Lifeforce

Nestled amidst the wildly uneven yet marvellously unrestrained film work of Tobe Hooper is Lifeforce, his 1985 adaptation of Colin Wilson’s cult 1976 novel, The Space Vampires. An audacious amalgamation of sci-fi and horror, Lifeforce revolves around the discovery of slumbering humanoid aliens in the tail of Haley’s Comet and the terror they unleash when brought back to earth for study.

A critical and commercial flop upon release, Lifeforce has undergone something of a reappraisal in recent times. Co-written by Dan O’Bannon, it’s a solid B-movie that mesmerises with its sheer audacity, abundance of effects, intriguing ideas, bizarro chutzpah and, well, space vampires!

Head over to Exquisite Terror to read my full review of this cult classic.

While you’re there, why not pick up an issue of Exquisite Terror, an independently produced periodical with an academic, analytical approach to cinematic horror. Issues 1 - 3 are available now, and issue 4 is available to pre-order very soon.

Popular posts from this blog

Otherworldly Encounters on Halloween

Image
Oíche Shamhna shona duit. To celebrate All Hallow’s Eve, my dear friend Marie – a writer and folklorist based in Missouri - has put together a podcast exploring first-hand paranormal experiences that took place on Halloween. The stories and accounts are shared from r/Paranormal , The Fairy Census , and the Dúchas Schools Collection (part of the National Folklore Collection UCD Digitization Project).  Between the stories, one of which is read by yours truly, Marie explores some of the history and folklore surrounding the traditions of Halloween, or Samhein, as it was known in Ireland where it originates from. An important festival in the ancient Celtic calendar to mark the end of summer, Samhein (Irish for November), is the night when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead becomes thinnest, allowing souls of the deceased to pass through into our world and roam freely. The night we call Halloween in English, is Oíche Shamhna: literally Samhain (November) Eve. To listen t
Read more

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning

Image
1985 Dir. Danny Steinmann Five years after his run in with hulking serial killer Jason Voorhees, the now 17 year old Tommy Jarvis remains traumatised by memories and nightmares of that fateful night. Released from an institution and sent to live in a halfway house for troubled teens undergoing rehabilitation, Tommy’s nightmare is far from over. A slew of brutal murders in the area would suggest Jason has returned from the grave – or that Tommy has descended into madness. But who’s that minor cast member over there with the wild ‘n’ crazy look in his eye? Is it someone who is pretending to be Jason to avenge the death of his son – also a resident at the halfway house? No.  Surely not. A New Beginning is often maligned by fans as it is the only film (aside from Part 1 ) not to feature Jason Voorhees as the killer. While the killer dresses as Jason and has a motive that also involves avenging the death of a family member, it isn’t the real Jason. You might be forgiven for thinki
Read more

Halloween: Resurrection

Image
2002 Dir. Rick Rosenthal Four years after mistakenly killing a man she thought to be her brother (really, Dimension Films? Really ?), long-suffering Laurie Strode is eventually hunted down by her not really dead actual brother, crazier-than-bat-shit Michael Myers, and murderlised. Making his way back home to Haddonfield, Myers discovers the crew of an online reality show has taken over his house (!) to broadcast a Halloween special featuring a group of dumb-fuck teenagers dared to spend the night in the house of ill-repute. Naturally he goes on yet another killing spree. And it's all caught on camera and broadcast online for other dumb-fuck teenagers to watch. Yes, all of this actually really happens. It really fucking happens. Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later did not warrant a sequel. It was intended not only as a twentieth anniversary celebration of John Carpenter's classic chiller , but as a way to draw the series to a close, with its original heroine finally co
Read more