An Emirati couple return home from a trip and discover that their new apartment has been built on a site that is home to some malevolent beings. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Aiysha Hart, Khalid Laith, Razane Jammal and others
(Review originally written at 5 November 2008) This review is of the longest available 184 minutes uncut version. Being not the biggest fan of movies based on Stephen King novels, I must say that this movie was a rather good one within its genre. Especially when considering that this movie got made as a made for TV mini-series. This means that the movie is not as gory as other genre movies from the same time period but this doesn't mean that the movie isn't just as atmospheric and scary than any other movie. The movie has a great atmosphere that is both mysterious and scary. Even though not a whole lot is happening within the movie, it still knows to be constantly perfectly atmospheric. Tobe Hooper is of course really a director who understand the genre (at least in the '70's he still did) and he directs the movie with lots of class and knowhow. It's a quite original vampire movie. To be honest, in advance I even had no idea that this movie was going to be a vampire movie, while first watching it. I had heard about the title "Salem's Lot" and also about the Stephen King novel but in all honesty I had no idea what it was all about. In that regard the movie pleasantly surprised me with its concept and the overall handling of it. But also it needs to be said that the movie isn't exactly the genre masterpiece some people make it out to be. It's way too flawed for that. For instance the pace. Well, I've watched the longest available 3 hour+ version, so perhaps it has something to do with that but the movie has a bit of a slow pace and has lots of points within the movie in which just basically nothing is ever happening. Also when looking back at it, the first hour of the movie or so seems pretty pointless afterward. Also some characters just come and go within the movie. The first halve of the movie is still mostly about the citizens of Salem's Lot, while the second halve is only mainly about the main character Ben Mears. Seems like all other characters are just simply being forgotten and abandoned within the script, without reaching a satisfying conclusion for them. A shame really, also since a lot of characters showed some good potential. Some characters are some typical good trademark quirky Stephen King type of character. You could say that the movie is only truly good once the horror starts to kick in. The movie is effective with its horror and has a couple of memorable moments in it. It's also made great by the musical score from Harry Sukman. It's a real great genre score and also quite well known in the horror circles, which is of course quite an accomplishment for a score composed for a TV mini-series. It was the last musical score he ever composed as well. He didn't died until 5 years later, so I guess he thought it was time to enjoy his retirement after finishing the score for this production. A great way to end his career! A surprising good genre movie, once its horror kicks in, that also deserves some more recognition. 7/10 Watch trailer
In all fairness, the 1978 version of this movie already wasn't exactly a great or classic one by any means but at least it had as a redeeming quality that it got made in the '70's and therefor had a great typical distinctive '70's movies atmosphere. This movie its only redeeming quality is its gore even though there isn't an awful lot of it in it.
This movie chooses a different approach and story than the 1978 movie and therefor this movie is more of a re-imagining than an actual remake. The only thing that has remained the same is the setting of an apartment complex and a killer who uses the content of his toolbox for his killings. This movie uses a more supernatural approach of things, while the original was a pure slasher.
Since it's a re-imaging, it obviously also does some things better, compared to the original. The movie picks a main character right on from the start, so the movie is more coherent with its story and characters.
But yet it's not a better movie. The movie had some real good potential with its concept but it just forgot to ever get tense. For an horror movie it's also lacking some serious scares and while the build up is good with its suggestive camera work among other things, it just never pays off in the end, since a climax is never really reached in any of its sequences. It's not that this movie is a complete bore to watch but its concept just screamed for a better execution. It's funny how Tobe Hooper has never made a decent horror movie again ever since after "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", unless you still believe that he also directed "Poltergeist". It's true that the movie gets better toward the end, when things finally start to take off but it's too little too late by then already to still fully save this movie.
The movie is definitely dark but I wouldn't exactly describe it as atmospheric. You can say that the atmosphere is too dark, which ruins some of the movie its tension. It's one of the simples things you can do as an horror director; make ever sequence look really dark but this just doesn't necessarily make a movie automatically tense or scary as well.
The acting is slightly below par, though definitely still better than the average typical B-horror movie entry. Angela Bettis, Rance Howard and Juliet Landau are all some semi-good and known actors.
Not an horrible movie, just not really worth seeing either.
In what other movie do you get to see killer vampire/zombies and a naked girl from outer space causing total mayhem in London, by killing its citizens and blowing up every building? I just can't help loving this movie
Perhaps the reason why I love this movie is that when I saw this movie for the first time as a kid it really sticked to me for years, even though at the time I couldn't even read subtitles, so I had no idea what was going in on screen. Also every time I listened to the wonderful Henry Mancini overblown musical score, I though about this movie as a great one and did so with nostalgic feelings. So I knew I already loved this movie but on my recent second viewing I actually realized how much I loved it. The movie wasn't that much different as I had remembered and now that I finally fully understood what the story was about, I totally loved the movie. This is definitely one of my favorite movies but please note that favorite as not the same as best.
This movie is a rare case of a great movie without really being a great one. Of course "Lifeforce" is pulp. The acting is B-movie like, the movie is filled with implausibilities and continuity errors, and the character treatment isn't the best. But yet I love the movie for all of this. It make "Lifeforce" an extreme guilty pleasure to watch, that you never grow tired of watching. I'm not sure if the movie entirely was trying to be a serious one or merely an entertaining one. At moments I feel that the makers tried to create a realistic, haunting horror/science-fiction movie but at others it gets so ridicules that it's hard to imaging that they tried to make a fully serious movie. Either way, this movie remains an unique mix of horror and science-fiction elements that blend in extremely well, with as a result that this movie is an highly enjoyable and original one that deserves a better reputation.
This movie begins as a thriller with horror elements, sort of like the Alien movies. The movie is tense and mysterious for most part during the first halve of the movie, which is mainly thanks to Tobe Hooper, who knows how to handle the genre. In the second halve all gloves are of. The movie goes berserk and total chaos erupts, when the space vampire/zombies have completely taken over London. The movie gets fast paced and doesn't stop being so, till the satisfactory ending. As the movie progresses less and less things start to make sense and often all logic is abandoned. What really what else did you expect from an '80's science-fiction flick. If you watch this movie expecting a tense well constructed thriller about an alien invasion you shouldn't even think about watching this movie.
Still the build up of the movie is good. It makes all of the thriller and horror elements work out and provides the movie with some great and memorable moments. Especially the more horror themed elements of this movie are great. It shows that director Tobe Hooper can really handle this genre. It's a sort of a shame that he and his style has always been sort of stuck somewhere in the '70's. Also "Lifeforce" looks as if it was made in the early '70's. Also the way of storytelling and the character treatment (or the lack of it) is typically '70's like. That perhaps is also the reason why Hooper hasn't made any decent movie since this one and these days only works on B-horror movies nobody has ever heard of. He relies too much on elements, style and tricks from the '70's. A shame, since he has some impressive and well know genre movies after his name; "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Poltergeist".
The movie as a whole might perhaps feel a bit campy, since its story is overdone and filled with some implausibilities, to put it mildly. Its style however is very good looking. For 1985 standards, this movie has some excellent and convincing looking special effects. Also the make-up effects are good for the vampire/zombies and the movie is filled with some gross looking stuff like you could expect from an horror movie. Also the movie has an overly present sense of eroticism. Vampire movies always have been sensual and filled with some subtle sense of eroticism. "Lifeforce" might perhaps not so subtle, since it features a main 'villain' who is a beautiful young girl (Mathilda May), who walks around naked in basically all of her sequences.
The fact that the movie has a naked space vampire as a main villain adds to the cult value of this movie, as do some multiple sequences, which mainly features the Mathilda May character but also the 'kiss' sequence between the Steve Railsback and Patrick Stewart is one of those moments. The movie is filled with some silly and overdone sequences which add to the overall feeling and atmosphere of the movie, which in return all add to the cult value of the movie. Also certainly the overblown and brilliant musical score by Henry Mancini, which is in contrast with the rest of the movie, adds to this.
It's probably due to my weird, unusual, wide taste of movie but I just love this movie and can't get enough of it, even though I admit that it's a far from brilliant one. But to me it's just a perfect movie, without being a real perfect one. A rare movie that's unique and entertaining in multiple ways.
