Lifeforce

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Lifeforce is a special piece of cultural trauma, be not discouraged by the seemingly low onion rating it could claim for itself as of today. (Could be even less if the Onion were to emerge by the time Lifeforce did.) First and foremost, Tobe Hooper's horror effort from 1985 is a scientific study on the quite legit, though quite uninventive question if there are defendable methods to fuse together individual horror mythologies via thinking processes similar to the ones possessed by a sloth on massive sedatives, AND offer the resultant hodgepodge as ruthless revelation of hippest, freshest horror.

I am yet to see such a work, my experience is that movie "ideas" purely based on previous, successful concepts have more profound of a tendency to exploit the originator's focal statements in a hasty, clumsy manner, usually failing of enriching the predecessor, even failing to show evident urge to develop the ideas they use to animate their very own, shallow self. This uncreative stance clearly implies that they have not much intention to sew quality story and horror on their own, they instead probably hope that the four-five cheap scares offered will be enough to generate hype among a future audience and thus traffic in the film theaters. A wonderfully low profile acting level solidifies this motion picture package as one you do not want to miss out.

Lifeforce is probably one of the most hilarious films in regards how stunning it wants to mask itself for, and what a badly drawn face it's mask hides. Make no mistake though: this was the funniest motion picture garbage the moment it was released, as we should never forget that the Alien and the vampire mythologies both have been around for a while when Lifeforce emerged to redefine mediocre popular storycloning.

The starting statements and circumstances are quite similar to those of the Alien's - a spaceship we behold, seeking to examine and collect information about Halley's Comet, which is to pass by the vicinity in a short while. Instead acquiring data of significant scientific value though, the crew finds somewhat convincing material evidence of extraterrestrial life - if an alien spaceship of immense proportions qualifies for this latter description. The inner portions of the humongous shuttle hold three humanoid species in a seemingly deep sleep state, there are two males and one female. All of them are in extremely fine physical condition, while their mere existence naturally pose immediate questions towards theirs and humanity's origins - these issues gain no time for pondering though, as the alien spaceship begins to reassemble itself as if to claim the life of it's visitors.

Dropping the Alien formula screenplay writer Dan 'O Bannon seems quite addicted to by this time, Lifeforce sews it's story further on the surface of Mother Earth. Suffice it to say that the key elements of the buildup quickly reveal via the scientific examination of humans whom contacted with the alien species. Turns out that the aliens need a regular supply of life force
to live / operate further on, or they dehydrate permanently and perfectly, basically turning to ash and dust. Even worse: human victims whom life force is sucked out by these space vampires turn into space vampires themselves. Surprised, yes? This here fictional concept is emphasized and presented via all the conceivable aspects that seem worth presenting, therefore some quite funny, even semi-decent prop scares are abruptly, effectively offered prior to the film's middle section where it's petrification to the form of a low profile detective rush-around concerning National Security Matters becomes evident and intact.

Lifeforce relies on the longest possible 120 minutes that ever were used up by a motion picture, as it exhibits tremendous, awkward struggles to keep us interested in it's starting statements, a narrative entity that Lifeforce fails to deliver a satisfying, even defendable conclusion for. The focal alibi element the creators could come up with concerns the highly illegal, enigmatic body-changing ability of the space vampires, therefore one can never be sure if a nurse or the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a space vampire - these assumptions of course are examined and answered by the flick.

Having no clue on how to elaborate or develop the semi-defendable fictional concept it utilizes, Lifeforce eventually chooses for the worst method possible, going for an evidently failed attempt of becoming even a catastrophe film of grandiose proportions. As the ever-increasing numbers of space vampires are terrorizing the city, they take every single chance to set buildings on fire, as this, too, proves to be an essential aspect of their procreation and self-nourishment. Bah!

Though a space vampire detective vampire horror vampire catastrophe vampire installment is not the installment you could possibly live without, I do wish to warn you that the two protagonists utilized in Lifeforce are probably having their worst times as actors in this testament of how tasteless, weightless characters can be compromised even more when rendered via such low quality performances. Personally I think there is but one thing more sorrowful than a bad actor, and that is an actor who is bad and unaware of it.



NOOOO! NOT another teaparty!

Steve Railsback and Peter Firth are both doing a masterful job at under-bidding the other, Railsback trying to be terrified and confused at the same time, while Firth is to establish himself as the extremely well composed Special Agent Hardnut (with Angle Hair, mind you I!) who has already been through it all. I tend to see with my third eye how Tobe Hooper shouts "Determined look! Take sixteenth!" to them, and eventually choses to go for a seventeenth. Similarly weightless, blunt detective-comic lines breath incapable life to long dialogs of a grayscale color spectrum, resulting in an experience you are quite tempted to fast forward through.

Despite the flaws that caused Lifeforce to age in an exquisitely ugly fashion, this mere phenomena of being hilariously ambitious in at least three regards and ending up failing in all of them clearly conserves this flick as one of textbook mistakes of design and narrative choices, and as a Back Hole beacon all sci-fi should be determined to avoid millions of spacemiles away.



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