10 Great Sci-Fi Horror Movies (No One Ever Talks About)
3. Lifeforce
Coming from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, it would be reasonable to expect that 1985's Lifeforce is a terrifying and intense ordeal.
But he's also Poltergeist director Tobe Hooper, meaning it wouldn't be unfair to expect a goofy, fantasy-inflected horror.
In reality, this ambitious "space vampire film" lands somewhere between the two extremes of the director's earlier efforts, featuring some seriously impressive monster design and gruesome kills, but coming nowhere near the intensity of his iconic 1974 classic.
The plot is paper thin, following a triumvirate of "humans" found inside the hold of an alien spacecraft after they are taken out of suspended animation and returned to human contact. With a screenplay from Dead and Buried's Dan O'Bannon this one is pacy, twisty, and seriously scary in places, and the inventive monsters make for an interesting threat.
Unfortunately this one is a little bit derailed by an utterly bonkers ending which may or may not make sense. That said, if you're after a balls to the wall, surreal and scary sci-fi horror, then this cult classic is just the ticket.