User reviews

Like several other reviewers here, I'm surprised to see many negative reviews on this film. Dan O'Bannon's previous effort was the groundbreaking 'Alien' of 1979. Because it and 'Star Wars' introduced the stylistic approach of 'Used' or 'Dirty Space' in art-direction for these kinds of features doesn't mean that this was the only way to produce them.

Rather than dismiss 'Lifeforce' out-of-hand as a sort of schlock and primitive exploitation feature, it's important to recognize that the film draws upon the 'esteemed' traditions of British horror and science-fiction - specifically Hammer and American International features like Quatermass (specifically 'Quatermass and the Pit', 1967), Doctor Who and 'The Day of the Triffids' (1963), if not the works of Gerry Anderson ('UFO', 'Space:1999' and 'Thunderbirds'). But none of these influences would be a surprise if other reviewers recognized writer O'Bannon's genre-scholarly appreciation for 'Queen of Blood'(1966) and 'It! The Terror from Beyond Space'(1958) - the immediate sources for 'Alien' (1979).

Granted this film has some 'legacy' elements, but perhaps it's worth comparing this film to its more immediate peers - 1981's 'An American Werewolf in London' and 'The Company of Wolves' (1984) - other 80's films that share a 'looking-back' while they adapt those stories to the 80's zeitgeist. All three films drew on earlier incarnations of the same, but substantially sexed-up their themes (because they could), and, at the same time they recognized the tongue-in-cheek, humorous aspects of their projects.

Neil Jordan's 'Wolves' played to many of the psychoanalytic memes floating around at the during the '80's, while 'American Werewolf' curdled its theme as a 'coming-of-age' film. It's called artistic license, and the adaptations of these three films are no less valid than the latter-day dramedy inherent in the 'Scream' franchise, 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and 'Final Destination'. But these teen-targeted, films seem to be part of a box-office trend, whereas the 80's films like 'Lifeforce' belong a canon of British sci-fi - even if this one was written by an American.

In many ways this film holds up much better than latter-day disaster and alien-invasion flicks ('Independence Day', 'Armageddon', 'Deep Impact') in that the 'solutions' don't reside in gun-battles, weaponized payloads and testosterone. At the opposite end of the pole, it is unfortunate that Steven Soderbergh and James Cameron didn't examine Tarkowski and Lem more closely before they remade 'Solaris'...

The goal of this film was fun, not ponderousness or stupidity.

7/10

Did director Tobe Hooper, writers Dan O'Bannon ("Alien", "Return of the Living Dead") and Don Jakoby ("Blue Thunder"), in addition to some uncredited writers who presumably did rewrites of the original script, or any of the cast actually think they were making a good movie during the production of "Lifeforce"? The movie gets progressively wackier, more disturbingly bizarre, hilarious, over-the-top, and greater by the minute. When you think that the movie couldn't possibly become more demented, that it was already as nutty as anything could possibly be it outdoes itself. I really don't know if this was at any point supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, if anybody involved thought it was genuinely creepy or effective, or if they were just too distracted by Mathilda May's exquisite breasts and rear end to care, but the end result is quite simply one of the greatest films ever made.

Here are some reasons why "Lifeforce" is perhaps humankind's greatest achievement to date (and probably impossible to surpass):

• Mathilda May is nude for the entirety of the film, and she is "the most overwhelmingly feminine presence" you will ever see. Yes, that is a quote from the film.

• Steve Railsback gives one of the most gloriously, hilariously over-the-top performances in the history of film.

• It is, to quote a fellow IMDb member, 'the greatest naked space vampire zombies from Halley's Comet running amok in London end-of-the-world movie ever made'. Yes, that is actually the plot.

• Frank Finlay, Peter Firth, and Patrick Stewart embarrass themselves.

• Special effects and design that are actually good, adding to the suggestion that someone somewhere actually took this thing seriously, which is quite a disturbing thought.

• Unbelievably stilted delivery of some of the finest dialogue known to man, examples of which include:

"She looks perfect. I've been in space six months and she looks perfect to me."

""Don't worry, a naked woman is not going to get out of this complex."

"Despite appearances this woman is a masochist, an extreme masochist."

"He too needs feeding."

"She's totally alien to this planet and our life form... and totally dangerous."

"I'm Colonel Cane." "From the SAS?"

"It was two hours ago that the guard was attacked. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we're seeing a pattern here."

"Colonel, take it from the beginning. Assume we know nothing... which is understating the matter."

Colonel Cane looks at a shriveled corpse, then asks: "and this was murder, you say? "

"Lifeforce" is not merely another 'so bad it's good' movie. It is not an example of a film made by individuals with ambition far beyond their reach. No, it is quite simply THE most audacious, spectacular, hilarious, absurd, insane, riotous, crazy, deliriously demented science fiction film of all time. I cannot fully articulate why it is deserving of being one spot ahead of Samuel Fuller's "Pickup on South Street" on my list of favorite films, but I do know that it is. "Lifeforce" elevates craziness to an art form. Quite possibly the most entertaining film known to man, and perhaps our greatest achievement as a species.

LIFEFORCE is an extremely schizophrenic movie, based on Colin Wilson`s novel The Space Vampires the script ignores most of the novel`s concepts and structure ( Indeed it owes more to the QUATERMASS serials than the novel ) but the scenes it does leave in from the novel are nearly identical to those in the film . And talking of the script it must be one of the most uneven in cinema history , it`s though it was written in chapters by several different people. Take for instance Carlson , he disappears after the early shuttle scenes which led me to believe he was dead then he turns up again halfway through the film in order to explain the plot to the beleaguered Brits and it`s this lack of attention by the screenwriters that spoils the film . And there`s plenty of other clumsy scripting such as the heroes returning to London in a helicopter and not realising it has been over run by zombies untill they`re flying over it .

I could go on at great length about these plot holes but LIFEFORCE is actually enjoyable to watch as long as you don`t use your brain . It`s good to see a sci-fi horror film from an era when aliens were portrayed as being cute creatures that children hid in their bedrooms so that nasty human adults wouldn`t get their hands on them . The special effects and pyrotechnics are very very good , there`s lots of action and stunts and LIFEFORCE features one of the most memorable aliens in the form of the space girl . When mentioning LIFEFORCE in conversation with males it`s always a race to say " Seen the alien in LIFEFORCE? She can suck the lifeforce out of me anytime " Hardly surprising looking at the demographics of the votes that this film is more popular with males than females

" Don`t worry . A naked girl can`t escape from here " Can`t she ? Pity

By 1985, Hooper's career was in limbo. Sure, he'd tasted box office success with 1982's Poltergeist, but he'd also be dogged with rumors — or truths — that he'd not really directed the film. Toss in a bad experience on 1981's Venom, a film that he was replaced on ten days into shooting (Klaus Kinski claimed that the cast and crew ganged up on Hooper in an effort to have him replaced), as well as being replaced as the director of The Dark and a rumored nervous breakdown.

A three picture deal with Cannon Films and the promise of no interference would be the panacea that would soothe Hooper's pain. Or so he thought.

The first film in the three picture deal was Lifeforce. Based on Colin Wilson's 1976 novel The Space Vampires and scripted by Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead) and Don Jakoby, the film was originally going to use the original title. After spending $25 million to make it, Cannon decided that they wanted a blockbuster instead of their normal exploitation films, hence the change to Lifeforce.

Once Hooper had his money and freedom, he was beyond excited, seeing the film as his chance to remake Quatermass and the Pit. In fact, he said, "I thought I'd go back to my roots and make a 70 mm Hammer film."

Hopper turned in an initial film that was 128 minutes long, starting with 12 minutes of near silence in space aboard a space shuttle. This is 12 minutes longer than the final version which had several scenes cut, most of them taking place on the space shuttle Churchill. Three actors — John Woodnutt, John Forbes-Robertson and Russell Sommers — ended up completely cut from the final film, as was some of Henry Mancini's score.

Even worse — the film went way over schedule and cost so much that the film was shut down when the studio ran out of money, leaving some of the most important scenes unshot.

Look — it could have been worse. Michael Winner was the original choice to direct.

So what's it all about? Good question.

The crew of the Churchill discovers a massive spaceship — nearly 150 miles long and shaped like an artichoke (no, really) — inside Halley's Comey. Hundreds of dead bat creatures surround the ship and inside, two perfect males and one perfect female sleep in suspended animation. They take the aliens and come back to Earth, because there are no protocols or rules about that kind of thing. I mean, I can't even fly back from Japan with fruit and these dudes take aliens directly to London.

Tragedy strikes — a fire consumes the ship, destroying everything and everyone except for the aliens. The aliens turn out to be vampires that can shape shift and suck out the life force of everyone they meet.

In Texas, a survivor is found — Colonel Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback, Manson from Helter Skelter!). He explains how the crew's life force was taken and why he set the shuttle on fire. He also has a psychic link to the female alien (the constantly naked Mathilda May). Patrick Stewart also shows up as Dr. Armstrong here — who has the female vampire inside him. They take her/him back to London, but the plan backfires when she/he escapes.

Read more at www.bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/09/11/tobe-hooper-week- lifeforce-1985/

I first watched this film as part of my big "zombie kick" started by DAWN OF THE DEAD when I was a teenager maybe 12 years ago and didn't much care for it. As a zombie film I found LIFEFORCE to be immensely disappointing with very little of what I considered real zombie action. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of mayhem and chaos in the final reel, but the zombies run around fast and are in the gray area where they're almost more vampires than zombies. It's just too bizarre and sloppy if you go in expecting a Romero-style straight-forward action horror romp.

Seeing the film as an adult, I can find a lot of new things to appreciate. For one, the cast is fantastic with Steve Railsback in full-on goofball mode only hinted at in his earlier starring roles in STUNT MAN and TURKEY SHOOT. Solid British performers Patrick Stewart, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, and John Hallam all pop by in strong supporting roles, with relative unknown Firth pretty much replacing Railsback as hero slowly but surely as the film progresses. The special effects are excellent beyond their years and should be in bold font on John Dykstra's CV. Add to that it's got a lot of imagination and energy which you just don't see in too many scifi/horror movies... and there's just the right balance with gore and unpleasantness to keep it shocking yet not grating.

LIFEFORCE is not necessarily a good film, but at least it stays entertaining. What it fails to do is really present a narrative in a way that feels like it makes proper sense. For one thing, the movie makes the odd decision about halfway through to send the two protagonists to an insane asylum where they inexplicably spend the next 20 minutes of movie. Suddenly out of nowhere we're plunged back into our main plot with London being overrun with zombies. It's like the movie just took a time-out to up the weirdness factor rather than sticking to its guns.

Of the Cannon Group's many offerings this really sticks out like a sore thumb - a film of such ambition never to be attempted by them again.

On a final note - LIFEFORCE is well worth watching if nothing else for the excellent use of late 70's / early 80's British "Lightning Strike" sound effects as heard in the pilot for "Space: 1999" and FLASH GORDON. ZZZ-ZZZ-Zakorr!!

I hate to admit it, but I really love this movie, although on every level it really is horrible! The moments of incredibly bad acting (does Steve Railsback HAVE to scream like a maniac in every part he plays? Is it a part of his contract?), cheesy effects (oh, yeah, gotta love those animated corpses...), completely senseless "scientific" explanations and gratuitous nudity... Okay, so the last point is a plus rather than a minus, because Mathilda May has to have been the most beautiful-looking woman on the planet when this film was made, but it's just a little bit obvious that she's serving as a distraction from the rest of the movie rather than an enhancement to it.

You know what? I really don't care. I've watched this movie repeatedly, especially when I've had a few, and I never fail to enjoy it thoroughly, although not perhaps in the way its creators intended. I mean, where else can you see Frank Finlay pontificate in such a wonderful take-off of the original mad scientist? And for screaming, Patrick Stewart sure gives Steve Railsback a run for his money. (That's saying a great deal, believe me!) Let us not forget some other fantastically talented actors whose facial expressions seem to indicate that they can't believe they've been trapped in this low-budget purgatory--Aubrey Morris, Michael Gothard, Jerome Willis, and, of course, the incredible Peter Firth. Oh, Lord, how I love it!

If you're after a movie that doesn't make you think at all but has wonderful eye-candy value (if you appreciate female beauty, anyway), this is the one for you. Slightly better now that all of the original scenes have been re-instated--so many more opportunities for howling with laughter. It just screams "B movie!" but somehow it is so much more fun. Oh, dear, now I have to go and watch it again!

An international space mission finds a strange apparently abandoned 150 mile long spacecraft hidden in the tail of Hailey's Comet. On board are some desecated large bats and some perfectly preserved beautiful bodies in a coma in glass caskets. The bodies are later brought back to Earth, but they turn out they are powerful vampires who are set to destroy the Earth.

An ambitious film from Cannon that begins as sci-fi before becoming a vampire horror film and then turns into an end of the world disaster sci-fi QUATERMASS like film.

An odd and eccentric film based off Colin Wilson's 'Space Vampires' that should be admired for its eccentric story arc alone. Some of the acting is over the top, especially by Peter Firth as the investigating SAS officer while Frank Finlay makes for an interesting Doctor Who type of scientist and Patrick Stewart has an amusing cameo as a mad doctor. Co-written by Dan O'Bannen.

It's a shame that this movie moved so quickly through the opening space sequence because it was the most interesting aspect this film had to offer. In fact, I would even go as far as to say if they had made the entire film about the astronauts finding and exploring the alien vessel, then bringing the lifeforms onboard to study and examine, the concluding results would have been ten fold more effective and a hundred fold more intriguing.

However, the film is actually about space vampires wreaking havoc on London. After the disappointingly brief opening space sequence, in which space vampires are brought back to Earth, the film centers on the efforts of British military and scientific intelligence trying to track and contain the vampires. The film reminded me of John Carpenter's masterpiece "The Thing" because the soul of the Vampires can transfer into different bodies and assume the identity of the host body, so there is an element of paranoia (though not nearly as effective as "The Thing") about who exactly is who.

The film's merits include the very attractive lead vampriess (Matilda May), who is effectively spooky (despite having has practically no lines) as she struts around nude sucking the life out of those who may attempt to stand in her way. Special effects are decent and interesting throughout. Patrick Stewart also turns in a gruesome performance.

The movie's downfall comes from its poor pacing and incorrect focus. It should have been focusing more on the adventures of the space vampires and their connection to mythological vampires. This would be fresh and exciting. Instead the film focuses on the investigation of officials, which is drab and pretty standard. Also, the rules are annoyingly never made clear as to exactly how a vampire can possess someone, what happens to the vampire's body, and what happens to the victim exactly...seems they turn to dust sometimes and others times not...

This film just didn't know what to do with itself or its premise.

Not the worst sci-fi movie I've ever seen, but definitely nowhere near the best. The story could have been much, much better. I expected more from a screenplay written by Dan 'O Bannon (Alien, Total Recall). My imdb rating - 5/10 For hardcore fans of the genre only.

Noob Aalox

The Cannon Group has always seemed like the movie studio equivalent of the engine that tried and tried to climb that mountain, but unlike it's children's book counterpart, never seemed to reach the top.

"Lifeforce" is the exception.

In fact as space-vampire-movies go, this is the best, which of course on the subject of space-vampires... isn't saying much. But "Lifeforce" really is a memorable ride.

From the director of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Poltergeist" comes this massive apocalyptic science-fiction and horror epic. It's "2001" and "Dawn of the Dead" all rolled into one juicy little egg-roll of a movie, spiced with the beautiful naked body of Mathilda May (if she's smart she would start mathildamay.com and sell signed "Lifeforce"-pictures, and make a fortune of perverts like me). It's scripted by none other than Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Return of the Living Dead, Total Recall) and the cast is great. Frank Finlay looks like Peter Cushing's second cousin just escaped from a Hammer Horror movie, and it's always nice to see Michael Gothard (God rest his soul) who played creepy Emile Locque in "For Your Eyes Only". Steve Railsback is good as always, and Peter Firth perfectly fits the part of the SAS-colonel who must save the day (he always reminds me of the 1980's 'Doctor Who' Colin Baker :)

The 25 million dollar budget looks like 50 million dollars, the f/x are first-rate but best of all: a rousing score by Henry Mancini! His "Lifeforce"-theme should deservedly rank with the all-time great sci-fi-themes. It's almost hard to fathom that the composer of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Pink Panther"-movies, so known for his romantic music, should actually be able to produce such a bombastic score. It's like he kept it all in for 30 years and then suddenly decided to blow it all off on the soundtrack of this movie, and nobody needs to clean up after him - it's that brilliant!

When history is to be counted, this is one of the movies the Cannon Group will be remembered for, together with "Bloodsport", "52 Pick-Up", "Hanoi Hilton" and "Missing in Action" (come on, Chuck ruled as Braddock). And it only took 60 or so movies to create five good ones :)

Holy mackerel! From the comments I've read so far,you would think Tobe Hooper and Cannon were trying to remake "The Magnificent Ambersons"or some other "classic of the cinema"!I personally believe they set out to provide an entertaining picture for public consumption,and as far as I'm concerned ,that's exactly what they accomplished.After wearing out my VHS copy,I had to buy the DVD,which is even better in WIDESCREEN....plus I can hit the ZOOM and see Mathilda May much better! Exciting story,great cast(Railsback always one of my faves,PLUS Firth,Stewart,Gothard,etc.).Someone commented about "cheesy effects"...are you kiddin'?The special effects in this picture are much better than the overdone computer junk you see nowadays.Of course,this is an 80's picture...no one has enough imagination to make a movie like this today!

If one were to review this movie on an unsympathetic, unemotional view and rate it on its pros and cons, I think the only possible result would be 5.

The special effects are good and even great in some places - given the age and budget. Production values seem high in general.

Acting, and most significantly, directing, is pretty bad. Continuity is almost nonexistent. Is there gravity in space, or just skateboards. The only truly gravity defying objects are the sexy space vampire's boobs.

I enjoyed it though. I wanted to watch a silly 80s exploitation movie and it delivered on every level. So, emotionally I give it 7.

Intelligently, though, I would give it 5.

I am not into remakes, but this film has a lot of imagination, far more than what was possible to put on the silver screen. The screenwriter O'Banon is a legend, but this movie suffers from some poor dialogue, and attempts to blend every genre out there. And there is too much plot for one movie.

Yet., Lifeforce is still very entertaining. There is really nothing like it that I have ever seen. And this kept me glued to the screen, it's the type of film that just starts as a shocker and never lets up to the end. Sure there is a lot of goofy parts, but, they were easily overlooked, just to see what happens next.

With all the current remakes of films that absolutely never needed one, I hope someone in Hollywood realizes this film's potential!

Mathilda May was in her early twenties when she made the movie Lifeforce. Placing her in the role of a vampire was not a very good use of her acting talents. Her 'best' lines were "Use my body"(many males in the viewing audience already were thinking about this, no doubt) and "Come closer to me(or "be with me", I can't remember which).

Mathilda May is stunningly beautiful naked and I hope to have a close encounter of my own with her one day. Basically, the film Lifeforce was confusing and made little sense. I would say that the film Lifeforce was in a horror film genre with a bit of "Playboy After Dark" mixed in. Mathilda May is in her late thirties at the time of this writing(2003). I'm sure many of us hope that the years have been kind to her physical beauty. Naked Mathilda May in another film - bien sur. Mathilda in a mindless movie like Lifeforce - non. She deserves better.

** and 1/2 stars out of **** Lifeforce is one of the strangest films I've ever seen, so ridiculous, yet at the time it's strangely compelling and never the least bit dull. Whether it's due to the nonstop nudity, the large amount of violence and action, it all comes together to make an entertaining 2 hours of cinema.

The spaceshuttle Churchill has been sent to investigate Halley's Comet when they detect something hiding inside the coma of the giant rock. A small team, led by Colonel Carlsen (Steve Railsback), has been sent to search the area. What they discover includes hundreds of frozen bat-like creatures and three nude and seemingly unconscious humanoid beings inside strange crystalline containers, two male and one female (Mathilda May). They decide to take all three back with them, which results in a catastrophe.

When London receives no response from the crew, another crew is sent to find out what's going on. When they dock with the Churchill, they find the remains of the crew, all dessicated beyond recognition. The humanoids are still in perfect condition, and they take them back to London.

After various tests, the scientists still don't know what these beings really are. Then, late one night, a security guard in the compound feels compelled to enter the room the female is being held. He touches her shoulder, and she awakens, stands up, and smiles at him in a seductive and wicked manner. She approaches him, and begins to kiss him, when it becomes clear that she's actually taking his lifeforce, sucking him of all of his energy (the effect is slightly cheesy).

She escapes from the compound and begins to leave a trail behind. Another man, Colonel Caine (Peter Firth), is brought in to track her down. Then the men discover that there is a pattern to the lifeforce process. The corpse of the security guard awakens in 2 hours, and takes the lifeforce of a doctor. It seems in every 2 hours, this process is repeated by a victim. With the help of the Churchill's sole survivor, Carlsen, they attempt to track the girl down before it's too late.

Lifeforce is pretty good late night entertainment. It has all the elements one could look for in such a movie, loads of nudity, blood/gore, and plenty of special effects. This is certainly better than a similarly plotted film, Species, thanks in large part to a more riveting finale.

The performances range from decent to terrible. Faring the worst is easily Steve Railsback, who overacts to no end. Much better are Peter Firth, who comes through and convincingly, and the gorgeous Mathilda May (she's as beautiful as French actresses Sophie Marceau and Emmanuelle Seigner). May does go through virtually the whole role without wearing clothing, and there were reports that it was hard on her while filming, so the fact that she is able to go through every scene without fidgeting and looking uncomfortable is impressive. There are times when she can be quite creepy, being simply seductive. Most of the film manages to work because of her.

I'll make this brief. Director of Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, writer of ALIEN and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, combing forces and make a movie about SPACE VAMPIRES, this must be a classic right? Wrong.

The best thing about this about this film is watching Mathilda May walking around naked for a few scenes at the beginning. By this comment I'm not trying to come off as exploitive or macho, just stating a fact, it really is the best thing about this movie. For some reason Tobe Hooper thought it would be cooler to not watch events happen but instead watch a bunch of prim British men sit in a room and talk about the events that are happening, for …. two … hours. Seriously, this movie will bore you to tears. When you finally trudge through a film containing people talking about stuff and a few poorly made scene where you actually get the treat of seeing things happen (most of which feel like they are clips from bad British television shows), you are rewarded with an extremely underwhelming finale, that at least has some brief footage of space zombies savaging London. Tobe Hooper spells space vampires, B-O-R-I-N-G. Just stay away.

Based on the novel "Space Vampires", by Colin Wilson, Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce is an intriguing blend of sci-i, horror, and action, with particularly masterful special fx.

As far as vampire films go, it's really quite original, in that it attempts to explain the origin of the vampire legends on Earth, as intervention from an extraterrestrial race of beings that traverse the universe- riding the wave of haley's comet- and leaving destruction in their wake (Von Daniken would be proud).

Everything begins when a mission is sent to study and observe Haley's Comet up close- using the new minerva engine, which allows them to travel with gravity for the first time (which is convenient for production purposes)- during which they discover this mysterious alien craft.

Knowing this is a once-in-a-lifetime oppourtunity...they send a team to enter the ship via an "artery"...only to discover the desiccated corpses of a thousand bat like creatures.

Upon further investigation they find 3 humanoid figures perfectly preserved in what appear to be crystalline obelisks of some sort.

The commander immediately falls in love with the female of the species, and orders the three humanoids and one desiccated bat corpse be taken back to the ship so they can be studied.

However, this unleashes something that kills everyone on the ship.

And by the time the ship gets back to Earth's orbit, there is nothing left...except the three humanoid creatures (who are the only things left inside the vessel that haven't been scorched).

The space agency then brings the specimens back to Earth, only to discover for themselves, exactly what they are dealing with- body snatching vampires that require human lifeforce as nourishment.

Unknowingly, they have just unleashed this plague- which spreads like zombies and vampires- upon the Earth...and they cannot contain it.

Shortly after making this discovery, the escape pod- from the ship that originally scavenged the three entities from the alien craft that now sits in orbit over London- returns carrying the sole survivor from that fateful mission.

But it's too late...the plague is spreading like wildfire across London, and NATO plans to nuke the area to contain the threat.

So our returned man (who is both the original cause of the plague and only hope for stopping it)- alongside his earthly counterpart- must find a way to kill the three entities before the plague obliterates all life on Earth.

And the only way for our out of this world protagonist to redeem his sins- and save what is left to be saved- is to form the ultimate union; and become himself, like a God (providing mercy for mankind).

Story aside, the special effects in this film are among the best I've ever seen.

The animatronic puppets used for the bodies drained of their life's essence are absolutely incredible (and something we rarely get in today's cop out age of cgi). So animated and lifelike!

The transformation sequences (a blend of real fx, cell animation and cinematic techniques) are also top notch...up there alongside the scene from American Werewolf in London...maybe even better!

It''s no Star Wars, or anything...but this film is a nugget from the Golden Age of Special Effects, which has since been heavily diluted, if not abandoned altogether.

They just don't make films like this anymore, and that's a real tragedy.

Worth watching on that note alone.

7.5 out of 10.

Lifeforce is one of those movies that you really, really want to like, but it just isn't quite good enough to let you. It's a shame too, 'cause this flick had a lot of potential, and could've been an outstanding movie if the writing had been a little better and the acting not so lame. But in all fairness I have to say that the first 30 or 40 minutes were actually quite good. At first I really thought this was gonna turn out to be a cool movie, what with the voluptuous space vampiress and exploding zombies and such; but, sadly, after Space Girl escaped from the SRC building, everything slowed down to a snail's pace. There were a couple times during the middle of the movie where I kinda felt like turning it off and doing something else. The special effects were excellent, though... They get a 10. The first half hour of the movie gets an 8, and the rest gets a 4 or so.

Lifeforce is a late eighties sci-fi horror flick wherein a joint space mission between the U.S. and Great Britain fly out to study Haley's Comic and find a giant spaceship full of dead vampires, one sexy naked chick and two Patrick Swayze clones. Of course they bring them back to Earth, and then the naked chick runs amok, turns half of London into crazed ravenous zombies, and it's up to our heroes, an S.A.S. man and the lone surviving astronaut to defeat her in a Gothic cathedral before the vampire mothership gets to Earth and rains holy hell down upon us.

Now, most people upon hearing that synopsis might be like..."Hell's bells, I wanta see me somea that movie!" Well friends...that couldn't be farther from the truth. At two hours, Lifeforce is a chore to sit through. While all the key plot points delivered above do happen, some of them happen off screen and they're reported to us by some bored British character actors. There's a lot of drab office settings where haggard looking Brits and Steve Railsback sweat a lot and yell. The beginning is mildly engrossing with the spacemen checking out the giant vampire ship, and the end where apparently a sound stage fills in for London besieged by crazy zombies picks up a little...otherwise there's a whole lot of nothing in this movie. I'd check the credits to see who edited it, but that would mean fast forwarding the tape for half an hour to get to them.

A LOT of time is spent on scholarly types going essentially "Maybe THESE aliens are the source of the vampire myths!" Yeah, great, can we see some vampires maybe please? Once the splendidly nude bloodsucker lady escapes the lab they bring her to, she pretty much disappears from the picture. We're told she "possesses" people, which probably saves a lot of money on special effects and pays for more film stock to draaaaagggggggggg the running time even longer. The acting and plot simply aren't engrossing enough to make you not mind the length and boredom of this picture. Maybe they shoulda called it LifeFORCED.

Someone could definitely remake this one. Peace.