Lifeforce (1985) is the cinematic sci-fi event of the 80s. This was how the film was billed. To say it was a letdown, financially and critically, is an understatement... but I disagree. I think that Life force is the fucking bomb. It's so crazy, and pure, and all over the place, and I love it!
Lifeforce is based on a book by Colin Wilson, called The Space Vampires.
I have not read this book.
Lifeforce is directed by Tobe Hooper, fresh off of Poltergeist and all of its mildly childish horror and success, along with Funhouse, a movie that is pointless and reminds me too much of The Goonies. Cannon Pictures confronted Mr. Hooper and offered him a whole shit load of money and a three-picture deal. Tobe Hooper accepted it, mainly to keep up his coke addiction. And coke he did. He made two of the most batshit insane movies of his career, or the 80s for that matter. The third film he made was his grand-guignol wacky Dennis Hopper sequel to the picture that made his career. That film is Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and it is almost as awesome as this film. The first film he made, however, is a very large budget (for the time, anyway) genre smash. This is that film.
Lifeforce is written by Dan O'Bannon, the same man who wrote another favorite of mine called Dark Star (a far-out, low-budget hippie version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by first time film maker John Carpenter). He wrote and directed Dead and Buried and, more famously, Return of the Living Dead, the ultimate in zombies vs. punks mayhem. Not many know this, but Return of the Living Dead is actually a story of how old people and the youth of the eighties work together like peanut butter and dishwasher detergent. Dan O'Bannon also wrote Total Recall (ultra-violent Arnie sci-fi directed by Paul Verhoeven), a segment of Heavy Metal (a Canadian-made animated mind-fuck), and a little film you might of heard of called Alien (something something groundbreaking). Alien, itself, is a rip-off of Roger Corman monster movie quickies and paranoia sci-fi from the 50s, along with being basically a horror remake of the entire second act of Dark Star. At this time, however, it was in the seemingly perpetual state of being ripped off, a bandwagon which Lifeforce sort of jumps on... sort of.
(Spoiler alert... sorta. I say this because part of the fun of the film is every single turn the film makes, and some of these are given away.)
Lifeforce is like a culminating project for O' Bannon. It basically collects themes from every one of his films, and jams them all into one orgy of sexy space vampire madness! The first bit deals with some of his most familiar themes, like the isolation of being in space, and the "alien causing anarchy on board" sci-fi trope. This is all in the realm of Dark Star and Alien. Then, after space bats attack, a crazy phallic shaped H.R. Giger-esque spaceship is discovered, and naked women in crystal pods are taken on board... we begin to move on. This is only the first ten or so minutes, but right off the bat it looks like the kind of Alien rip-off I would absorb in a flash, like the wicked Peter Weller vehicle Leviathan. But Lifeforce is not okay with being merely another Galaxy of Terror. It's too busy gearing up to BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND!
Then we venture to Earth, where we witness the lady from the crystal wander around a science facility, naked, where she sucks the "lifeforce" out of many a person, by slipping them the tongue. She leaves them as cartoony-eyed, shriveled up zombies, begging for more energy to ease the pain of being dead. This already reminds me of some of the zombies from Return of the Living Dead. This is in no way a bad thing, though. I adore the fact that this is like a big collage of the rest of Mr. O' Bannon’s other movies, that are bursting with some of my favorite sci-fi plots and themes.
The flesh-and-bones, soul-sucking vampires/ zombies/ alien-infected are constantly using up their moisture or something, and if they don't replenish themselves quickly, they will explode into dust. There is a scene where one of them is locked up in a cell, and, at this point, he's in need of a tall glass of "lifeforce". He gets up the energy to stand, and then runs at the bars in a surge of hunger. He immediately explodes when he hits themetal poles. But still, even as walking time-bombs, these space vampires are able to keep on infecting, at a rapid pace... and the naked lady is still out there, roaming the streets.
Above: still frame from Return of the Living Dead.
Then the film becomes sort of a Hammer Movie Mystery film, as the girl begins to swap bodies. A detective is hot on her trail. Pre-ST:NG Patrick Stewart shows up. There is possession of some sort. This happens.
But I'm not doing this justice. I'm barely even touching on the madness that this film is. It takes place in England, and there are hilarious flashbacks from the astronaut that found the aliens. And then there is the climax! The film goes from being small, to larger with the dust vampires, then focuses on the detective body-swap plotline, and then everything meets back in the middle. The third act is a crazy zombie apocalypse, the kind thatReturn of the Living Dead never really dove into much. It's absolute madness. Those dusty vampires from before have spread the infection, except they have now become more like rotting zombies. The working class kind. Next thing you know, there's Ghostbusters style bright lights flying through the sky, and more space-bats than you can shake a stick at! Boobzilla comes back from the beginning, to suck up "lifeforce" from all the surrounding zombies, and you never really understand the aliens true motives. Then there is crazy soul consuming sex.
The film came out. It bombed. The 80s concluded. Turns out that audiences were way more into this Star Wars thing, rather than what Cannon promised to be the sci-fi event of the decade. Another decade passes. It remains undiscovered, but still a fantastic little B-movie gem from the masters of the genre. It's a film that is epic in scope. It's batshit insane. It's pure, unfiltered science fiction. It has many flaws, such as some of the very cornball dialogue, but it fits in with the atmosphere of the film. See it.
In loving memory of Dan O' Bannon. He only wrote movies for the best.
P.S. The DVD copy of Lifeforce is different then the much tighter theatrical cut. If you can find it on VHS, or go see it on the big screen, then do so before getting the DVD. It has recently played at a couple rep cinemas in Toronto. Definitely the kind of movie to see on the big screen, or at least with a group of people.
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