Lifeforce Blu-ray Review
What’s It About? When the space shuttle Churchill comes across a spaceship hidden in the corona of Halley’s Comet they investigate and find three humanoids. Returning to Earth with their new cargo soon proves costly as the aliens turn out to be life-sucking space vampires that start to infect the populace of London by taking their life force. It’s left to Churchill astronaut Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsbeck) to prevent certain destruction by this alien race.
Verdict: There’s a sinister vibe given off in the first third of the film that should amount to an explosive finale, because a survival film plays deep to our emotions. Sexy vampires in space should be a winning formula, especially as Lifeforce’s original release was during one of the high periods of the sci-fi genre. Yet it feels far too disjointed for the film to hit the genre hard and be crowned as a classic alongside masterpieces such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien. Sadly Lifeforce doesn’t hold its high tempo for the middle third of the film and instead it troops from one research lab to another without any special results, and as such the plot becomes dull and incredibly repetitive. It digs itself out of its slumber in the final 20 minutes when it goes all out for the end of the world. Whilst this is rather exciting and fast-paced, it comes too late to recapture the the initial glint of a great sci-fi film.
The acting is a bit too stiff-upper-lip British to care about anyone, except the sexy female space vampire, played by Mathilda May, who gives a great course in seducing and then sucking life from those drawn to her. If you’ve seen Hooper’s work in Poltergeist (did he really direct?), then you instantly recognise the blue swirling mist, but this time it’s a life force energy rather than a ghost. It still looks the same and has that creepy, strange vibe to it that can only signify mysteriousness. The effects were ahead of their time when it was originally released, and they still hold up very well now with care and attention being paid to all effects and make-up throughout the film. The deterioration of the human form is particularly chilling to watch and rather beautifully done.
Extras: This double Blu-ray pack has got fans of the film covered, including three separate commentaries from director Tobe Hooper, Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Douglas Smith (some great stories about how they produced and shot the lifeforce) and lastly from make-up artist Nick Maley (who talks about the extensive make-up jobs required for the draining scenes). There are individual interviews with Tobe Hooper, Mathilda May and Steve Railsback that look back on their time filming. But the real winner in this release is the UK-exclusive ‘Cannon Fodder – The Making Of Lifeforce’, a one hour documentary about the highs and lows of making such a ground-breaking film. The second disc has the original theatrical release, which runs at fifteen minutes less than the original version.
Final Words: Without the sloppy and rather dreary middle third, Lifeforce would have been a sci-fi classic. Vampires in space get morphed into an end-of-the-world disaster movie that loses its way and never fully regains it. Forever to remain in the space between cult and fandom.
Lifeforce is available on Blu-ray from 14 October 2013.
Drew Cummings
Posted on Sunday 3rd November, 2013, 2:59pm
You need to know the real story. Every behind-the-scenes clip on this special edition Blu Ray DVD was produced and directed by Drew Cummings. I and my production company own all rights to the behind-the-scenes content which was produced as a half-hour show (not a featurette) from my 1980’s TV series titled “The Making Of:…, and it is being used without our permission. My crew and I spent almost a month on the set of the film at Elstree Studios, and traveled to Christ Church with John Dykstra to film the miniature city of London scene for the burning of London scene in the movie. I financed these shows, own the copyrights to the shows, and have personal releases from all cast and crew members. MGM was aware of this and did not contact me to license the footage. Not only have I not been compensated, but my name as the producer/director on this special footage is never mentioned. I have never given permission to MGM or any other entity to use this footage or interviews. I am also the producer and director of other Making Of: shows such as Terminator, Robocop, Nightmare On Elm Street, My Left Foot, Delta Force, and 40 other films. The behind-the-scenes footage and half-hour episode of Lifeforce from my series is some of my best work.
I would just like to be shown some respect and recognition as someone who was the first producer/director to have a weekly television half-hour series in the U.S. and over 22 foreign countries during the 80’s to bring this unique behind-the-scenes look at filmmaking. This long-form half hour docu-tainment (not featurette) was first introduced by me at a time where a few brave studios and directors like James Cameron and SFX geniuses like Stan Winston, John Dykstra, and Nick Maley took the chance to reveal how movie-magic was created. My deal with the studios was to allow me and my crew access to the set of the film (worldwide) for a period of usually two to three weeks. We would pay for all production and post-production costs, and own the copyrights to the show and all behind-the-scenes footage. In return we would air the half-hour episode one week prior to the theatrical release of the film in over 60% of the U.S TV households. Slowly the studios and distributors caught on and started producing long-form docu-tainment shows themselves. I am proud of my contributions to this genre of the format and form that defines “The Making Of:” worldwide.