The Michigan Daily - Friday, July 19, 1985 - Page 9
ieforce' shrivels in to h okey t hriler

By Byron L. Bul called in to help and after examining
the evidence concludes that the trio
have been returning to Earth with
LIFEFOHCE, a space shuttle every appearance of the comet,
expedition to Halley's Comet terrorizing humanity down through
discovers within the comet, a giant, the ages.
derelict spaceship. Exploring it, the Colonel Caine proclaims, "This is
crew finds three caskets containing where the vampire legends come
the preserved bodies of a woman and from, I just know it!" That being the
two men. After being brought back to chief gimmick behind the film, the in-
a London laboratory for examination, formation is repeated at regular in-
the bodies suddenly spring to life, and' tervals, to either impress us with the
run loose on the streets, draining the filmmakers cleverness, or to insure
souls out of their victims, and leaving that anyone out buying popcorn or
a trail of shriveled corpses behind that talking to their girlfriend won't miss
soon rise with their own thirst for that terribly ingenious concept.
human life. -Lifeforce borrows to an obvious
Government investigator Colonel degree from Dracula - the in-
Caine - played by Peter Firth - is numerable film versions, not Bram-
Stoker's original - and adds a
smidgen of Night of the Living Dead
H a and .alien. The hulk of the inspiration
B lack F lag though goes straight hack to the won-
derful old Quartermass films that
came out of Britain in the early '60s, a
iContinuedfromPages) memorable series of imaginative,
others, and debuted two terrific new stylish sci-fi horror thrillers that has
songs, "In My Head," and "Drinking become something of a staple on the
and Driving." Roessler's harmonies late night TV movie circuit. In fact
aering Rosseeler'sharmntes d ifeforce is a pretty obvious remake
were an occasional excellent ad-
dition, and it's unfortunate that her of that series' Three Million Years to
mike disappeared before a thun-of ex-
mdeous dsingrd brenditon- otraterrestrials being behind our an-
derous show-closing rendition of cient supernatural superstitions.
"The only disappointing thing shout Head vampires - listed in the
Wednesday's show was The N ec- credits only as Space Girl - Mathilda
tardnesdalrom's w aily Th e May even bears an uncanny resem-
tarine Ballroom's inability to bac ot
properly present the event. The blance to the full-figured, pale vam-
pire queens that used to run around in
discofied lighting was so obtrusiveligrenthedaigycmp
that Black Flag told the lightman to lingerie in the endearingly campy
leave the lighting alone, and hulking Hammer film variations on the Dracula
bouncers continually overstepped story. Only Hammer could never
bouncer etiquette, pushing people out have gotten away with letting its
of the way, arbitrarily enforcing vampire vixens cavort about in the
rules, and generally creating the am- a for the length of their yarns, an
bience of a prison camp. Men that size of looser censorship
should be able to protect the building guidelines that the filmmakers of
without resorting to profanity, 'ifeforce exploit with a vengeance
threats, and violence even if there's no particular reason
for it, particularly when the male
vampires are fully clothed. Though
perhaps that explains why All-

A team of British and American astronauts explore an alien vessel found hidden inside Halley's
comet - yes, that's right, inside Halley's comet - only to discover the origin of our planet's vampire
legend.
American astronaut guy Steve the script for Alien, owed most of its As an indication of Hooper and
Railsback is so easily entranced by success to the stylistic genius of O'Bannon's thoughtfulness, the film
May. Ridley Scott and a lot of uncredited was actually called Space Vampires
Lifeforce is the pet project of direc- rewriting by Walter Hill, all through the production until the
for Tobe Hooper and writer Dan Hooper and O'Bannon had an ample distributor insisted on a title change.
O'Bannon, both of whom came into budget - $25 million - and repor- Ghouls lunge at the camera,
film with auspicious low budget tedly complete artistic freedom on swirling pools of ectoplasmic energy
debuts - Hooper with Texas Chain- Lifeforce, and the result, little more crackle by, and a miniature London
saw Massacre, O'Bannon with Dark than a lame post-Star Wars rehash of goes up in flames in the background,
Star - but have failed to produce old monster movie cliches, should all with the mechanical predictability
subsequently anything of noteworthy solidify for good the suspicion that of a carnival spookhouse. Only John
exception. Poltergeist, despite both men are little more than aging Dykstra's sometimes genuinely stun-
Hooper's director's credit was ob- sci-fi nerds who have made a career ning opticals give this otherwise
viously Steven Spielberg's baby, and from churning out little more than forgettable monster movie its only
O'Bannon's only real claim to fame. expensive basement movies. real flair. Pure drive-in filler.


EATS


AND

DRINKS


FORBIDDEN CITY
491 li shenow i l e. i44-S!9-S)
I-xelent in the ancient tradition of Man
darin, 'fie Chuan, and Hunanspecialiic
Aticic e screice, a full ,iricc har with
cimPIite ine eo liaricssic,,ktai
PJZZA BOB'S
o(14 5 S iStte St ,,66- 4i/">
Ainn Arbor's het nmilkshakes ., .,
oreao snhi iand
i'i/aW. "e praiticall inscmic i
Pi//a pasiies it R itM1IVtRi. I1 a.m.-
2 p.m.,4 P.mi.-1:30a.m.1 T vI R) tix

0 V
}: a roo.--

TACO BOB'S
slo S. Siae Si.; 996-T i
Neo ideas in Mexican food including:
Salads. C'himichangas, Buritos. Hours: 11
a.m. a.m. Mon.-Sat., Noon-Midnight
Sunday.
I L.N(CH ltI VRY and
NIGHT r ItIVERY
Steve's 1428. Sue' 002-63
Homemade ice cream, hot fudge and ohip-
ped creain. Specializes in The Mixin -
cookies, candies, nuts and fruit - skillfully
blended he hand into yotr faeorite large
'coop.
Open 12 - 12 daily .
KANA
ine Korean cuisine - family restaurant
Sonic hot-spicy Korean foods available.
iiiri Nt-I i sIa.m. - 9 p.m.
Sat. 5 p.m. - 10 pm.
11331 - Huron,
Ann Arbor 662-9303