Mathilde Mays introduction is all we need to make a case for Lifeforce. Her beauty is perfectly contradicted by the wild horrors she leaves in her wake. And its Tobe Hooper, the same guy behind Texas Chainsaw and Poltergeist
Your list of movies that you hadn't seen really dated me. I knew Patrick Stewart's work very well from I, Claudius (1976), and I had actually seen most of those Hammer horror movies new in the theater. Lifeforce is a real favorite of mine. If there's a step out of place, I missed it or intentionally overlooked it. I love this movie. EDIT: I almost forgot...Nice video! Thanks.
Thank you! We all have cinematic holes to fill I guess. I was just a little young to have much knowledge of Hammer but I got caught up ! Thanks for the kind words!
One of my favorite science-fiction horror movies from the 1980s. They can never, ever make a movie like this again. The best lines in the entire sci-fi horror film was the exchange between Col. Carlson and Col. Caine. Caine: Carlson, forget about her. She is not a woman. She will destroy you. Carlson: She's destroyed worlds. I think that little bit of dialogue right there is all that you need to truly understand the point of the story. Lifeforce really is one of the best '80s science-fiction horror stories ever with one of the top ten greatest main super-villaness female antagonist characters of all time.
Cheap titillation aside, now that I'm older, having the baddy as a naked girl is terrifying in a Lovecraftian way. No need for armour or scales or even to appear fearsome to its enemies. It just feels above the attempts to defeat it. Humans can't comprehend its full power.
The scene where a naked Mathilde May blows the windows out to make her escape... absolute hats off to the foley artists who emphasize the crunching of broken glass under her feet as she walks out.
I was 13 years old, and my cousin (very tall 15) got me in the theater (Rated R). It was the 1st time I saw full frontal nudity on film so this movie will always be near and dear to my heart!!
Love that film. I don't have a problem with the script and I like the way Carlson comes back in half way. Two of cinema's great heroic figures and Fallada as well for that matter. May is superb in her part. Great Sci Fi horror and amusing as well. Never a dull moment, it comes out the traps and doesn't let up. Great score and effects. A classic
One of the big downsides of the theatrical cut is that, for whatever reason, Mancini's terrific score was replaced with a forgettable one by Michael Kamen. Kamen CAN do good and even great compositions (see Highlander), but he's slumming it on Lifeforce, though I suspect he wasn't given much time to complete the rescore before the film's theatrical premiere in 1985. It's a shame Lifeforce bombed, as it could've been a turning point for Canon. Fathom should sponsor a rerelease of the DC.
Every scene with Mathilde May is gold. Having seen the cover feature in Fangoria I was determined to see this in the theater. But being too young to buy tickets for an R rated movie I bought a ticket for something else and waited just inside the theater doors for the usher to walk away so I could sneak into Lifeforce. I missed the first ten or so minutes and was so confused that I thought I'd missed an hour. Later I got to speak with Bob Martin, the original Fangoria editor, about Lifeforce. He told me and a few other people that a production assistant (supposedly the nephew of an executive) had lost a bunch of the unprocessed film that should have explained what occurs off-screen after "There's been a disturbance in Piccadilly Circus." A conversation with Tobe Hooper several years afterward verified the rumor to a degree, but he said that he was pretty sure he could fix it if allowed a recut, and that he was in talks that eventually led to the Director's Cut. It's clear that the "lost" footage was crucial, and not even the restored Hooper cut is capable of truly saving the film, but it's very watchable in every form -from the pan-and-scanned videotape to the hi-def blu-ray. Mostly because of Mathilde May.
Truly a tragedy that the lost footage is still missing. Hopefully its re-evaluation will light a fire for that footage to be found or restored. Thanks for your comments!
I was 13 years old, and my cousin (very tall 15) got me in the theater (Rated R). It was the 1st time I saw full frontal nudity on film so this movie will always be near and dear to my heart!!
I've always thought that this film could do with a more polished remake. It was Cannon's first attempt at big budget and they didn't have the artistic clout to carry it off properly.
A moment I love (besides Matilda May walking around naked) is when the spec ops military guy is about to go into London and a soldier says "You don't want to go in there, Sir." "I know that!"
To be honest, the biggest problem I had with "Lifeforce" was that they showed an airlock on the underside of the Space Shuttle (going in and out through the heat shield) rather than use the lock in the cargo bay. I guess it was easier and cheaper to construct a flat plane with a trapdoor rather than model a full-sized cargo bay for a scene that only lasts about ten seconds.
A melhor trilha musical já feita exclusivamente para um filme de Horror. A seu modo, está para o gênero como a de O bom, o meu e o feio está para o far west.
Same as, saw it in the Cinema as a young man. Lets just say when i saw a naked Mathilde May in all her glory, im glad i brought a large box of Popcorn. LOL
Saw this in the theater and thought it was great! Watched it about a year ago and it still holds up for me. And yes- Matilda May is definitely a big draw. As a huge hammer fan I surprisingly haven't watched the Quater Mass movies. I need to do so
@@cinemaforce1 I don't know. The old film is actually a fun movie. I guess they could clean up the story a bit and lean into the cosmic horror and add a bit of alternative history investigation. have space vampires story parallel with the remnants of history left on the face of the planet.
I was lucky enough to see this in a theater.
Lucky!
Too !!!
It was a very underrated movie.
It def has found its audience now
This was one of the best things ever happened to me when I was a kid.
Lol
The best films are the most underrated on release, like this, Blade Runner and The Thing
Agreed
Mathilde Mays introduction is all we need to make a case for Lifeforce. Her beauty is perfectly contradicted by the wild horrors she leaves in her wake.
And its Tobe Hooper, the same guy behind Texas Chainsaw and Poltergeist
"They don't make them like that anymore." You can say that again. And again. And again.
lol
Your list of movies that you hadn't seen really dated me. I knew Patrick Stewart's work very well from I, Claudius (1976), and I had actually seen most of those Hammer horror movies new in the theater. Lifeforce is a real favorite of mine. If there's a step out of place, I missed it or intentionally overlooked it. I love this movie. EDIT: I almost forgot...Nice video! Thanks.
Thank you! We all have cinematic holes to fill I guess. I was just a little young to have much knowledge of Hammer but I got caught up ! Thanks for the kind words!
One of my favorite science-fiction horror movies from the 1980s. They can never, ever make a movie like this again. The best lines in the entire sci-fi horror film was the exchange between Col. Carlson and Col. Caine.
Caine: Carlson, forget about her. She is not a woman. She will destroy you.
Carlson: She's destroyed worlds.
I think that little bit of dialogue right there is all that you need to truly understand the point of the story. Lifeforce really is one of the best '80s science-fiction horror stories ever with one of the top ten greatest main super-villaness female antagonist characters of all time.
Cheap titillation aside, now that I'm older, having the baddy as a naked girl is terrifying in a Lovecraftian way. No need for armour or scales or even to appear fearsome to its enemies. It just feels above the attempts to defeat it. Humans can't comprehend its full power.
It works on many levels for sure. The inside of the ship is def a nod to HP.
The beginning extended space sequence is just so fantastic. I wish so much of it had not been lost
It really is. I hope that stuff still exists somewhere.
The scene where a naked Mathilde May blows the windows out to make her escape... absolute hats off to the foley artists who emphasize the crunching of broken glass under her feet as she walks out.
It was extra crispy
I was 13 years old, and my cousin (very tall 15) got me in the theater (Rated R). It was the 1st time I saw full frontal nudity on film so this movie will always be near and dear to my heart!!
It is highly impressionable.
Love that film. I don't have a problem with the script and I like the way Carlson comes back in half way. Two of cinema's great heroic figures and Fallada as well for that matter. May is superb in her part. Great Sci Fi horror and amusing as well. Never a dull moment, it comes out the traps and doesn't let up. Great score and effects. A classic
would make a great long form limited series
One of the big downsides of the theatrical cut is that, for whatever reason, Mancini's terrific score was replaced with a forgettable one by Michael Kamen. Kamen CAN do good and even great compositions (see Highlander), but he's slumming it on Lifeforce, though I suspect he wasn't given much time to complete the rescore before the film's theatrical premiere in 1985.
It's a shame Lifeforce bombed, as it could've been a turning point for Canon. Fathom should sponsor a rerelease of the DC.
Kamen is great but seems to me his style is a little less thematic than Mancini's
Every scene with Mathilde May is gold. Having seen the cover feature in Fangoria I was determined to see this in the theater. But being too young to buy tickets for an R rated movie I bought a ticket for something else and waited just inside the theater doors for the usher to walk away so I could sneak into Lifeforce. I missed the first ten or so minutes and was so confused that I thought I'd missed an hour.
Later I got to speak with Bob Martin, the original Fangoria editor, about Lifeforce. He told me and a few other people that a production assistant (supposedly the nephew of an executive) had lost a bunch of the unprocessed film that should have explained what occurs off-screen after "There's been a disturbance in Piccadilly Circus."
A conversation with Tobe Hooper several years afterward verified the rumor to a degree, but he said that he was pretty sure he could fix it if allowed a recut, and that he was in talks that eventually led to the Director's Cut. It's clear that the "lost" footage was crucial, and not even the restored Hooper cut is capable of truly saving the film, but it's very watchable in every form -from the pan-and-scanned videotape to the hi-def blu-ray. Mostly because of Mathilde May.
Truly a tragedy that the lost footage is still missing. Hopefully its re-evaluation will light a fire for that footage to be found or restored. Thanks for your comments!
I was 13 years old, and my cousin (very tall 15) got me in the theater (Rated R). It was the 1st time I saw full frontal nudity on film so this movie will always be near and dear to my heart!!
I've always thought that this film could do with a more polished remake. It was Cannon's first attempt at big budget and they didn't have the artistic clout to carry it off properly.
I saw it in Leicester Square on the weekend it opened and the audience laughed all the way through the film.
So awesome
That would have pissed me off, I’m glad I wasn’t at that screening
A moment I love (besides Matilda May walking around naked) is when the spec ops military guy is about to go into London and a soldier says "You don't want to go in there, Sir."
"I know that!"
lol
LOVE this film!
same!
Henry Mancini's music score for this film was nothing short of epic.
Agreed!!!!
It's a shame that Colin Wilson's spider world series never was made into any type of film or tv series as it would kick ass.
Yeah im very interested in his catalog of books. Very cool mix of stuff.
'Lifeforce' was goofy, but the story made sense. European sci-fi is often kinkier than US/Hollywood sci-fi.
It's a good goofy
To be honest, the biggest problem I had with "Lifeforce" was that they showed an airlock on the underside of the Space Shuttle (going in and out through the heat shield) rather than use the lock in the cargo bay. I guess it was easier and cheaper to construct a flat plane with a trapdoor rather than model a full-sized cargo bay for a scene that only lasts about ten seconds.
I saw it in the theaters too. I didn’t like it. But as it turns out I really didn’t get it. I saw it 20 years later and I enjoyed it.
I think that's the beauty of this film!
A melhor trilha musical já feita exclusivamente para um filme de Horror. A seu modo, está para o gênero como a de O bom, o meu e o feio está para o far west.
Yes! It really is.
10.50...in his autobiography, 'Making It So', Patrick Stewart said this was his first on screen kiss.
With Steve Railsback.
Always have to watch if it's on
Dito!
Love this movie!
It is awesome!
Excellent film, on my top ten list since I first saw it on video back in 1986.
Its a banger!
I ***LOVE*** this movie!
its so lovable !
Same as, saw it in the Cinema as a young man. Lets just say when i saw a naked Mathilde May in all her glory, im glad i brought a large box of Popcorn. LOL
So much to see! haha
Lifeforce was a genuine 1980s rollercoaster ride of insanity. Orders of magnitude better than Inseminoid.
It's a thing of beauty
this film is very good,it took a while to become
available so that made it cult!
Yes! It is a go for broke film for sure
Saw this in the theater and thought it was great! Watched it about a year ago and it still holds up for me. And yes- Matilda May is definitely a big draw. As a huge hammer fan I surprisingly haven't watched the Quater Mass movies. I need to do so
We will be covering the Quatermass series soon! So get caught up!
Very underrated movie.
Mathilda May was super hot I loved this movie.
Yeah she's quite easy on the eyes
But would 'it be better in black and white'?
prolly not but maybe
I think the images are very powerful
Same.
Tommy lee jones and patrick stewart. How can i miss this in the 80's is a mystery😂
Steve Railsback not Tommy Lee Jones... but the pic does bear a resemblance !
@@cinemaforce1 😂😂
Thought this was actually fun as a young kid .
You are correct!
A young woman who looks a great deal like Alyssa Milano walks around naked most of the movie. There's the case for Lifeforce. 😂
I get Kate beckinsale vibes myself
Modern Quatermass
Heck yeah it is!
The book is way better. But the movie is cool.
Hoping maybe they take another crack at it someday, but the movie kind of stands on its own as a crazy film.
@@cinemaforce1 I don't know. The old film is actually a fun movie. I guess they could clean up the story a bit and lean into the cosmic horror and add a bit of alternative history investigation. have space vampires story parallel with the remnants of history left on the face of the planet.