Lifeforce

Summary

After Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist became an instant critical and commercial success, Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus signed Tobe Hooper to a three picture contract with Cannon Films. The three films that he made under the contract were (in release order) Lifeforce, Invaders from Mars, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Cannon Films should have realized that these film projects were highly unlikely to net the company a huge return at the box office. Lifeforce on paper might have seemed like a good idea given the collaborators involved. Tobe Hooper was hot off of Poltergeist, and Dan O’Bannon had written Alien and Dead and Buried, and Henry Mancini was one of the most successful composers of all time. What could go wrong with all that talent? Maybe the producers should have looked at the script and realized it was based on a novel called The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson. That should have been an immediate red flag. Vampires can absolutely move ticket sales. Same with space aliens. The combination of the two has never been a driver of ticket sales. A friend of mine described Lifeforce as a movie that only could exist when everyone involved in a project does massive amounts of cocaine. I did some research and could not find explicit evidence that occurred, but watching the film unfold was all the evidence that I needed. Did I mention that Mathilda May’s role in the film as “Space Girl” involves the supermodel French actress performing for nearly the entirety of her time onscreen completely naked? There are so many deliberate and bizarre decisions made in this film, which was working with a massive $25 million dollar budget, that it must be seen to be believed. The Shout! Factory 4K UHD features all of the supplements from the prior Collector’s Edition. In a somewhat controversial move, the only cut of the film presented in UHD is the Theatrical Cut. Some fans of the film will likely prefer the Director’s Cut (which is included, but not in 4K) which Shout! helped Tobe Hooper to compile for the prior release. I honestly think that we should all just count our lucky stars that a film this ridiculous would ever be given any type of a UHD release. What a wonderful time to be alive!

As the film begins, astronauts aboard the Churchill Space Shuttle are sent into space to intercept and investigate Halley’s Comet. Some astronauts led by Carlsen (Steve Railsback) enter the comet itself in their spacesuits. Inside the comet is a sort of spaceship. They find what seem to be gigantic bats that have been drained of all fluids while in space. They also find in a gigantic protected corridor three perfectly preserved naked bodies that appear human encased in crystal in suspended animation. There are two males and one female (Mathilda May.) They bring the humanoid specimens onboard the Churchill. On Earth, the Space Research Center loses contact with the Churchill and sends another space shuttle up to check on it. Onboard they find the humanoids in their glass containers with floating burnt out bodies. It appears that the Churchill suffered some type of fire. They bring the humanoids back to Earth for examination at the Space Research Center in England. A security guard is drawn to the space girl and touches her shoulder. The naked space girl awakens and kisses him, draining him of all his life force, essentially killing him. The hypnotic space girl manages to leave the government facility after attacking two guards with her telekinetic powers and shattering the glass windows to the facility with her mind. Colonel Caine (Peter Firth) arrives to help contain the situation. He meets with Dr. Fallada (Frank Finlay) who is obsessed with death and the afterlife. He explains that the girl is sucking the “Lifeforce” out of her victims, is alien to this world, and is totally dangerous. The two male aliens begin to escape from their guarded section despite being shot by machine guns. They are seemingly taken down by grenade blasts. Meanwhile, the guard who had his lifeforce taken from him returns to life as some sort of zombie. He feeds on the lifeforce of a doctor, which brings him back to full strength.  Two hours later, he dies permanently because he has not taken any new energy in. The same happens to the doctor who had fallen victim to him. A girl is found drained of energy and dead in a park and she exhibits the same pattern. Colonel Tom Carlsen lands on earth in an escape pod. He explains that everyone aboard the Churchill beside himself had died from their life draining out. He knew this was caused by the alien beings they had carried onto the ship, so he had attempted to cause a massive explosion on the ship to destroy them, but his plan had obviously failed. Now Carlsen, Caine, and Fallada must team up to locate the space girl and stop her before she triggers an apocalyptic event,

If the plot of the film sounds ridiculous and insane, that is because it is. Lifeforce tries so hard to balance so many different elements – apocalyptic thriller, zombie horror, space alien science fiction, vampire film – and ultimately it falters from the weight of its ridiculous ambition. The script by Dan O’Bannon and Dan Jakoby tries desperately to have the characters wax eloquently about the space vampire zombie apocalypse occurring, but it is an impossible feat. Every time the characters get too bogged down in exposition, the film seems to lose its pace. The film works best when it is firing on all cylinders with practical and special effects, the nude space girl, and a very concerned Steve Railsback trying his best to work his way through his character’s emotions. I am like many reviewers a bit conflicted about Lifeforce. On one hand, I absolutely love how insane and over-the-top the film is. On the other hand, the film never fully comes together. It is at once too much and not enough. If you watch the film, I hope this makes sense.

My recommendation would be to rent the film for the space girl madness, and stay for the early Patrick Stewart role which is wonderful. I can’t guarantee that you will love Lifeforce, but I can guarantee that it is not like any movie you have seen!

Video

This is a good looking 4K transfer, but I would not say that it looks great in the UHD format. There are moments where clarity and the full force of HDR makes itself known in some effects sequences, but mostly the film looks a little bit less impressive than some other Shout! Factory 4K transfers. The colors have an additional pop from the HDR, but the colors are not quite as vibrant as I had envisioned. This is definitely an upgrade from the Blu-ray, but not the revelation that one might hope it to be.

Audio

Shout!Factory has repurposed their well made Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track from their prior Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. The movie sounds pretty great to my ears. While not as immersive as an Atmos track, this is a pretty strong track overall. Immersion and clarity of dialogue are for the most part very well handled.

Supplements:

The original supplements from the prior Collector’s Edition Blu-ray appear on the two Blu-rays included in the set. There are no special features included on the UHD disc. Also make note that the UHD disc is of the Theatrical Cut which has been a slightly controversial move by Shout! Factory:

Theatrical Cut (Blu-ray)

• “Dangerous Beauty” – an interview with actress Mathilda May.
• “Space Vampires in London” – an interview with director Tobe Hooper.
• “Carlsen’s Curse” – an  interview with actor Steve Railsback. 
• Image Galleries
• T.V. Spot
• A Teaser Trailer and a Theatrical Trailer

Director’s Cut

• Commentary #1 features director Tobe Hooper.
• Commentary #2 features makeup effects designer Nick Maley.  

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4/5

Lifeforce is Tobe Hooper’s most audacious and ridiculous film. Produced by Cannon Group, the film spent $25 million dollars to bring to life a novel about space vampires. The film was a box office failure, but has become a cult item due to its sheer audacity and insanity. It is not often that a film casts a supermodel to act her part in a film fully nude. Fans of insane cinema from the Eighties will not want to miss out on checking out this cult item. The new Shout! Factory 4K UHD has a good looking 4K UHD transfer of the Theatrical Cut of the film. The Director’s Cut has not been updated, so fans of that version may be disappointed. All of the  supplemental features from the prior Collector’s Edition are present on the two Blu-rays. I am glad to have this crazy movie in my collection in 4K.