Lifeforce (1985)

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Steve Railsback and Peter Firth star in this film by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist) that revolves around an invasion of London by, well… space vampires. Railsback heads the space exploration team that finds the humanoid creatures on an alien ship, but once the creatures arrive on Earth they begin sucking the lifeforce out of everyone who crosses their path. Hooper said he wanted to make a big-budget Hammer movie, and that’s essentially what Lifeforce is — a low-budget genre concept given lavish production values.

Lifeforce is moderately entertaining for anyone who enjoys sci-fi/horror yarns, but it definitely would benefit from a stronger emotional hook. The script divides our attention across too many characters, when it should have centered more on Railsback’s character and his mysterious relationship with one of the vampires. The film also uses a series of flashbacks to redefine the narrative and its characters’ motivations at various intervals. The result is a movie that feels scattershot and unfocused. The storytelling feels rushed at times, and the film editing is haphazard in spots, possibly due to studio interference.

These problems may keep Lifeforce from being great, but it’s certainly not a film without appeal. The mechanical and visual effects are outstanding. When the vampires prey on people’s living essence, we see the victims turn into withered husks. The effect has an old EC Comics quality about it — as cartoonish as it is gory. Henry Mancini offers a memorable march for the film and the cast of reliable character actors includes Patrick Stewart as a possessed hospital director and Frank Finlay as a fascinated scholar whose insight proves to be of value. Newcomer Mathilda May plays the lead, female vampire and appears nude throughout the entire film. There’s no denying that her physical attributes are another highlight of the movie.