Lifeforce
The Cannon Group | Release Date: June 21, 1985 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
Watching Lifeforce now is to be reminded that even big-budget films were once allowed to be adventurous and idiosyncratic, even in the 1980s, and that American horror movies were once capable of being fun, sexy, and subversively empathetic. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneGene Siskel
In film circles there's a name for pictures like Lifeforce. Film Comment magazine has dubbed them guilty pleasures, movies you're embarrassed to admit you like. Maybe somebody spiked my popcorn, but I can't deny that I liked Lifeforce. Read full review
75
IndieWireDrew Taylor
It has everything a growing horror freak needs: extreme violence, tons of nudity, vampires, mummies, and apocalyptic bedlam. The movie is slyer and smarter than people give it credit for, and absolutely gorgeous-looking. Read full review
60
Time OutTom Huddleston
Lifeforce is a near-impossible film to review, at once indescribably awful and hugely, brilliantly entertaining. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Pic [from the novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson] descends into subpar Agatha Christie territory. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Director Tobe Hooper seriously overplays his hand, losing the shape of this 1985 film in a barrage of overblown special effects and screaming Dolby stereo. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay Scott
Silly, moronically entertaining horror film. [25 June 1985]
50
Miami HeraldBill Cosford
Although we see many strange things happen (and some of them are seen through wondrous-looking special effects), we never have a clue as to what's really going on, and why. [24 June 1985, p.B6]
40
CineVueCleaver Patterson
As a piece of extraterrestrial-tinged whimsy, Lifeforce occasionally shows weak signs of life, but in the end it falls well short of achieving classic status. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Lifeforce shows off Mr. Hooper's way with a whirling mass of protoplasm, just as Poltergeist did. But its style is shrill and fragmented enough to turn Lifeforce into hysterical vampire porn. Read full review
40
Washington PostPaul Attanasio
The screenplay, by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby, is just one long passage of exposition: someone blows up or dries up or whatever, you wonder why that's happening, and then someone explains it. This they call suspense. [25 June 1985, p.C8]
25
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The film is a mess from start to finish with several main characters who appear and disappear throughout. No character development, no thematic development, no narrative development. No life. No force. No dice. Read full review
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