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Lifeforce (film)
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Main page Lifeforce is a 1985 British science fiction horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, written by
Lifeforce
Contents Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, and starring Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay,
Current events Mathilda May, and Patrick Stewart. Based on Colin Wilson's 1976 novel The Space
Random article Vampires, the film portrays the events that unfold after a trio of humanoids in a state of
About Wikipedia
suspended animation are brought to Earth after being discovered in the hold of an alien
Contact us
space ship by the crew of a European space shuttle.[8]
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The film received negative reviews on release and was a box office failure, but has since
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become a cult film.[9][10][11]
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1 Plot
Recent changes
2 Cast
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3 Development
Tools 3.1 Background
What links here 3.2 Screenplay
Related changes 3.3 Casting
Special pages
4 Production
Permanent link Theatrical release poster
4.1 Special effects
Page information Directed by Tobe Hooper
Cite this page
4.2 Music
Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon
Wikidata item 4.3 Editing and post-production
Don Jakoby
5 Release
Print/export Based on The Space Vampires
5.1 Critical response
by Colin Wilson
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 Printable version 5.2 Home media Produced by Yoram Globus
6 See also Menahem Golan
Languages
7 Explanatory notes Starring Steve Railsback
Català Peter Firth
8 Citations
Deutsch Frank Finlay
Español
9 General references Mathilda May
Français 10 External links Cinematography Alan Hume
Italiano Edited by John Grover
日本語
Music by Henry Mancini[1]
Polski Plot [ edit ]
Português
Production Cannon Films
The crew of the joint British and American space shuttle Churchill, under the command of company
Русский
Colonel Tom Carlsen, finds a 150-mile-long (240 km) spaceship hidden in the coma of Distributed by TriStar Pictures
4 more Release date 21 June 1985
Halley's Comet. Inside, the crew discovers hundreds of desiccated bat-like creatures and
Edit links three naked humanoid bodies (two male and one female) in suspended animation within Running time 101 minutes
glass containers. The crew recovers a bat-alien and the three bodies and begins the return (theatrical cut)[2][3]
116 minutes
trip to Earth. However, during the return journey, mission control loses contact with
("international cut")[3][4]
Churchill. A rescue mission is launched to investigate.
Country United Kingdom[5]
The rescuers discover that Churchill has been gutted by fire. The present crew are dead, Language English
and the escape pod is missing, yet the three containers bearing the bodies remain intact. Budget $25 million[6]
The bodies are taken to the European Space Research Centre in London. Prior to an
Box office $11.6 million (US)[7]
autopsy, the female alien awakens and drains the life force out of a guard. She then
escapes the facility and proceeds to drain other humans of their life force, revealing an ability to shapeshift. The guard revives after two
hours and also displays the ability to drain others of their life force. Soon thereafter, the two male vampires awaken and attempt a violent
escape, but they are apparently destroyed by grenades thrown by the guards.

Meanwhile, in Texas, an escape pod from Churchill is found with Carlsen inside. Carlsen is flown to London, where he describes the
course of events, culminating in the draining of the Churchill crew's life force. Carlsen explains that he set fire to the shuttle with the
intention of saving Earth from the same fate and escaped in the pod. However, when he is hypnotised, it becomes clear that Carlsen
possesses a psychic link to the female alien. Carlsen admits to Caine that, while on Churchill, he felt compelled to open the female
vampire's container and share his life force with her. Carlsen and SAS Colonel Colin Caine trace her to a psychiatric hospital in Yorkshire.
The two believe they have managed to trap her within the heavily sedated body of the hospital's manager, Dr. Armstrong. Carlsen and
Caine later learn they were deceived, as the aliens had wanted to draw them out of London.

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 The two male vampires have survived by shapeshifting into the soldiers who killed their previous bodies, and now the pair are infecting
most of London's population. As Carlsen and Caine are transporting Dr. Armstrong back to London, the female alien escapes from her
sedated host and disappears. Martial law is declared as the vampire plague sweeps through the city; the victims seeking out other
humans to absorb their life force and perpetuate the cycle. The absorbed life forces are channeled by the male vampires to the female
vampire, who transmits the accumulated energy to their spaceship, which is now in geosynchronous orbit over London.

Dr. Fallada impales one of the male vampires with an ancient weapon of "leaded iron". He contacts Carlsen and Caine and surmises that
the creatures have visited Earth periodically with the coming of Halley's Comet, creating the vampire legends. He delivers the weapon to
Caine before succumbing to the infection. The female vampire is tracked by Carlsen to St. Paul's Cathedral, where she is lying upon the
altar, transferring energy to her spaceship. She reveals, much to Carlsen's shock, that they are a part of each other due to the sharing of
their life forces, thus sharing their psychic bond. Caine follows Carlsen to the cathedral and is intercepted by the second male vampire,
whom he kills. Caine throws the weapon to Carlsen, who impales himself and the female alien simultaneously. This action causes the
release of a burst of energy that blows open the dome of St. Paul's. The two ascend the column of energy to the spaceship, which then
returns to the comet as Caine watches.

Cast [ edit ]

Steve Railsback as Col. Tom Carlsen

Peter Firth as Col. Colin Caine
Frank Finlay as Dr. Hans Fallada
Mathilda May as Space Girl
Patrick Stewart as Dr. Armstrong
Michael Gothard as Dr. Leonard Bukovsky
Nicholas Ball as Roger Derebridge
Aubrey Morris as Sir Percy Heseltine
John Hallam as Lamson
Richard Oldfield as Mission Leader
Chris Jagger as First Vampire
Bill Malin as Second Vampire
Jerome Willis as Pathologist
Derek Benfield as Physician

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 John Forbes-Robertson as The Minister
Peter Porteous as Prime Minister
Katherine Schofield Prime Minister's Secretary
Patrick Connor Fatherly Guard
Sidney Kean as Brash Guard
Paul Cooper as Second Guard
Chris Sullivan as Kelly
Milton Cadman as First Soldier
Rupert Baker as Second Soldier
Nicholas Donnelly as Police Inspector
Peter Lovstrom as First Boy in Park (as Peter Løvstrøm)
Julian Firth as Second Boy in Park
Haydn Wood as Helicopter Pilot

Development [ edit ]

Background [ edit ]

Lifeforce was the first film of Tobe Hooper's three-picture deal with Cannon Films, following Poltergeist in 1982, which was a collaboration
with producer Steven Spielberg. The other two films are the remake of Invaders from Mars and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.[12]

Filming began on 2 February 1984. Before Hooper was finally approved, Michael Winner was offered the chance to direct the film.[13]

The film was originally filmed and promoted under the same title as the Colin Wilson novel. Cannon Films, which reportedly spent nearly
$25 million in hopes of creating a blockbuster film, disliked The Space Vampires for sounding too much like another of the studio's typical
low budget exploitation films.[14] As a result, the title was changed to Lifeforce, referring to the spiritual energy the space vampires drain
from their victims, and it was edited for its US theatrical release by TriStar Pictures into a 101-minute domestic cut that was partially re-
scored by Michael Kamen, with a majority of Henry Mancini's original music remaining.

It has been suggested that Lifeforce is largely a remake of Hammer Film Productions's Quatermass and the Pit. In an interview, director
Tobe Hooper discussed how Cannon Films gave him $25 million, free rein, and Colin Wilson's book The Space Vampires. Hooper then
shares how giddy he was: "I thought I'd go back to my roots and make a 70 mm Hammer film."[15][16][17]

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 Screenplay [ edit ]

The screenplay was written by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby. Tobe Hooper came up with the idea of using Halley's Comet in the
screenplay, rather than the asteroid belt as originally used in the novel, as the comet was going to pass by Earth one year following the
film's release. The time settings were also changed from the mid-21st century to the present day.[14] Michael Armstrong and Olaf Pooley
were brought on during production to perform uncredited rewrites, Armstrong acting as a liaison between Hooper and the art
department.[18][unreliable source?]

Hooper later said, "The spirit of the book is certainly there from my interpretation of the reading. Though Colin Wilson's novel was set in
the future, I made it a contemporary piece for identification. Also, I tied in Halley's comet, where they make the find of the alien ship. It has
been millions of years in the coma of Halley's comet, traveling as a parasite of sorts. But, basically, I think the movie embodies the same
spiritual feeling that Colin Wilson intended."[19]

Colin Wilson was unhappy with the way the film turned out. He wrote of it, "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."[20]

Hooper later said "Lifeforce had a great look but lacked a screenplay. There wasn't a hell of a lot that could be done about that except to
change it completely. The film started off as Space Vampires, and that's actually what it should've been called. With that title you'd look at
that picture with a completely different set of sunglasses!"[21]

Casting [ edit ]

In February 1984 Billy Idol said he had been offered a lead role as a vampire by Hooper, who had directed the video of "Dancing with
Myself", but turned it down due to touring commitments.[22][23]

In April John Gielgud said "I was recently offered an enormous sum to play in a film called Space Vampires and I nearly fell for it because
it would have been nice to have had the money. But the next time I heard from them the figure had somehow been reduced by half, so I
said no."[24]

Production [ edit ]

The film was shot in Britain. It was originally scheduled for 17 weeks. It went five weeks over. "The Cannon people were great," Railsback
said. "All they told Tobe was: 'Keep going.' "[25]

Special effects [ edit ]

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 The film marked the fourth project to feature special effects produced by Academy Award winner John Dykstra, who in 1986 was granted
with the "Caixa Catalunya Award for Best Special Effects" in the Sitges Film Festival (located in Spain) for his special effects work in
Lifeforce.[note 1] The umbrella-like alien spaceship was modelled after an artichoke, while the model London destroyed in the film was
actually the remains of Tucktonia, a model village near Christchurch, United Kingdom, that had closed not long before the shooting of the
film. It took a week to film the death scene of the pathologist played by Jerome Willis, and bodycasts of Frank Finlay, Patrick Stewart and
Aubrey Morris were made by make-up effects supervisor Nick Maley for their death scenes.

One effect near the end of the film involving the column of energy rising from the female alien through the top of St. Paul's Cathedral to
the spacecraft was engineered by art director Tony Reading. A column of retroreflective material was placed against black velvet and a
crew member blew cigar smoke into its bottom. This image was then front projected onto a translucent projection screen behind the
actors to create the energy column.[26]

Music [ edit ]

James Horner was first asked to write the score before Henry Mancini was brought in and produced a score consisting of 90 minutes of
an occasionally atonal and ambient music using the London Symphony Orchestra.[27] Mancini had agreed to do the film based on the
original concept of a 15-minute essentially dialogue-free opening sequence involving the discovery and exploration of the alien spacecraft
and the moving of the three aliens back to the Churchill, for which he composed a tonal "space ballet".[27]

For the American domestic version, Michael Kamen and James Guthrie were asked to write occasional music cues that were placed in at
the last minute.[28][29][1]

Editing and post-production [ edit ]

The initial cut of Lifeforce as edited by Tobe Hooper was 128 minutes long. This is 12 minutes longer than the final version which had
several scenes cut, most of them taking place on the space shuttle Churchill. According to Nicholas Ball, who played the main British
astronaut, Derebridge, it was felt that there was too much material in outer space and so the majority of the Churchill scenes were
deleted. Also, most of Nicholas Ball's performance ended up on the cutting room floor according to an interview he gave on the UK talk
show Wogan in 1985.

According to interviews with Bill Malin, who plays one of the male vampires, the film went over schedule during production. Because of
this some important scenes were never shot, and the film was shut down at one time because the studio had simply run out of money.[13]

Despite being credited on the US domestic cut, the following actors were deleted from that cut of the film: John Woodnutt, John Forbes-
Robertson and Russell Sommers. The Churchill commanding officer Rawlins, played by Geoffrey Frederick, was British, but in post-

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 production it was decided that Patrick Jordan would dub his voice. Also in the US version, some of Geoffrey Frederick's voiceover heard
on the Churchill is dubbed.

Release [ edit ]

Lifeforce was released on 21 June 1985 to poor box office returns.[30] The film opened in fourth place, losing a head-to-head battle
against Ron Howard's science fiction film, Cocoon. The film earned $11,603,545 at the US box office.[31]

Critical response [ edit ]

On release, the film received negative reviews from American critics.[30] Janet Maslin, of The New York Times, wrote, '[I]ts style is shrill
and fragmented enough to turn Lifeforce into hysterical vampire porn."[32] Michael Wilmington, in the Los Angeles Times, wrote that the
film was 'such a peculiar movie [that] it's difficult to get a handle on it'.[33] Jay Carr wrote in The Boston Globe that 'it plays like a tap-
dancing zombie'.[34] John Clute dismissed Lifeforce as a 'deeply silly flick'.[35] Leonard Maltin called the film 'completely crazy' and said it
was 'ridiculous, but so bizarre, it's fascinating'.[36][failed verification]

On the other hand, horror and comic book writer C. J. Henderson praised the film: "Lifeforce is an incredible film, and may by be the most
intelligent vampire movie ever made...[the ideas presented in Lifeforce] are beyond [other vampire movies,] beyond all of them, light-
years beyond...the story is what makes this movie hum....Lifeforce is a true, thinking sci-fi fan's film".[37] Andrew Migliore and John
Strysik, in their Lurker in the Lobby, explained that Colin Wilson wrote The Space Vampires as a consequence of H.P. Lovecraft's
publisher August Derleth challenging Wilson (who was critical of Lovecraft's writing) to write a Lovecraftian novel himself (a challenge that
resulted in three such novels, The Mind Parasites, The Space Vampires, and The Philosopher's Stone), and they continued, "Lifeforce is
big, splashy, and...the scenes of an apocalyptic London are not to be missed. And the film, an obvious tribute to Nigel Kneale's
Quatermass, has deep roots in Lovecraft's mythos".[17] Film critic Gene Siskel, of Siskel & Ebert, called the film a "guilty-pleasure",
awarding it 3 out of 4 stars.[38]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Lifeforce holds a 59% approval rating based on 27 critic reviews, with an average
rating of 5.5/10. The consensus reads, "Brazenly strange and uneven in its execution, Lifeforce is an otherworldly sci-fi excursion
punctuated with off-kilter horror flourishes."[39] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100 based on 12 critics,
indicating "mixed or average reviews".[40]

Home media [ edit ]

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 The first release on video in the UK was the heavily edited US "domestic cut". The full "international cut" was not available until it was
released by MGM in the 2000s. The first US release of the "international cut" was MGM/UA's 1994 release on deluxe widescreen
letterboxed LaserDisc.

Scream Factory announced they would be releasing Lifeforce in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack on 18 June 2013.[41] This included the US
domestic cut, as well as the international cut of the film.

Arrow Video released Lifeforce in the UK as a steelbook two-disc Blu-ray special edition in October 2013, with the same features as the
US Blu-ray release.

See also [ edit ]

Vampire film

Explanatory notes [ edit ]

1. ^ This award (presented annually) is the Special Effects Award attributed by the Sitges Film Festival, but its name has changed among years,
depending on different sponsors. In 1986 it was called "Premio Caixa Catalunya a los Mejores Efectos Especiales" ("Caixa Catalunya Award for
Best Special Effects") since that year the sponsor was Caixa Catalunya, a local bank.

Citations [ edit ]

1. ^ a b "Review: 'Lifeforce' " . Variety. 31 December 1984. Retrieved 6. ^ "Disasters Outnumber Movie Hits" . South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
24 March 2017. The New York Times. 4 September 1985. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
2. ^ "LIFEFORCE" . British Board of Film Classification. 5 July 1985. 7. ^ "Lifeforce" . Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
Retrieved 12 February 2019. 8. ^ "Lifeforce" . Film Society of Lincoln Center. Retrieved 27 July
3. ^ ab Collins, Brian (18 June 2013). "Collins' Crypt: Lifeforce 2012.
Director's Cut Vs. Theatrical Versions" . Birth.Movies.Death. 9. ^ Taylor, Drew (21 June 2013). "5 Things You Might Not Know
Retrieved 17 August 2020. About Tobe Hooper's Underseen 'Lifeforce' " . IndieWire.
4. ^ Pereira, Mike (14 October 2013). "[Blu-ray Review] 'Lifeforce' Has Retrieved 29 February 2020.
Its Definitive Release Courtesy of Arrow Video!" . Bloody 10. ^ Gardner, Lee. "A cult classic featuring naked space vampires" .
Disgusting. Retrieved 17 August 2020. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
5. ^ "Lifeforce (1985)" . British Film Institute. Retrieved 24 March 11. ^ "Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce: Space Vampires, Comets, and
2017. Nudity" . Den of Geek. Retrieved 29 February 2020.

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 12. ^ Macor, Alison (2010). Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids . 27. ^ a b Caps, John (2012). Henry Mancini: Reinventing Film Music .
University of Texas Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-292-77829-0. University of Illinois Press. pp. 193–98. ISBN 9780252093845.
13. ^ ab "Lifeforce/Fun Facts" . The Grindhouse Cinema Database. 28. ^ Broxton, Jonathan (2 July 2015). "Lifeforce – Henry Mancini" .
20 July 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2018. Movie Music UK. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
14. ^ ab Scapperotti, Dan (July 1985). "The Hooper on Lifeforce". 29. ^ Alexander, Chris (16 November 2016). "Sound Shock: The Music
Cinefantastique. Oak Park. of Lifeforce" . ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Retrieved
15. ^ The Making of Lifeforce (2013) documentary, by filmmakers 17 April 2018.
Calum Waddel and Naomi Holwill, included on the Lifeforce Blu- 30. ^ a b Caulfield, Deborah (10 August 1985). "Hooper Targets
Ray. Martians" . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 9
16. ^ Miller, Thomas Kent (2016). Mars in the Movies: A History. March 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2012. "Instead, most movie critics
Jefferson: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786499144. p. 180 took simultaneous vacations from the superlatives they had laid on
17. ^ ab Migliore, Andrew; Strysik, John (2006). Lurker in the Lobby: A many summer films and panned Lifeforce with a vengeance."
Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft. Portland: Night Shade 31. ^ "Lifeforce (1985) - Weekend Box Office Results" . Box Office
Books. ISBN 9781892389350. Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
18. ^ Collins, Frank (27 August 2017). "Lifeforce—Special Edition Blu- 32. ^ Maslin, Janet (21 June 1985). "The Screen: 'Lifeforce' " . The
Ray / Review" . Cathode Ray Tube. Retrieved 17 April 2018 – via New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
Medium. 33. ^ Wilmington, Michael (22 June 1985). "Movie Review: Fear in
19. ^ Bealmear, Robert (June 1985). "Eerie Effects for LIFEFORCE". Forefront of Peculiar 'Lifeforce' " . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
American Cinematographer; Hollywood Vol. 66, Iss. 6. pp. 60–67. 5 June 2012.
20. ^ Wilson, Colin (2011). Dreaming to Some Purpose . Random 34. ^ Carr, Jay (22 June 1985). " 'Lifeforce' Misses a Great
House. p. 332. ISBN 9781446473603. Opportunity" . The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners.
21. ^ Magid, Ron (10 June 1986). "Tobe Hooper Director from Mars" . Retrieved 9 June 2012.
Monsterland. p. 32. 35. ^ Clute, John (1995). Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia.
22. ^ Pop Eye: The Looters Look Inside Nicaragua Goldstein, Patrick. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 285. ISBN 9780789401854.
Los Angeles Times 19 Feb 1984: s75. 36. ^ "Movie Crazy" . IndieWire. Penske Business Media. Archived
23. ^ Rock: Billy Idol: Snarling and swaggering his way to the top. Blair, from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
Iain. Chicago Tribune 21 Oct 1984: l11. 37. ^ Henderson, C. J. (2001). Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies:
24. ^ Oakes, Philip (14 Apr 1984). "Gielgud at 80". The Globe and Mail. From 1897 to the Present. New York: Checkmark Books.
p. E.1. 38. ^ Siskel, Gene (24 June 1985). " 'Lifeforce': Grotesque, But Still
25. ^ "Railsback Is on the Right Track Again in 'Lifeforce'": [Home Fun" . Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
Edition] Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times, 1 June 1985: 3. 39. ^ "Lifeforce (1985)" . Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
26. ^ Rizzo, Michael (2005). The Art Direction Handbook for Film . 40. ^ "Lifeforce Reviews" . Metacritic. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
CRC Press. ISBN 9780240806808.

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 41. ^ Dee, Jake (4 January 2013). "Scream Factory to issue Tobe
Hooper's Lifeforce & Hammer's Vampire Lovers on Blu-ray this
April" . Arrow in the Head. Joblo Media. Retrieved 23 January
2013.

General references [ edit ]

Gross, Edward (October 1985). "Don Jakoby" . Starlog. pp. 34–37.

Sciaca, Tom (September 1985). "Lifeforce" . Starburst Magazine. pp. 24–27.
Weinberg, Marc (August 1985). "Lifeforce" . Fangoria. No. 46. pp. 22–25.

External links [ edit ]

Lifeforce at IMDb
Lifeforce at Rotten Tomatoes
Lifeforce at Metacritic
Lifeforce at Box Office Mojo
Synopsis at AllMovie
Lifeforce trailer is available for free download at the Internet Archive

V·T·E Films directed by Tobe Hooper [show]

V·T·E Dan O'Bannon [show]

Categories: 1985 films English-language films 1980s science fiction horror films 1985 horror films Alien abduction films
Alien invasions in films British films British science fiction horror films British space adventure films British zombie films
Films about extraterrestrial life Films based on British novels Films based on horror novels
Films based on science fiction novels Films directed by Tobe Hooper Films scored by Henry Mancini Films set in the future
Films set in London Films set in Yorkshire Films shot at Elstree Studios Golan-Globus films Fiction about Halley's Comet
Succubi in film TriStar Pictures films Vampires in film Films with screenplays by Dan O'Bannon

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