than most sci-fi B-pictures of its era, and if you let it simply wash over you, Lifeforce is a bonkers hoot.


Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie