Just saw this last night after not seeing it since I was a kid (saw it on TV, heavily edited, but it still scared the bejesus outta me.) WHEW! What can I say? Its completely and totally insane. What a fun, crazy mess of a film. I gotta buy it now.
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I couldn't believe it was based on a book, cuz it was so all-over-the-place-and-everywhere but sure enough Colin Wilson wrote "The Space Vampires" and Igottatellya, Tobe Hooper really did it justice.
Yes! An insane and highly entertaining film! Half of the time I was in disbelief of what I was seeing. It was one of the craziest films I've seen.
"We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?" - Norman Bates
I hated it back then, for I wanted a serious film and not something over-the-top. Well, several years ago a friend bought it on DVD and we watched it. I was astonished at just how fun the film really was. I too ran out and bought it!
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OK, so what's the speed of dark?
Yeah - it wouldn't be one for a serious mood - you could wade through its deepest moments and still keep your ankles dry.
Of course if you are in the mood for some seriously stupid space vampire fun - it ROCKS !
This movie is by far one of the best, cheesiest, campiest, sci-fi movies ever made. It's awesomely campy, and that's what makes it so much fun!!!
shareI just saw it and loved it.
Do you know of any similar films? :)
"All over the place" is about as apt a description as any I could think of for something as NUTS as this film! That's why I LOVE it!
I mean, what other film can you think of that goes from rather creepy outer space scenes to Mathilda May to zombies...and eventually to the entire city of London being destroyed? It has everything!
But...yes, I can think of one other that's similar, in that it goes from one extreme to the other and then on to the next: Quatermass and the Pit. (It even winds up with the entire city of London being destroyed!...no Mathilda May, though.)
Cheesy it is not. This film has good production values.
"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."
I'm so happy to see that other peope love this movie for the same reasons I do!
Lifeforce is the gay pride parade of horror movies: so joyously, unashamedly "out there", taste-be-damned, over-the-top extravaganza.
With everything going for it, though, Steve Railsback deserves special mention as the glue holding it together. He tops himself with his most zealously ovrwrought perfomance ever - just decribing a hitchhiker placing her hand on a man's knee makes him break down and sob. The man's a total, quivering wreck throughout. How can ya not love this?
It's also a more faithful rendering of Dracula than most that call themselves "Dracula". Yes, I know it's based on a novel, but I assume the novel folloed Stoker's book while transplanting it into a future setting.
And Mathilda May...beam me up. Now. Please.
(substitute Mardi Gras in the analogy if you need to.)
Yeah this movie scared the *beep* out of me as a kid, I ordered it off Ebayed and really enjoyed it, such a crazy weird entertaining movie.
share(Pardon me, guys, I know this thread was pretty much dead, but I was back looking over some of my old posts and noticed...)
Um...you saw this as a KID??? With MATHILDA MAY???
<h1>MATHILDA MAY?????</h1>
And you were just a KID???
Wow! Stuff like that would set my entire future ahead of me for life!
(Hope everyone else understands the html! lol)
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A different time frame here, growing up with the B&Ws, back when "This Island Earth" was "Zowie!"... but I agree. Railsback is excellent (the 116-minute WS/LBX version *only*, as of now anyway!); he's into every moment (unlike the likely relative or in-law of some producer or director, who 'played' the hapless crewmate being interviewed about the onbaord mishap, who was just plain bad -- the only one, thankfully). I didn't care for/wouldn't have cast Firth (esp. as a military guy; his acting was not bad); most all were very good. It's *not* easy for actors to make/regurgitate banal corn and cheese dialogue and be believeable! Add Mathida May's lovely presence, A-list F/X (cutting edge *for its time*), an A-list composer, a quality Director, + darkened ham = a Classic! Most unfortunately (as too usual), the idiot (apparently) Prodco didn't know that (and/or the censor board -- and yes, it is! -- did them in!??), as the theater release was too disjointed and *much* less pleasureable a view than is the DVD. (And what a view... I'd have loved a bit more light on the subject.) It still looks primo (vs. today's lot); I thought sure it must have been remastered!? But, apparently not. I doubt the F/X could do as well today, exc'g the transformations totally w/o cut-aways.
Excellent fun! Right up there with (or over) "Return of the Living Dead." A great Double-bill for some venue with foresight, f.t.m.!
I love this film!!
shareI actually love this crazy flop, and own the 116-minute version on DVD. Mathilda May's brave nude scenes notwithstanding, I really like the genuine tension they build toward the end when Peter Firth (armed only with a pistol) summons the courage to enter burning, vampire-overrun London in a desperate effort to save the world!
sharei saw this in the theater when i was 12 going on 13. i think Mathilda May might have caused me to go through puberty
xD
LOL this film is so insane I don't know how anyone could NOT like it, it's absolutely bonkers. And Mathilda... !!!
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The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime
I wholeheartedly agree with every previous post. Such a wild ride. Great late night fodder. On a personal note, my first experience with this film was catching the climax late one night whilst I was "under the influence". I became convinced that the theme music was the greatest ever composed for anything. Having now experienced it sober, my mind has not changed.
shareI concur. The sheer giddy absurdity of the whole thing makes this one an absolute kitschy hoot to watch.
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