Lifeforce (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the arcade game, see Life Force (arcade game).
| Lifeforce | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster |
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| Directed by | Tobe Hooper |
| Produced by | Yoram Globus Menahem Golan |
| Written by | Novel: Colin Wilson Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon Don Jakoby |
| Starring | Steve Railsback Peter Firth Frank Finlay Patrick Stewart |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Distributed by | Tri-Star Pictures (U.S.); Cannon Film Distributors (non-U.S.) |
| Release date(s) | June 21, 1985 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 116 min. / USA:101 min. (edited version) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25,000,000 (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lifeforce is a 1985 science fiction film directed by Tobe Hooper. Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, from the novel Space Vampires by Colin Wilson. Starring Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Patrick Stewart, Aubrey Morris, Michael Gothard, Nicholas Ball.
While investigating Halley's Comet, an Anglo-American space mission aboard the space shuttle HMS Churchill, finds a large spaceship hidden in the comet's nucleus. Upon entering the spacecraft, the shuttle crew finds three human bodies, two male and one female (played by Mathilda May), in suspended animation in the spacecraft. The shuttle starts the return trip to Earth with the three beings. On Earth, Mission Control loses communication with the shuttle. As it nears Earth, a rescue mission is conducted. The rescuers find the Churchill gutted by fire, except for the three suspended animation cases bearing the aliens. The three are taken to earth where they eventually unleash havoc. They are actually members of a race of space vampires that consume the lifeforce from living beings and send it to their ship.
The three vampires escape from confinement and proportionally transform most of London's population into zombies. Once "zombified", the victims cycle into living-dead every two hours and seek out the 'lifeforce' of the living. These people also become zombies.
The only survivor of the shuttle mission Carlsen (played by Railsback), British colonel Caine (played by Firth) and scientist Fallada (played by Finlay) attempt to find and kill the space vampires before the entire planet's population becomes undead.
Lifeforce stars Steve Railsback as the leader of the shuttle mission and Mathilda May as the beautiful (and mostly naked) female space vampire. Frank Finlay and Peter Firth have supporting roles as the British authorities pursuing the vampires and Patrick Stewart plays a minor role as the director of a psychiatric institution. The movie features a stirring score by the late Henry Mancini.
The plot has some similarities to 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle, The Quatermass Experiment, and The Omega Man.
[edit] Additional Info
- The film was edited for U.S. release by Tri-Star Pictures to a 101-minute version that was partially re-scored by Michael Kamen (a majority of Henry Mancini's original music did remain). The original 116-minute international version (with all the footage and the entirety of Mancini's music) is available on DVD.
- Colin Wilson has a very low opinion of this screen adaption of his novel. He writes in his autobiography (Dreaming To Some Purpose, 2004, p.332): "John Fowles had once told me that the film of The Magus was the worst movie ever made. After seeing Lifeforce I sent him a postcard telling him that I had gone one better."
- The film features special effects by Academy Award winner John Dykstra.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Lifeforce at the Internet Movie Database
Eggshells • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre • Eaten Alive • The Funhouse • Poltergeist • Lifeforce • Invaders from Mars • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 • Spontaneous Combustion • The Mangler • Crocodile • Toolbox Murders • Mortuary
