One of the strangest sci-fi/action thriller/horror hybrids ever made, LIFEFORCE is the definition of a "guilty pleasure"!
After his massive hit with "Poltergeist" in 1982, Director Tobe Hooper was looking for another potential blockbuster. Surrounding himself with a great cast including Patrick Stewart, Peter Firth and most of the great character actors in the UK, Hooper tells one very strange tale.
Starting off as science fiction, a space shuttle on a science mission to Halley's Comet discovers a huge, 150 mile long spaceship in the tale of the comet. Investigating via a spacewalk (really? that sounded like a good idea to anybody on board?) the crew discovers thousands of giant bat creatures inside the ship.
In addition, they find three human bodies, including the naked Mathilda May in her first film role. I can only imagine that audition: "Okay Mathilda, you are pretty much naked the entire movie and don't say much, but you get to walk around most of London nude". That being said, if that's the criteria, she's a brilliant choice.
SO.....they bring the three humans aboard the shuttle to bring back to Earth and that's when things pretty much get ugly.
The following ninety minutes turns into a vampire flick, a zombie movie and an end-of-the-world movie at such a breakneck speed that it's fascinating.
Steve Railsback is the head US Astronaut and brings so much of his performance as Charles Manson in the CBS TV miniseries "Helter Skelter" to the part, this could be Manson in Space.
This is one wild ride, assembled by some talented people, including special effects by John Dykstra (Star Wars), great photography by Alan Hume (many OO7 films), a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon (Alien) and a legendary music score by Henry Mancini.
But what a fantastic mess!
By the time London's streets are filled with fast paced zombies and Patrick Stewart is speaking in a woman's voice in a room filled with spiraling, levitating objects, I had no idea what the hell was going on, but damned if I didn't enjoy every minute of it.
A spaced out guilty pleasure we'll give a silly, breakneck speed B.
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