Movies
Celebrate Tobe Hooper’s Birthday by Watching His Most Underrated Horror Classic, ‘Lifeforce’
Were he still alive, it would have been Tobe Hooper’s 81st birthday today, and I’d like to take time on this birthday to shine a light on one of Hooper’s cult classics to celebrate that occasion. Most horror movie lovers will carry with them vivid memories of seeing Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Poltergeist for the first time, but it’s Hooper’s most underrated classic you should be checking out and making some new memories with today: Lifeforce.
Filmmaking without limits sounds like a pipedream for many. It’s lofty, it’s incredibly expensive, and it feels borderline impossible without the world’s most massive windfall of good luck. But one of horror’s favorite directors, Tobe Hooper, got a chance to do just that back in 1985. And he did it with a film that most people outside of the horror sphere have forgotten. Were he still alive, it would have been Tobe Hooper’s 81st birthday today, and I’d like to take time on this birthday to shine a light on one of Hooper’s cult classics to celebrate that occasion. Most horror movie lovers will carry with them vivid memories of seeing Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Poltergeist for the first time, but it’s Hooper’s most underrated classic you should be checking out and making some new memories with today: Lifeforce.
The Plot of Lifeforce
While the British-American space shuttle called the Churchill approaches Halley’s comet to study it, it ends up running afoul of a bizarre construct: a hundred and fifty-mile long spire, made out of an unidentifiable organic material. What the crew finds inside is the corpse of a massive, strange bat creature, and three crystal coffins, one containing an enchantingly beautiful woman. And what the Churchill brings back to Earth kickstarts a vampiric alien invasion, and puts not just the lives of the astronauts at risk—it’s the lifeforce of the entire world in the balance.
For the moviegoers of 1985, the film Lifeforce was just another odd b-movie filled with weird visual effects and a pale, nude French woman walking around and sucking out people’s souls. Like most weird science fiction, the initial test audiences didn’t get it, and when it went to theatres public audiences and critics REALLY didn’t get it (outside of star Mathilda May’s sex appeal, which everyone gets). But Lifeforce isn’t just a misunderstood sci-fi horror movie about energy vampires; it’s a testament to Hooper’s creative spirit more than any of his other works. And that’s partly to do with the studio that produced it, who gave Hooper free reign over the set.
A Studio That Let Directors Run Wild
I sometimes wonder if we’ll ever get another movie studio like Cannon, mainly because The Cannon Group was the closest thing to a “free-spirited” film company I’ve ever seen. Under the control of partners Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the studio was notorious for not only their prolific output and the number of productions it had running simultaneously, but also for their hands-off approach to producing these movies. They largely left their directors to make whatever they wanted and picked up the finished product when it was ready to distribute.
So, when Hooper was approached to direct a science fiction film after many years of working on horror movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Return of the Living Dead, he took the opportunity. What he got was a lofty and loose script, an adaptation of the British sci-fi novel The Space Vampires, a title which was quickly reworked into Lifeforce.
What he made was completely unexpected.
On-Set Chaos and Hooper’s Legendary Energy
A madcap production ensued that really sculpted a legendary image of the director among the cast and crew. Those who worked on the set of Lifeforce described the energy Hooper brought to the set as something like “a demonic dwarf” scurrying around and “sprinkling gunpowder on everything”. According to them, he was a man filled with energy, running about with a cigar in one hand and a Dr. Pepper in the other. Watching Lifeforce now, that energy definitely shows; it feels a lot less like a director getting a simple blank check, and more like an artist getting the funds and manpower of a small nation to do a classic 60’s science fiction film; Hooper cited Quatermass and The Pit as major inspirations for the style and tone of Lifeforce.
He lovingly smithed the movie, piece by piece until it was exactly what he wanted, and each piece that was forged together seemed more complicated than the last. Lifeforce’s early sequences in space are a bombshell launched by an art department of a different caliber; the kind of talent that could make unbelievably realistic matte paintings of the vampire’s ship exteriors, and also carve a soundstage of the same quality out of real-life materials to represent its guts.
On Earth, the miniatures are just as grand, giving us a bird’s eye view of London in chaos as explosions and rioting rock the city; this all culminates at the final showdown, running through the flaming streets of London to St. Paul’s Cathedral, a set that could fool anyone into thinking it’s the real thing. Everything is ablaze, a perfect reflection of the atmosphere that Hooper has conducted, a symphony of kinetic energy and Lovecraftian madness.
Makeup and Practical Effects: Bringing Hooper’s Vision to Life
And on the ground, up close, a team of makeup artists led by ILM champion and Academy Award winner John Dykstra brought to life the film’s various fiends: incredible instantly decaying energy zombies, people exploding into dust, giant alien bat creatures, and ethereal flying light effects painstakingly etched into the film frame by frame (not including the massive, actual 10,000-lumen bulb they had flying through the set on a wire).
Hundreds of extras moving in concert, pyrotechnics exploding on a macro and miniature scale, controlled burns and swarms of people all inside of Hooper’s sweeping and apocalyptic camera work. It is an incredible and grandiose finale that serves as a crescendo to the film’s narrative, one that makes a sci-fi of planetary proportions really feel that massive. It just all comes together to feel so much bigger than the sum of its parts.
Lifeforce: A Tribute to Hooper’s Boldness
Lifeforce is a tribute to Tobe Hooper’s boldness as a filmmaker, and his love of the craft; it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create, as he described it in the documentary Cannon Fodder, anything he wanted to make. He seized that chance and used it to its fullest, and what resulted is a love letter to the art of making movies with no boundaries and no restrictions. And on his birthday, I can’t think of a better way to honor his work than to see what he could do when the gloves were off, and he could hit you with some serious bare-knuckle cinematography.
Best of all you can find the movie free to stream on Tubi, so you have even less of an excuse to not check it out now. So as always, happy watching horror fans!
My New Year’s resolution is to spend more time watching my favorite app. Luckily, Shudder is not taking it easy on us this holiday season, so I may meet my quota this January. The streamer is bringing in the new year with quite a few bangers. We have classics from icons, a new title from the first family of indie horror, and a couple of lesser-known films that have finally found a home. So, I am obviously living for this month’s programming and think most of you will too. I have picked the five films that I believe deserve our collective attention the most. Get into each of them and start your 2026 off on the right foot.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
Carrie (1976)
A sheltered teen finally unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated for the last time. Carrie is the reason I thought proms might be cool when I was a kid. This Brian De Palma adaptation is one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations. It is also an important title in the good-for-her subgenre. I cannot help rooting for Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) when I watch her snap at this prom and then head home to accidentally deal with her mom. The only tragedy of this evening is that Carrie had to die, too. I said what I said, and I will be hitting play again while it is on Shudder. This recommendation goes out to the other recovering sheltered girls who would be the problem if they had powers. I see you because I am you.
You can watch Carrie on January 1st.
Marshmallow (2025)
A shy 12-year-old gets sent to summer camp and finds himself in a living nightmare. While Marshmallow did not land for me, I know plenty of people who love it. Which makes this the perfect addition to the Shudder catalogue. I am actually excited to see more folks fall in love with this movie when it hits the streamer. If nothing else, it will help a few folks cross off another 2025 title if they are still playing catch-up with last year’s movies. It also gets cool points from me for not taking the easy route with the mystery it built. I hope you all dig it more than I did, and tell your friends about it. Perhaps you could even encourage them to sign up for the app.
You can watch Marshmallow on January 1st.
Chain Reactions (2024)
Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre cemented his horror legacy over fifty years ago. So, it is long overdue for a documentary where horror royalty can discuss its impact on them and their careers. I have been waiting for a couple of years to hear Karyn Kusama and Takashi Miike talk about Hooper’s work and how he inspired them. So, I am super geeked that Shudder is finally giving me the chance to see this film. The streamer is also helping the nerds out by adding The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2 (1986) this month. If you are also an overachieving couch potato, I will see you at the finish line next week.
You can watch Chain Reactions on January 9th.
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
An insurance investigator discovers the impact a horror writer’s books have on people. I love chaos, and John Carpenter chaos happens to be one of my favorite kinds of chaos. While we talk about The Thing and Halloween all the time, this maestro has given us plenty of horror to celebrate. In the Mouth of Madness is very much one of those titles vying for a top spot among the best of his filmography. To sweeten the batshit pot, this movie features Sam Neill. You know that he only shows up in our genre if the movie is going to be legendary. You cannot tell me this is not a Shudder priority this month.
You can watch In the Mouth of Madness on January 10th.
Mother of Flies (2025)
A terminally ill young woman and her dad head to the woods to seek out a recluse who claims she can cure her cancer. The Adams Family has been holding court on Shudder for years, so it feels right that Mother of Flies is a Shudder Original. More importantly, this fest favorite has one of the best performances of 2025. Which makes it a great time for people to finally get to see it and get in line to give Toby Poser her flowers. Whatever you think your favorite Poser role is, it is about to change when you see her as Solveig. I am being serious when I say that this movie might be the first family of indie horror at their best.
You can watch Mother of Flies on January 23rd.
New year, but same Shudder. I would not want to go into 2026 any other way, personally. I hope these horrific recommendations bring you the good kind of anxiety. Or at least distract you from the state of the world for a bit.
I’m happy Netflix knew I would be back on my bull shit. Now that we’re in January, and the end-of-year lists are done, I’m trying to cram as many 2025 titles into my eyeballs as I possibly can. I know it sounds backwards, but it’s sadly a yearly tradition now. No matter how many titles you cram into a year, there are always a ton more you missed. Because I am broken, I need to know if I missed anything that should have been on my lists ASAP. Then I can drag myself for not getting my eyeballs on things sooner. Or worse, seeing titles that came out after my deadline and would have definitely been on there. I need to feel resentment for their schedules not letting me be great.
Luckily for me, the streamer has dropped quite a bit of new stuff recently. This includes movies and shows that I put off, or that legitimately premiered a couple of weeks ago. So, now I can spiral in the comfort of my own home as I binge all of these titles like a maniac. If you are also trying to walk into the new year stressed out, then maybe this streaming guide is for you, too.
City of Shadows (2025)
When a burned body is put on display on the facade of an iconic building, two inspectors must work together to solve the crime. I don’t know much about this Spanish thriller, but I know winter is the time for an unsettling mystery. The show is based on the first book of the Milo Malart tetralogy written by Aro Sáinz de la Maza. So, if it’s as good as I hope it is, there is a whole world with this inspector awaiting us in print. I’m ready to take all six of these episodes in one setting if the streaming Gods allow.
Frankenstein (2025)
Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Christoph Waltz are among the names in this newest adaptation of the beloved Gothic horror classic. Guillermo del Toro’s take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is clearly one of the top priorities this month. While I skipped it in festivals because of the runtime, I knew I would have a date with it on Netflix this winter. While it has been on the streamer for a minute, I wasn’t able to dedicate two and a half hours to it. I also had watched my friends’ mixed reviews come in, and couldn’t take another disappointment last year. So, I saved this treat for the holiday. Fingers crossed, it is better than people are saying it is.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
A new group of friends is tormented by a new stalker in this sequel to Kevin Williamson’s other ’90s slasher. I’m indifferent to the I Know What You Did Last Summer movies. Some are less awful than others, and I think this one was fine, but I know the original source material. Which means I know just how far they stray from what the original author, Lois Duncan, was about. So, I look at these movies and the flimsy premise they repeat differently than a lot of my friends. I think it’s an interesting look at how IP gets handled in Hollywood, but I don’t usually get much out of these. Which is another reason I’m kinder to this Jennifer Kaytin Robinson film than some people. While I won’t be rewatching it this January, I think a lot of people who missed it in theaters are going to have fun with some of these kills now that it’s on Netflix.
Stranger Things: Season 5 (2025)
The long-awaited conclusion to Stranger Things is finally upon us! Will Vecna take out some of this ridiculously large cast on the way out? I hope so. Will we pretend to be surprised when Eddie Munson gets a few seconds of screentime? I refuse to play this game. However, are we all going to tune in to see how this epic ride ends? You betcha! I hate that they’re breaking this final season up into three chunks, but I will be sitting for all of them.
The first four episodes hit in November. The next three landed on Netflix on December 25, and the finale premiered on December 31. I don’t know what to expect, but I know I am so ready to close this chapter of my relationship with Netflix and the Duffer Brothers. If it is even half as good as season four, then I will be a very happy nerd.
Troll 2 (2025)
A new troll awakens, causing Nora, Andreas, and Captain Kris to find new allies to take it down. This Norwegian monster flick almost got by me, so I’m happy Netflix dropped the trailer for this one. I’m using this as an excuse to finally watch the first one. I’m thinking a double feature is in order, so I can spend a whole day with these trolls. This is not my usual type of party, but after Troll Hunter won me over, I figure anything can happen. So, I will not judge you if you’re not feeling this out of left field pick. Just know that I’m running at it with an open mind and hoping to see some carnage as a reward.
These are just the Netflix titles I’m prioritizing. This is in no way a complete overview of all of the new shows and movies they’ve added this winter. We also know that they usually have a ton of international bangers that they refuse to advertise. So, I end up stumbling over Korean titles every January and then trying to tell people we missed some really excellent stuff. So, pick up your remote and turn your phone off. It’s time to Netflix and Chill in the less sexy and more nerdy way.
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