Lifeforce (1985) – Film Review

Director: Tobe Hooper
Cast: Steve Railsback, Mathilda May, Peter Firth
Certificate: 18

By Sarah Morgan

Vampires! From space! Wow! And directed by the guy who made The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist? It’s gotta be a winner, right?

Well, not quite. Lifeforce is an acquired taste, that’s for sure, but you can’t say it’s not entertaining, even if it’s not necessarily for the right reasons.

Based on Colin Wilson’s 1976 novel The Space Vampires, the plot begins in outer space as the crew of a British-American Space Shuttle discover an alien spacecraft hidden within the tail of Halley’s Comet. Within it are hundreds of dead bat-like creatures and three humanoids – two male, one female – that appear to be in a deep sleep.

After contact is lost with the Shuttle, a rescue mission is mounted, but all aboard are found dead, apart from the humanoid trio, who are transported to Earth; the female awakens and goes on the rampage, seemingly draining the life from her victims, while the males are apparently destroyed.

“Disjointed”

Meanwhile, Carlsen, a member of the Shuttle crew, is discovered in an escape pod and reveals what happened. It also becomes clear he is psychically linked to the female, and his knowledge will prove vital if her murderous ways are to be brought to a halt.

That all sounds like the making of a decent sci-fi thriller, and you would expect director Tobe Hooper to have made something wonderful out of it, particularly as the screenplay was co-written by Dan O’Bannon, who also penned Alien.

Unfortunately, the result is a spectacular, disjointed mess featuring poor performances, particularly from the usually reliable Peter Firth as an SAS operative; he’s just too overblown to be believable.

The project’s backers, Cannon Films’ Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, had made their names making low-to-mid-budget movies and wanted to move into the big time with Lifeforce. Sadly, even working with a larger budget that usual didn’t help. Yes, there are some good ideas, but they’re not executed all that well.

“Jarring”

The full frontal nudity of Mathilda May as the female alien is often mentioned by viewers, and to me (possibly because I’m also a woman) it’s somewhat jarring; it’s hard to imagine anyone agreeing to do that these days. It’s almost laughable that she’s fully on display, while her male counterparts’ (one of them is played by Mick Jagger’s brother Chris, incidentally) dignity is covered by strategically placed parts of the set.

Perhaps the most fun comes in star-spotting. Alongside Firth, May and token US actor Steve Railsback as Carlsen, are such luminaries as Frank Finlay, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard and Nicholas Ball, while the always wonderful character actor Aubrey Morris is woefully underused.

As is often the case with such releases, the special features are far more interesting than the film itself, particularly when they discuss what may have gone wrong. With that in mind, if you do splash your cash, make sure you watch the documentary Cannon Fodder: The Making of Lifeforce, which goes into great detail about behind-the-scenes events.