11 Hated Sci-Fi Movies That Became Cult Classics

Tobe Hooper's filmography is one of the most inconsistent of any notable director, with landmarks like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre somehow listed right alongside dreck like Crocodile and The Mangler. Where Lifeforce stands on that scale is up for debate, but it certainly cornered the market on nude space vampire enthusiasts.

After encountering a ship floating inside the tail of Haley's Comet, Colonel Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) brings home three human-looking creatures encased in glass. He returns home, alone in an escape pod, to find one of the creatures (Mathilda May) has beat him there and is running amok through London.

Based on Colin Wilson's novel, The Space Vampires, Cannon Films basically handed Hooper a copy of the book and told him to make it for $25 Million. He had free reign. As a result, the film has a lot in common with Hammer's Quatermass and the Pit, albeit with gore and nudity thrown in for good measure.

It's a little messy, given that the studio ran out of money, leaving some crucial scenes never shot, but it's just crazy enough to at least be a guilty pleasure. The climax, with a zombie riot occuring throughout the streets of London, is absolutely astonishing.