Before I talk about this film, I need to discuss the production company behind it, Cannon Films. Founded as a studio for low-budget independent films in 1967 (note that term carried a lot less prestige to it back then), it was bought by Israeli cousins Menachem Golan and Yeram Globus in 1979, who expanded the company's purview, churning low-budget blockbusters at a very fast rate during the 80's (some good, some successful, most neither). They are notable for the Death Wish series starring Charles Bronson,for introducing Chuck Norris as an action star, and for producing the fourth Superman film (the one with Nuclear Man). There is a fascinating documentary, Electric Boogalo (named for one of its most famous features, Breakin' II: Electric Boogalo), that details the insanity produced at Cannon, both on and off screen, that is, as of this writing, available on Netflix. In 1980, they managed to obtain the rights to Colin Wilson's 1976 novel The Space Vampires. The book was one of Wilson's riffs on Lovecraftian horror, one of a trilogy of sorts on the topic after Lovecraft's de facto estate executor August Derelith challenged Wilson (who had been critical of the late writer) to write a Lovecraftian novel. After years of trying to get the film made, they finally found a director when they signed Tobe Hopper on for three pictures in 1984. Hopper had recently come off directing Poltergeist with producer Stephen Spielberg, but there was a massive controversy over who actually directed most of the film (most observers said that Spielberg had taken over directing duties from Hopper). Having little interest in Hollywood, Hopper signed on with Cannon, who, at least with big name directors, allowed them a degree of leeway with their works (hence, why John Cassavetes and Norman Mailer were among the directors who did films for them). Cannon had hoped this would be their breakout hit, pouring $25 million, higher than their usual. They also had the name changed to Lifeforce , as Space Vampires was too similar to the low-budget fare they normally produced. The screenplay was written by Dan O'Bannon, co-writer of Alien, and Don Jakoby who wrote... uh, Blue Thunder, the story to the Philadelphia Experiment, Death Wish 3, Double Team (that 90's movie with Dennis Rodman and Jean-Claude Van Damme.), and a bunch of other films you've never heard of. Though, theirs was the last of 8 drafts, and Hopper changed elements of it, including adding Halley's Comet (which was about to make its appearance on Earth in 1986), and moving the time setting accordingly (from the late 21st Century to the present). Hopper's 128 minute final cut was shopped down to 116 minutes for international audiences and 108 minutes for US audiences. The film opened to negative reviews and disappointing box office, but had a minor cult following, and a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The international shuttle Churchill (powered by a NERVA engine, which, as a space nerd, was a nice detail) is exploring Halley's Comet during its sojourn towards Earth, when it comes across a strange object that is 2 miles in length, that is orbiting the comet. The crew go inside the object, where they find thousands of strange bat-like creatures seemingly dead, before heading to a crystal room, where three humanoid creatures (Matilda May, Chris Jagger, and Bill Malin) are seeming in stasis. However, when they return, mission control is unable to make contact with the crew. The Columbia (which may or may not be the real life space shuttle) is sent to intercept the ship, and find the three humanoid creatures intact, but the crew seemingly dead. They are transferred to the European Space Research Center in London, where they are kept under the supervision of Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay) and Col. Colin Caine (Peter Firth). However, during the examination, the female humanoid comes to life, and escapes, sucking a strange substance (which Dr. Fallada calls the Lifeforce) from some of the guards. During the autopsy of one of those guards, he briefly comes back to life, and sucks the lifeforce from one of the morticians. When isolated, the guard disintegrates, showing that the vampires need a steady stream of this to stay alive. At the same time, the survivor of the Churchill mission , American Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) lands in Texas in an escape pod, and is brought to London to brief on the situation. We learn that the crew gradually died as they transported the humanoids back, leaving him, and forcing him to flee. With the female vampire on the loose, Caine and Carlsen must find the vampire, and prevent them from killing more people.
The first thing that popped out about this film was the score. Henry Mancini (famous for composing the score for Breakfast at Tiffany's and the theme to The Pink Panther) managed to create a score that evokes the mood for every scene. It helps set the mood for the film, and gives more emotion to it. Plus, it works in its own right. Look up the trailer for this film, and you get the idea for how intense this score is. The production design is also well-done. The alien ship around Halley is distinct and memorable in appearance. Some of the visuals and scares are very evocative. The plot has that sort of urgency that makes sci-fi B-Movies very enjoyable. Hopper said that he had wanted to make a "70 mm Hammer Film", and the largest influence I can see is the Quatermass series. As a fan of that series (Quatermass and the Pit is one of my favorite horror films), I appreciated how much this movie set out to emulate it, not only in the more methodical way the protagonists approach the problem, but the large scale disaster event which feels big and dangerous, even to the viewer at home. It also has the Gothic feel of many of Hammer's other films, which sets it apart from other science fiction horror films. It feels like a large-scale science fiction film, that just happens to have vampires in it.
Like I said, this film was cut down, and it shows. There are plot holes on occasion, and it gets confusing, with characters occasionally appearing or disappearing from the film. The Lifeforce and space vampire also feel underexplained as concepts. There is enough there that the plot could be understood, but I felt a little more could've clarified certain scenes (including the ending). It also suffers from "middle syndrome", where it drags a little towards the middle of the film. Granted, not that much, but enough that it felt a little boring.
Earlier this year, I watched a film called Life. It was a simple creature feature, but seemed to think itself as more thoughtful explorative film about extraterrestrial life. I felt then and now that film could've done what this film had done. This is a B-movie, and it knows that it's a B-Movie. Instead of running away from that, however, it embraces that label, and takes full advantage of its wonky premise. That's what makes it such an enjoyable film. It is campy enough that you are aware of its absurdity, but not so campy that you can't take it seriously. Thus, I highly recommend it to anyone wanting an enjoyable experience. It is also a legitimately good science fiction film, so if you like science fiction (and it's not really that scary, so you don't need to be a horror fan), this would be an interesting (if not good) watch.
Next time, I continue with Hopper's three movie deal with Cannon with his remake of Invaders from Mars.
The international shuttle Churchill (powered by a NERVA engine, which, as a space nerd, was a nice detail) is exploring Halley's Comet during its sojourn towards Earth, when it comes across a strange object that is 2 miles in length, that is orbiting the comet. The crew go inside the object, where they find thousands of strange bat-like creatures seemingly dead, before heading to a crystal room, where three humanoid creatures (Matilda May, Chris Jagger, and Bill Malin) are seeming in stasis. However, when they return, mission control is unable to make contact with the crew. The Columbia (which may or may not be the real life space shuttle) is sent to intercept the ship, and find the three humanoid creatures intact, but the crew seemingly dead. They are transferred to the European Space Research Center in London, where they are kept under the supervision of Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay) and Col. Colin Caine (Peter Firth). However, during the examination, the female humanoid comes to life, and escapes, sucking a strange substance (which Dr. Fallada calls the Lifeforce) from some of the guards. During the autopsy of one of those guards, he briefly comes back to life, and sucks the lifeforce from one of the morticians. When isolated, the guard disintegrates, showing that the vampires need a steady stream of this to stay alive. At the same time, the survivor of the Churchill mission , American Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) lands in Texas in an escape pod, and is brought to London to brief on the situation. We learn that the crew gradually died as they transported the humanoids back, leaving him, and forcing him to flee. With the female vampire on the loose, Caine and Carlsen must find the vampire, and prevent them from killing more people.
The first thing that popped out about this film was the score. Henry Mancini (famous for composing the score for Breakfast at Tiffany's and the theme to The Pink Panther) managed to create a score that evokes the mood for every scene. It helps set the mood for the film, and gives more emotion to it. Plus, it works in its own right. Look up the trailer for this film, and you get the idea for how intense this score is. The production design is also well-done. The alien ship around Halley is distinct and memorable in appearance. Some of the visuals and scares are very evocative. The plot has that sort of urgency that makes sci-fi B-Movies very enjoyable. Hopper said that he had wanted to make a "70 mm Hammer Film", and the largest influence I can see is the Quatermass series. As a fan of that series (Quatermass and the Pit is one of my favorite horror films), I appreciated how much this movie set out to emulate it, not only in the more methodical way the protagonists approach the problem, but the large scale disaster event which feels big and dangerous, even to the viewer at home. It also has the Gothic feel of many of Hammer's other films, which sets it apart from other science fiction horror films. It feels like a large-scale science fiction film, that just happens to have vampires in it.
Like I said, this film was cut down, and it shows. There are plot holes on occasion, and it gets confusing, with characters occasionally appearing or disappearing from the film. The Lifeforce and space vampire also feel underexplained as concepts. There is enough there that the plot could be understood, but I felt a little more could've clarified certain scenes (including the ending). It also suffers from "middle syndrome", where it drags a little towards the middle of the film. Granted, not that much, but enough that it felt a little boring.
Earlier this year, I watched a film called Life. It was a simple creature feature, but seemed to think itself as more thoughtful explorative film about extraterrestrial life. I felt then and now that film could've done what this film had done. This is a B-movie, and it knows that it's a B-Movie. Instead of running away from that, however, it embraces that label, and takes full advantage of its wonky premise. That's what makes it such an enjoyable film. It is campy enough that you are aware of its absurdity, but not so campy that you can't take it seriously. Thus, I highly recommend it to anyone wanting an enjoyable experience. It is also a legitimately good science fiction film, so if you like science fiction (and it's not really that scary, so you don't need to be a horror fan), this would be an interesting (if not good) watch.
Next time, I continue with Hopper's three movie deal with Cannon with his remake of Invaders from Mars.
No comments:
Post a Comment