Lifeforce (1985)

Must See Movie...

Absolutely brilliant

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The screenplay is very confusing all the way through. The backgrounds are quite unconvincing and hard to decipher what you are seeing inside the space ship and elsewhere. And frankly it was pretty darn boring. I forced myself to watch it to the end and wish I hadn't bothered. If I were Henry Mancini and/or Patrick Stewart, I would be embarrassed to have my name connected to this dog.The only good thing in this movie was the vampire girl, who was very pretty. She didn't make it worth watching though, and I give it 2 stars instead of one only because of her and her nude scenes.

The blu-ray of Lifeforce wasn't some great revelation of a lost artifact from the 80's that should be held up high as any 'great art'. Hell, the studio it's from - Cannon films, that good old purveyor of quality like Superman 4 - gives an indication that it'll be a cheesy, no-frills sci-fi. But the film has (surprisingly) some classy sci-fi direction via Tobe Hooper, for titillation (and just weirdness at times, the two mix together) Mathilda May's constant nudity, a thrilling and dark Henry Mancini score, and some bizarre and fun writing from Dan OBannon (and some boring exposition from the other writer).Really, if only the acting, aside from Patrick Stewart, wasn't so bad, and it really is sometimes hard to take - who is this lead actor guy, why hadn't I seen him aside from this, oh, right, he sucks - then it could be possibly wonderful instead of simply a curious cult object. I may have neglected to mention the story, here it is: hot alien lady comes to Earth, stirs s*** up. There.But it was better than I expected, and to the filmmaker's credit and to the intentions of one of the writers I'd suspect, it's a B movie in the proudest sense of the word.

Lifeforce is a refreshing surprise for Sci Fi fans. Truly this is my favorite Sci Fi, films with actors I respect and love, plus one beautiful babe, with some nice bouncing goodies. The story is great too. Three perfectly preserved bodies, where hiding within their forms are vampires, kept in glass coffins, are found in outer space by some astronauts, headed by the great Railsback, where admittedly this was the first film I saw this great, serious, and conscientious actor in. Suddenly their naked forms come to life and they all escape. What they do, is draw energy from an unwitting being, where that infected being instantly becomes a skeletal form, and within many hours, he or she it explodes where they just becomes one big pile of crumbling dirt. In this case, with her whopping features, the babe (Mathilda May) becomes great eye candy, and certainly has an affect on Railsback, in many ways. Things get better when enter the great Firth as an Agent trying to get to the bottom of problem ends up working with Railsback, totally smitten of course by that babe on the loose, as remember we've get this plague, which you'll never guess where it spreads from London. As though may'be, you're expecting more action and gore, though one shocking moment in a helicopter will paralyze and mesmerize you, that's what I felt too with this film, but for me, it's the story and those two great leads, that somehow made up for it. I'm talking too, especially Firth, such a friggin' versatile and underestimated acting talent, deserved of much more respect and notice. The effects are great and there's some humor too, where hey, there are bits that get bogged down with the business instead of the action, but here's a different sort of sci fi, which I must say, stands unique, to all it's others, and does have some style. And too, like I said, you've got two great leads, with performances that will, definitely hold your attention. Director Tobe 'chainsaw' Hooper has definitely pulled off something special and different here, in this '85 outing.

When Lifeforce started, I wasn't sure if it was meant to be serious or if it was a parody. It had the weird stiffness in acting and blandness in style you would get from an Ed Wood movie. And it's nude-vampire concept is utterly ridiculous. But as far as I can tell, this is not a parody, this is just a bad movie notable only for having one pretty girl who never puts on any clothes.When Poltergeist came out, it seemed so Spielbergian that it was hard to believe it was directed by Tobe Hooper rather than producer Spielberg. According to wikipedia, there is controversy regarding how much Hooper had to do with Poltergeist. Considering how good Poltergeist is, and how inept his next movie, Lifeforce is (and considering how minor Hooper's career has been since), I don't see any way he directed Poltergeist.