Free Great Movies Review

It must be acknowledged that the movie Lifeforce (1985) has some incredible special effects. So much so that it seems most of the $25 million budget went towards the effects, and very little to hiring good actors. The movie is based on a 1976 novel called The Space Vampires and that's basically what this is. A European Space Shuttle discovers three aliens held in suspended animation inside Halley's Comet. The shuttle makes its way back to Earth and the aliens escape and start sucking the lifeforce out of everyone. French actress Mathilda May plays our main alien who is nude throughout most of the movie and seduces men with her beauty until she sucks the life out of them. It all sounds very fun and is fun in the early going. The challenges hit when the movie gets bogged down in heavy dialogue and exposition scenes with our less-than-charismatic actors led by Steve Railsback. The explanations of how the aliens are transferring the lifeforce from one person to another are convoluted and we get stuck in a psychiatric hospital for half an hour while we should be tracking down the aliens. Meanwhile, all hell is breaking loose in London and we don't know why. Director Tobe Hooper and screenwriter Dan O'Bannon can't seem to keep the story on the rails as it keeps cutting away from the action. So it's a mixed bag of a movie with half thrilling special effects set pieces and half dull exposition about how these space vampires work. Nevertheless, it's worth watching for the effects alone.