lifeforce

A large part of the appeal of those classic Hammer horror films lay in watching the stuffy British psyche come up against supernatural terrors that were completely contrary to all logical and scientific explanation. It was as if mummies, werewolves and vampires were more of an inconvenience to their afternoon tea than an actual threat to mankind. And Lifeforce, director Tobe Hooper’s chaotic homage to ‘70s era sci-fi Hammer excess, recaptures that feeling in spades, upping the cinematic insanity to levels that would make the Queen’s head spin.

Based on Colin Wilson’s novel The Space Vampires - a title that’s a) much more explanatory and b) much more in keeping with the B-movie tone - the film ditches the original futuristic Earth setting and takes place right in 1985 at the height of Haley’s Comet mania. A multinational space shuttle mission discovers a derelict ship in the comet’s halo. Once onboard, the crew finds thousand of dead bat-like creatures and three perfectly preserved humanoids: two males and one female. Eventually, those specimens are brought back to Earth where they awake from their state of hibernation and begin draining the “lifeforce” out of the general populace, creating dried up zombies who then perpetuate the deadly life cycle.

There’s no way to describe Lifeforce without making it sound silly. Add the fact that actress Mathilda May, who plays the space vampire queen, is nude for nearly every second of screen time and you’ve got a movie that would seem to play to the most prurient interest of genre fans. But the straight-faced British cast approach the material with such Shakespearean intensity that the entire production is elevated above its more exploitative pieces.

For Tobe Hooper, still in the shadow of the “did he or didn’t he actually direct Poltergeist” controversy, it was a chance to prove himself as a big-budget director. Much of the effects crew were holdovers from Kubrick’s 2001, filming took place on the enormous Bond stages at Pinewood and effects legend John Dykstra (Star Wars) was handling the visual pyrotechnics. Yet, domestically, Lifeforce was a dud even after being shortened by some 10 minutes and reworking the introduction.

Its failure seems obvious now. Lifeforce is simply too bizarre to qualify as mass entertainment. But it’s has become beloved by the very people who it was meant for originally: sci-fi and horror genre fans who appreciate what it does well and equally admire its failings (of which there are many). The script (co-written by Alien scribe Dan O’Bannon) careens from one threat to the next as the space virus spreads, with a third act describing London under siege that had to scare the hell out of the producers at Cannon Films. But its ambitions often get the better of it. And American actor Steve Railsback, who doesn’t become the de facto “hero” until halfway through the film, is a poor match for the material.

Much more enjoyable are stage veterans like Peter Firth and Frank Finlay who take to the defense of the realm with much the same sort of wit and verve one would have expected of their Hammer contemporaries, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Lifeforce is a movie of moments; some of them exhilarating, some of them embarrassing. But even the worst dialogue seems to sound better when spoken in a British accent.

Scream Factory’s blu-ray / dvd combo-pack has been one of the most anticipated titles on internet message boards. And the package doesn’t disappoint, containing both the longer director’s cut and theatrical version, plus a large selection of extras including Hooper’s commentary, interviews with Railsback and the still-beautiful (and still embarrassed) Mathilda May plus a vintage Making Of, TV spot and trailers. The box art is a dual-sided affair with a terrific newly commissioned cover that flips over to reveal the original poster art.