Really Surprised!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Ah 1985, as the song says "still preoccupied with 1985". That's got to be my favorite year. I was 19 turning 20 that year and surprisingly, I did not see this movie on the big screen, even though I caught just about every flick I could back in the day, I don't recall hearing about this one or any fervor or hoopla over it, at least not in my little circle. I saw this years later on cable and love it! I've not seen it in many years and once again caught it on cable and oh how wonderful it was/is. Before CGI, movie studios had to use more conventional special affects, molds, man made dolls, animation, animatronics, etc. For it's time this was a first rate effort. The special affects, while now a little dated, are still amazing to me when viewed in context. This movie is a horror scifi vampire movie. With all the English actors and accents it feels like an updated Hammer film and I've always loved hammer, although it's not. I highly recommend this as best in class for that error and Mathilda May, what more can be said there, nudity abounds, woohoo, still preoccupied with 1985.

A race of space vampires run amok in London, England and threaten to destroy the human race. It's up to hysterical astronaut Colonel Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback at his most manic and intense) to stop them before it's too late.Director Tobe Hooper, working from a positively loopy script by Dan O'Bannon and Dan Jacoby, treats the delightfully bent, batty, and berserk story with utmost (often unintentionally sidesplitting)seriousness, puts a fresh and wacky sci-fi spin on the standard vampire premise (these deadly beings suck energy instead of blood), cuts loose with all kinds of funky special effects, and pulls out all exciting stops for a truly insane apocalyptic grand finale with shriveled-up zombies rampaging through a burning London. The fact that such respectable thespians as Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Michael Gothard, Patrick Stewart, and Aubrey Morris play their silly parts with admirable straight faces further enhances this film's considerable kitschy appeal. Best of all, voluptuous brunette knockout Mathilda May as the dangerously seductive space girl spends the bulk of her screen time in her spectacularly sumptuous birthday suit. The hilariously clunky dialogue boasts a wealth of gut-busting tin-eared howlers (choice cruddy line: "Collect the pieces and watch them"). Alan Hume's handsome cinematography makes exquisite use of the widescreen format. Henry Mancini's rich'n'robust orchestral score hits the rousing spot. An astounding camp classic.

Lifeforce is an interesting little film. It's a sci-fi horror film, and it's pretty odd. It's got its fair share of 80's cheese in it, along with some really cool special effects that are great to see. It's one of those films you watch and say "well that was pretty cool".The story is essentially about vampire aliens that come from space and invade earth, sucking out the "lifeforce" from humans. In a way its silly, but it's a lot of fun. My main issue is that there's a good 25 or 30 minutes (possibly more) in the middle of the film that kind of drag. It's a shame because the first act is really interesting, the third act of the film kinda goes all out, but a lot of the second act just kinda goes on. I think this film would have got a higher score from me with a more engaging 2nd act.As I said, this film can be pretty cheesy, and the acting is certainly part of that. A lot of the performances are hammy and odd, but it kinda gives the film a charm. There's also a performance by Mathilda May that is quite... revealing. (i.e. she is naked the whole time and is extremely attractive) This is certainly not a film for people who want to see Oscar winning performances, but they can still be quite enjoyable in their own way.Probably the best thing about this film is the visuals. There's a lot of great special effects that make the film pop. One scene in particular is a "dream" sequence that is really colorfully lit. There's also a scene where a "dead" body reanimates and it's a really cool practical effect.I can certainly see why this is kind of a cult hit of sorts. It has all of those fun elements that make a cult film, and I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to have a little fun. It won't blow you away, but you will have a good time.

I watched 'Lifeforce' for the first time around 1990 on video tape. Rediscovering it on Blu-ray disc a quarter of a century later is however like watching it for the first time. Not only does HD a lot more justice to a 70mm movie than a tape did, but also the Director's Cut runs a quarter of an hour longer than the old cinema version. Most cuts happened during the first third of the movie: the opening scenes in space are shortened considerably, much taking place during the titles now, not after them, and also when the SAS agent begins to investigate what has happened on the spacecraft, the dialogs were cut by several minutes. These are obviously no censorship cuts (I mean, what do you think could have been cut for that reason if the zombies and the full frontal nudity remained?), but nevertheless I'm really opposed to the short version since I watched the longer version, because the extended scenes in space are impressive, and the investigation contains more mystery and suspense if it is not over too quickly. Mind you, the second half of the movie is a bit rushed even in the extended version, take the scene when they visit the Prime Minister for instance, blink and you missed it. No tea, thanks, got to go now...The ambition of the expensive production is admittedly hampered somewhat by the ludicrous story, but 'Lifeforce' deserves to be a cult movie for a simple reason: Nobody can make a movie like that - nevertheless they did. 25 million dollar movies usually are well calculated factory products, carefully balanced and adjusted to the taste of a major audience with many test screenings. You can't do 'Bloodsucking Zombies Meet My Girlfriend From Mars' with a huge budget, any reasonable Hollywood producer would think you are insane. 'Lifeforce' just pulls it off, though. It is a wild mixture of '2001', 'Alien', 'Quatermass', and on top of it all, the sexiest female star since 'Barbarella'. What's not to love?