Joseph Howell
“It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time” is a series that focuses on movies that either have a bad critical reputation, bombed in the box office or serve as guilty pleasures. It will largely focus on genre movies, though I will venture outside of that area
There are many groups of “Big Fours.” In thrash, it’s: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. In Hip-Hop, I’d say it’s: Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy, N.W.A. and A Tribe Called Quest. So, what about movies? In that regard, I’d say the big four in American Horror are: George Romero, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and Tobe Hooper.
Interestingly enough, it seemed at first that Hooper was going to be the one that was going to have the most mainstream success. Sure, he started out with “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and followed that up with “Eaten Alive.” Afterwards he did a TV movie adaptation of “Salem’s Lot”, a fun 40’s horror homage disguised as a slasher movie for Universal called “The Funhouse”, and a little Spielberg produced movie called “Poltergeist.” Or he kind of directed it. The history of it all would take forever to explain, but for the sake of this article, let’s just say he directed “Poltergeist.”
“Poltergeist” of course, was something of a phenomenon. Loved by audiences and critics alike, it was a surprise hit that took Hooper from ‘Guy who made independent films in Texas’ to ‘Guy that just made a shit ton of cash with a haunted house movie’ and presented him as not just a man, but the man that was going to bring major studio horror back in a big way.
The follow up to “Poltergeist” was obviously a lot of pressure not only for Hooper, but for the studio that would bankroll it. That studio was Cannon, who were kind of like the Lionsgate of their time. Like Lionsgate, they were a studio that sometimes put out respectable films (“Barfly”) and a lot more junk food (so many to count, so for a sampling: the “Breakin'” movies, “Death Wish III”, The “American Ninja” films, “Missing in Action”, “Cobra,” etc.) that weren’t huge blockbuster movies, but usually made their money back. Like Lionsgate, they wanted a big, multimillion dollar hit that would have a big budget for its time (around $25 million) that would make them a major player in Hollywood.
Golan and Globus decided that it would be an adaptation of the Colin Wilson novel, “The Space Vampires,” a novel that wasn’t a massive hit, but it was going to be directed by a man that directed one. Hell, have “Alien” co-writer Dan O’Bannon (whose other credits include “Return of the Living Dead”, the F-15 segment in “Heavy Metal,” and two underrated films in “Dead and Buries” and “The Resurrected”) and it seemed like they had a huge hit on their hands. Unfortunately, it only made a little over $11 million of its budget back in the box-office, and Hooper’s next two films for the company (remake of “Invaders From Mars” and a gory, blackly comic sequel to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) were also financial disappointments that essentially killed his chances of being a big name in major studio horror. Guys like Wes Craven and John Carpenter would still have success, but Hooper and George Romero weren’t so lucky.
The story for “Lifeforce” begins with the crew of a spaceship called he Churchill finding a very large (150 mile radius) space ship that holds hundreds of shriveled up bat-like creatures and three naked, human looking bodies. In the process, mission control loses contact with its shuttle, and an investigation goes underway, with the only thing left undamaged being the three containers that contain the alien lifeforms. Said containers are brought to life and are looked over by Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finley) and Dr. Leonard Bukosvski (Michael Gothard) watching over them. Eventually, the female of the alien trio (Matilda May) awakens, and sucks the “life force” out of a guard (hence the title and space vampire angle.)
Moving on to Texas, an escape pod from the Churchill has been found, as has lone survivor Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback.) Flying to London, Carlsen explains what happened to the crew, and that it was he who set the shuttle on fire in hopes of saving earth. It also becomes clear that he possesses a psychic link to the female vampire, and soon he and SAS Col. Colin Caine (Peter Firth) must find a way to stop the alien beings once and for all, though Carlsen’s connection to the female of that group isn’t going to make it easy…
Before I go on and on about the movie itself, I guess I might as well talk about what fans of the film in general love to talk about the most: Matilda May. A ballet dancer without much prior acting experience, she actually does a great job playing the main antagonist without having to say much. However, it’s not her performance people remember, but the fact that she is completely naked 99% of the time, and has one of the best pair of breasts in horror history. I hope I don’t sound too lascivious, but it’s impossible to ignore.
As for the movie itself – it’s actually a hell of a lot of fun. Most of the acting is pretty good (except for Railsback, who overacts to the point of annoyance), the direction by Tobe Hooper is top notch and works well within the realm of blockbuster film making, the cinematography and special effects work are amazing (the fact that John Dykstra, whose visual effects credits include “Star Wars”, “Spider-Man” and it’s sequel, “X-Men: First Class”, “Django Unchained,” and “Inglourious Basterds” worked on this helps a lot), and the score by Henry Mancini is energetic and to use an overused phrase, epic in scope. Watching it, I couldn’t help but be disappointed it bombed not just for Hooper’s sake, but for the fact that it’s a very well put together Summer movie that’s never boring and managed to engage me even in it’s most ridiculous moments.
And boy, does this have some insane moments. In fact, it’s easily one of the strangest, most positively bonkers horror movies ever financed by a major studio. There are several moments, but there are two in particular that stand out. The first of which sees the vampire woman possess Dr. Armstrong (Patrick Stewart) and- well, for lack of a better phrasing, Steve Railsback and Patrick Stewart kiss one another. The other is the big conclusion, in which souls are sucked out left and right, shit blows up, vampire bat/alien things come to life, and the populace of London turns into a bunch of shriveled up zombies. It’s absolutely daffy and equally awesome, like a big budget hybrid of Mario Bava’s “Planet of the Vampires”, Hammer’s “Quartermass and the Pit,” and an 80’s style monster movie wrapped up in one tasty burrito.
Is “Lifeforce” Hooper’s best film? No, but I’d say it’s his most underrated. The whole thing is filled with energy and pulpy thrills that sometimes seem lacking in major studio horror today. It may have killed his career in Hollywood, but at least he made a fun movie in the process. A lot of directors can’t say that.
Poster Credit: mypostercollection.com
Next Time: Seth Rogen – Mall Cop and Violent Vigilante.
