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Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Patrick Stewart ... see more see more... , Michael Gothard , Nicholas Ball , Aubrey Morris , Nancy Paul , John Hallam , Christopher Barr , Patrick Connor , Paul Cooper , David English , Edward Evans , Julian Firth , Michael Fitzpatrick , John Forbes-Robertson , John Golightly , Emma Jacobs , Chris Jagger , Sydney Kean , John Keegan , Bill Malin , Ken Parry , Peter Porteous , Carl Rigg , Katherine Schofield , Burnell Tucker , John Woodnut , Jerome Willis , Thom Booker , Rupert Baker , David Beckett , Derek Benfield , Milton Cadman , Brian Carroll , Nicholas Donnelly , John Edmunds , Geoffrey Frederick , Gary Hildreth , Owen Holder , William Lindsay , Peter Lovstrom , Elizabeth Morton , Richard Oldfield , Michael John Paliotti , Jamie Roberts , Richard Sharpe , Russell Sommers , Chris Sullivan , Haydn Wood , Sydney Livingstone , Steve Firth

Director Tobe Hooper adapts Colin Wilson's edgy novel The Space Vampires in this in this horror/sci-fi epic with a cult following. The story concerns a joint British-American space probe of Hailey's C... read more read more...omet. Inside the comet, the astronauts, headed by Carlsen (Steve Railsback), find a spaceship that contains the dead bodies of several aliens, along with the naked bodies of three human-like creatures in suspended animation. They bring the aliens aboard the ship for examination, but the specimens are sloppily guarded and soon the trio spread contagion among the population of the ship. Returning to earth, the beautiful space vampire (Mathilda May) escapes into London and begins to feed of the bodies of the unwary Britons, turning the city into a zombie-populated wasteland. It is now left for Carlsen to stop the vampire invaders. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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41% liked it

8,593 ratings

Critics

57% liked it

14 critics

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Tobe Hooper

Release Date: June 21, 1985

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DVD Release Date: May 26, 1998

Stats: 547 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (547)

  • blkbomb
    August 27, 2011
    blkbomb
    Space Girl: The web of destiny carries your blood and soul back to the genesis of my lifeform. 

    "In a blink of an eye, the terror begins."

    Lifeforce is the first Tobe Hooper film I haven't liked. Granted I have only seen four of  his movies. But I loved the other three I have s... read moreeen; Poltergeist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Funhouse. Poltergeist and TCM are considered two elite films when it comes to the horror genre. But Lifeforce is borderline unwatchable. It's ridiculous but cool premise washes away after about 20 minutes and starts becoming a boring mix of vampires and zombies.

    When the best part of a movie is a vampires body, then there's something really wrong with the movie. I hate to say it but when they put clothes on the girl is when I lost interest. There was something watchable about a naked girl walking slowly around and causing crazy stuff to happen that didn't translate well to that same girl walking around in clothes causing crazy stuff to happen.

    Lifeforce is a bad sci-fi film. It's definitely not very memorable like Poltergeist or TCM, or even The Funhouse. It's not fun to watch and actually just keeps getting more and more boring as the movie goes on. It's not really worth a look unless you like bad horror movies a lot. But be aware that this movie doesn't fall into the so bad, it's good category of horror. It's just bad.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    August 15, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Lifeforce is one of the weakest of Tobe Hooper's films. This had the potential of being a good film, but it failed on so many levels. I thought that the film was a massive disappointment and I think it's one Hooper's worst. What really sucks about the film is that Dan O'Bannon wr... read moreote the film, and he was an extraordinary talent in the horror genre. However Hooper rewrote it, and destroyed some of O'Bannon's ideas. Even O'Bannon expressed distaste at what Hooper did to this film. I thought it could've been something great, but it fails big time. I think that this film is very overrated and it doesn't deserve the praise it has gotten. The films only worth it for the special effects, that's it. There's nothing else going for it. The film is a poorly executed horror film that fails miserably and doesn't have anything interesting going on. The ideas were good, but the execution is sloppy. I watched this film with great expectations and was let down. I was very disappointed in the end result of Life Force. There may be Life in the title, but there's definitely no life in the story and on screen for that matter. A poorly made and boring horror film that simply fails to entertain because there's nothing going on on screen. The sad thing is, is that this could have been something truly good, but when you have a good script, and does a rewrite, well sometimes the film is a massive failure, and this is what happened with Lifeforce. Avoid this film, it's quite bad, and it is one of Tobe Hooper's worst.
  • BEACHBUNNI
    April 23, 2011
    BEACHBUNNI
    A British and American joint shuttle mission (aboard the shuttle Churchill) is up above the earths atmosphere doing research on the comet when they notice something weird clinging onto the front of it and they get a radar readout and see that it is a craft of some sort, the cre... read morew is able to get the shuttle close enough to do a spacewalk and investigate the craft and Col. Tom Carlsen takes his crew into an open spot and sees hundreds of dead bat like creatures, and they have been drained of all of their fluids. While investigating, a portal opens up and the crew decides to go inside to check out whats actually in the inner layer of the ship. They discover three human figures, two male and one female enclosed in some sort of crystal cases. They are all drawn to the figures and loosen their cases and bring them back upon the ship. 30 days later the shuttle is due to arrive back on earth, but when they hear no radio communication, another shuttle is dispatched to dock up with them and find out what went wrong, the entire crew of the original shuttle is found to be burnt to a crisp and the three alien figures are brought back to earth. funnily enough, the escape pod from the shuttle is missing.......
  • ajv2688
    January 19, 2011
    ajv2688
    This is a very interesting movie it's a sci-fi vampire movie. It's unique and very interesting to watch, if you like sci-fi movies and vampire movies you should check this one out.
  • flixsterman
    August 15, 2010
    flixsterman
    Poor Mathilda May. The only thing more sparse than her dialog was her wardrobe.
  • adammahler1
    July 5, 2010
    adammahler1
    Possibly a whole movie about the fear of orgasm, particularly inside someone you may be in love with ... Anyway, the light-energy effects are incredible and the animatronic/make-up effects are good rip-offs of the films of the time (The Thing, Return of the Living Dead). Unique a... read morend ripe for a contemporary rip-off: a glob of blood and tissue suspended in the air and transforming into... The plot is interesting but sprawls with half-concepts. The exploration of the alien craft sequence is cut short of the dread that would have played out. It's like a birth canal or uterus lined with metallic edges of geometric teeth and strung with huge fanged bat-like creatures which may only be sleeping. "I feel I've been here before ..." the hero says. Whenever the movie starts to freak out about sex and desire and death, it decides to make a joke out of itself. Mathilda May is the only actor who refuses to play to the ham humor aspect of the script. She's great and not only because of her body. She knows that when she gets her clothes off, the joke's on the men.
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    Absolutely fantastic! Sci-fi vampires, zombies, murderous (and naked) woman destroying human kind in this, very British fantasy extravaganza! Great effects, great (Bad) acting, this is the last great B-movie! Sure its borrowed some ideas but just watch it and see how many films ... read morehave ripped it off. I love it!
  • 366weirdmovies
    September 25, 2009
    366weirdmovies
    A naked space vampire looses an apocalyptic plague upon London. A fun b-movie that's not afraid to look ridiculous; Mathilda May is stunningly perfect as the naked vampire, and it's her almost constantly nude performance that everyone remembers most.
  • Stinger839
    September 5, 2008
    Stinger839
    Texas Chainsaw Massacre messiah Tobe Hooper shows us his big invasion/human plague movie using extraterrestrial psychic vampires smuggled to Earth via Halley's Comet and then a crew aboard the space station Churchill, monitoring it. Once the plague hits Earth, the male protagonis... read moret is already set on a quest for the female antagonist. Nice modern adaptation of the Dracula themes, especially in terms of life and sexuality, this movie seeks, like the original tale, to affirm binaries by insistence that there is genuine evil. I'm in type most of what I'm thinking mode today. And the main thing I thought through this was - okay, but move it along. For what it is - an 80s movie about the end of the world via alien psychic vampires - it is decent, but it adds no satirical punch or genuine take home messages. It's just lukewarm and can't stir a viewer either way. Another movie (in the grand majority) that can't connect the gap between fantastical story elements and relatable central themes/emotions.
  • puffchunk
    November 20, 2007
    puffchunk
    Pretty cool vampire zombie effects. Smoking hot alien chick. Pretty TERRIBLE dialog and acting. Especially the captain. "Why do i feel so close to you!?"

View All Lifeforce Reviews

Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce
February 14, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Far from the nonsensical, failed-blockbuster of its maudit reputation, the movie is a ravishing renewal of the genre hollowed out by Star Wars Full Review

Nick Schager
April 6, 2009
Nick Schager, The Screengrab

Frequently outlandish and far from profound, it's nonetheless a box-office bomb that, like its horror-maestro director, deserved quite a bit better. Full Review

Ken Hanke
August 14, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Superior sci-fi horror.

Jon Niccum
June 7, 2003
Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World

Special effects (and plot) run amok

Widgett Walls
November 17, 2002
Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com

An interesting premise quickly degenerates into a bad zombie flick that doesn't follow its own rules.

Rob Vaux
November 1, 2002
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

Quite possibly the silliest horror movie ever made. On the other hand, you get to see Patrick Stewart kiss a man full on the mouth.

Jeremy Heilman
July 25, 2002
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com

A better than average space vampire flick.

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 22, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

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Lifeforce Trivia

  • In "Lifeforce" what is the name of the actor that is the ultimate focus of the aliens?  Answer »
  • A sensuous alien unleashes sex-starved vampires on London in this movie.   Answer »
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