Scream Factorized: LIFEFORCE Blu-ray

For as badass a movie as LIFEFORCE is, it is sadly not known as world-renowned classic that it should be. There's a certain knowing glance exchanged between cinephiles when the film's title is mentioned though and it's one of "That film blew my adolescent mind". 
Let's forget for just one second that Mathilda May, who is one of the most gorgeous women in all of cinema, spends nearly entire running time of the film completely nude. Cast that aside. I know it's an amazing spectacle and certainly got a lot of young boys going when they first saw it(as it may still today), but there's a lot more cool stuff in this movie. First off, it's based on a novel called "Space Vampires". I know we're all a little vampire-fatigued these days, but I still feel like there haven't been enough space vampires used in movies or TV. Secondly, you have genre-favorite director Tobe Hooper. Hooper, he of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE(1 & 2), EATEN ALIVE, THE FUNHOUSE and of course POLTERGEIST. Hooper taking on a large scale production approach to a space vampire movie is quite exciting. Next you have the Cannon films factor. I'm not sure about you all, but I love me some Cannon films. They are known for gritty genre films with great genre moments. They are the 'raging ID' of genre filmmaking if you will. If you can conceive of it, Cannon films has probably put it in one of their features. So here we have Cannon films, on a high budget, helping to realize B-level genre material and make it stand out and feel completely A-level. And this movie feels big. From the very opening credits we are bombarded with a kick-ass, rousing space-adventure score by the great Henry Mancini. It truly is one of best opening pieces of score for a movie. For me, it's right up there with anything John Williams ever did. It sets the tone and carries with it a wave of energy and excitement. It says "Get Ready!".  Tell me this clip doesn't get your blood going:

So beyond that, you've got some really great practical effects that still hold up quite well today. Said effects come from the legendary and academy award-winning John Dykstra(of STAR WARS and so many more). You've got a great cast of British actors(including Patrick Stewart) and a London setting, which gives this film the feel of and old Quatermass Movie, but bigger. And then you've got Steve Railsback. Charles Manson himself. Roll all that stuff together and you've got one hell of a movie on your hands. And when you enter in the new Blu-ray transfer(which is gorgeous) and the plentiful extras(2 commentaries(one with Hooper himself), and several featurettes), this package is simply a no-brainer must buy for any serious genre movie fan. I mean, the difference between the old, non-anamorphic MGM DVD transfer and this is astonishing, bordering on hallucinatory. Even if you've never seen the film before, trust me, it's worth a blind buy. Few sci-fi or horror film experiences are as satisfying as the one you'll have with LIFEFORCE. It melds both genre's together in a seamless way that few other films have ever been able to pull off. Stop what you're doing right now and go and watch the movie. There should be a national holiday dedicated to people just watching LIFEFORCE. Seriously. Earth Day, meet LIFEFORCE day.

LIFEFORCE is available on Blu-ray & DVD: HERE