What do you get when you team the director of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” with the writer of “Alien,” the special effects supervisor of “Star Wars,” and the composer of “The Pink Panther?”
Why, an apocalyptic science fiction horror movie about naked French vampires from outer space, of course!
Expect no less from The Cannon Group, which, in the 1980s, under the guidance of the stunningly prolific Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, kept our cinemas supplied with a steady stream of low-budget candidates for some of worst movies ever made.
Oddly, “Lifeforce” (1985) actually had a respectable budget, a creative team with an impressive track record (“Poltergeist,” released two years earlier, was the biggest hit of director Tobe Hooper’s career), and Mathilda May in all her glory, more special than any special effect in the entire movie.
Yes, I saw it in the theater. Which means 30-foot-high naked French vampires from space!
For all May’s considerable charms, “Lifeforce” turned out to be a draining experience – less from harrowing suspense, unfortunately, than from numbing ennui. But returning to the film now, nearly 40 years later, I find more appreciation of its goofy retro vibe. It’s the kind of film that, 60 or 70 years ago, would have had Bernard Quatermass staving off extraterrestrial threats to humanity.
One miscalculation was in changing the film’s original title from “The Space Vampires,” the name of Colin Wilson’s novel, upon which it was based. It would only have lent to the pulpy tone and perhaps prepared audiences for a nostalgic mélange of B-movie exploitation.
As it was, a would-be blockbuster that should have had everything going for it, “Lifeforce” was a box-office flop. Who knew the world wasn’t ready for naked French vampires from outer space?
All will be revealed when Roy and I unveil the secrets of “Lifeforce,” on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave your bald assessments in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:30 EDT!
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