#John Graysmark

[sesiondemadrugada]

Flash Gordon (Mike Hodges, 1980).

[thebutcher-5]

Space Vampires

Benvenuti o bentornati sul nostro blog. Nello scorso articolo siamo tornati a parlare di horror e l’abbiamo fatto con un film che fece molto parlare di sé ai tempi e che ebbe un’influenza enorme quando uscì elle sale ossia The Blair Witch Project – Il mistero della strega di Blair. Il film si apre spiegandoci che quello che stiamo vedendo è il filmato di tre universitari scomparsi l’anno…

[byneddiedingo]

Mathilda May in Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985)

Cast: Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard, Nicholas Ball, Aubrey Morris, Nancy Paul, John Hallam. Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon, Don Jakoby, based on a novel by Colin Wilson. Cinematography: Alan Hume. Production design: John Graysmark. Film editing: John Grover. Music: Henry Mancini. 

Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce is a delirious mashup of space travel sci-fi, vampire thrillers, zombie movies, sexploitation flicks, and apocalyptic disaster films. A British-American crew exploring Halley's comet, making its appearance near Earth, finds an alien vessel caught up in the comet's wake. All of its batlike crew seem to be dead, but there are three containers on board with naked humanoid beings, one female and two males, in some kind of stasis. Back on Earth, when mission control loses contact with the space ship, a rescue ship is sent. It discovers that everyone on board, except the three humanoids, is dead. The aliens, brought to Earth, awake and begin to create a mess: They apparently have the ability to shape-shift and to suck the life force from humans. Meanwhile, a member (Steve Railsback) of the crew from the original ship who managed to board an escape capsule arrives on Earth to explain what's going on and to help save the planet from the aliens. It's a standard horror-from-outer-space setup, but the script keeps embroidering on it until the creepiness turns ludicrous: Patrick Stewart, for example, plays the administrator of an insane asylum that belongs in a Universal horror movie from the 1930s. The heroes, played by Railsback and Peter Firth, have to dash across an embattled London to St. Paul's Cathedral to kill the female alien (Mathilda May), who is lying on the altar transmitting a glowing stream of human souls to her ship. Somehow, the only weapon that will kill her is an antique sword. Lifeforce, in short, is the stuff of which video games are made. Other than noise and carnage by the bucketsful, it has little to recommend it beyond some wildly entertaining overacting and a preposterousness that can only be called chutzpah. 

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/29/17: LIFEFORCE

Tobe Hooper is a really odd director. In spite of the fact that his name leaps to mind in the company of American genre icons like George Romero and John Carpenter--and attached to an indispensable work of art like THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE no less--I still have a hard time remembering all of his contributions. The main reason for this is that they are so wildly varied in tone and content. Even though I enjoy them both on a  personal level, I’ve spent a lot of my life unable to keep in mind the fact that he directed both TEXAS CHAIN SAW and POLTERGEIST--the latter of which tends to be attributed more popularly to producer Spielberg, due to the family feelgoodery that overshadows spectacles like a guy ripping his whole face off in shreds. The gnarly bayou thriller EATEN ALIVE has more in common, narratively, with TCM, but its highly artificial, fairy tale-like aesthetics couldn’t exist in the same world as the more famous power tool opera. The brutally realistic TEXAS CHAIN SAW doesn’t even have that much in common, artistically, with its blackly hilarious immediate sequel, which is one of the most perverted and outrageous movies in its class. And, once you’ve reached the gore-soaked appalachian peak of TCM2, it becomes difficult to imagine Hooper directing a slick, european sci-fi thriller like LIFEFORCE. But, I’m sure glad he did.

Unfortunately, I’m apparently part of a minority of viewers who feel this gratitude. LIFEFORCE, the second installment in Hooper’s doomed 3-picture deal with Cannon (inspired by the promising POLTERGEIST, the company facilitated the production of the pornographically violent TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, and Hooper’s grimy, depressing remake of INVADERS FROM MARS), opened to poor box office returns in 1986, leaving critics bemused at best. Colin Wilson, whose more glibly-titled book The Space Vampires provided the source material, declared it to be the worst movie he’d ever seen. Personally, I find it very difficult to imagine how anyone could be so disappointed in a movie as lavishly rendered and willfully zany as this delirious nightmare about an outer space succubus who ushers in an invasion of the Earth that results in a full scale zombie apocalypse. I’m not a very upbeat person, but when I am confronted with facts like LIFEFORCE’s negative reception, I marvel at how joyless people’s lives must be, that they could reject such a gift.

Hooper and ALIEN scribe Dan O’Bannon did their very best to bring a spark of pleasure into our dreary existence by presenting the hauntingly beautiful and aggressively nude Mathilda May as “the Space Girl”, a powerful psychic vampire who issues forth from a huge dick-shaped astral body, leaving a multiplying horde of infected humans in her wake. These newly vampirized victims don’t settle for simply evaporating in the sunlight, but when starved too long for the lifeforces of the living, they actually explode. Steve Railsback is Colonel Tom Carlsen, the sole survivor of the spacecraft that originally intercepted the vampire ship, must use his burgeoning psychic powers to track the extraterrestrial typhoid mary as she moves from body to beautiful body (including, fabulously, that of Patrick Stewart), spreading her interstellar plague until it absorbs all of London. That’s about as simple as I can make this, so you’ll simply have to take me at my word that this feverish fantasy is a lot campier in practice than any summary could convey. 

Admittedly, I’m getting maudlin in my old age, but it really bums me out when I see a movie as lovingly crafted as LIFEFORCE just getting completely lost on most of its audience. Watching it now, I experience a lot of vicarious anxiety on behalf of Tobe Hooper, who must have been operating under a lot of pressure to follow up the generic success of POLTERGEIST, and who, for his part, must have been biting his nails hoping that the film would launch him out of the shadowy horror grotto and into the financially secure big time. I can’t help imagining the disappointment of production designer John Graysmark, whose eerie, psychedelic sets perfectly scaffold the Hammer Horror vibe of the whole movie. I can’t understand how anyone could fail to respond to the film’s visual effects, created by no lesser a person than Academy Award winner John Dykstra, whose contributions to STAR WARS are easily the best thing about STAR WARS. Perhaps appropriately, this movie always makes me feel like I must not be a genuine part of the human race, because I just have no idea what people want. If you haven’t already, see LIFEFORCE today; it’s a great way to find out if you’re a space alien, and a lot cheaper in the long run than getting your Thetan levels checked by those freaky zealots in the subway. 

[ggactivities]

Lista de starters #7

Jackson Valentine

Anne Marie Graysmark

John Crowley

Ginevra Lombardi

Malcolm Rockefeller

Mallory Rotshchild

Fania Hershlag

Valerie Cohen

Mark Lowell

Eliette Cohen

Tyler McAlister

[docrotten]

LIFEFORCE (1985) – Episode 206 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“I mean, in a sense, we’re all vampires.” Everyone is draining the life out of everyone else in one way or another? Hmmm, that’s a dark take, but a fair point. Join your faithful Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr  – as they drain everything possible from Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce (1985).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 206 – Lifeforce (1985)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.

Director: Tobe Hooper

Writers: Dan O’Bannon & Don Jakoby (screenplay); Colin Wilson (from 1976 novel The Space Vampires)

Music: Henry Mancini

Cinematography: Alan Hume (director of photography)

Production Design: John Graysmark

Makeup Department: Nick Maley (makeup effects & prosthetics supervisor)

Visual Effects: John Dykstra (special visual effects)

Selected Cast:

Steve Railsback as Col. Tom Carlsen

Peter Firth as Col. Colin Caine

Frank Finlay as Dr. Hans Fallada

Mathilda May as Space Girl

Patrick Stewart as Dr. Armstrong

Michael Gothard as Dr. Leonard Bukovsky

Nicholas Ball as Roger Derebridge

Aubrey Morris as Sir Percy Heseltine

Nancy Paul as Ellen

John Hallam as Lamson

John Keegan as Guard

Chris Jagger as First Vampire

Bill Malin as Second Vampire

Jerome Willis as Pathologist

Derek Benfield as Physician

John Woodnutt as Metallurgist

John Forbes-Robertson as The Minister

Lifeforce is the first of three films Tobe Hooper made with Canon, followed by Invaders From Mars (1986) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). As Bill’s pick, it’s a film he frequently revisits trying to understand the choices made during its making. He’s always liked the film, even while feeling a bit baffled. Chad first read about Lifeforce in Fangoria. He loved how crazy and wild it was when he first saw it and he still does. Chad’s never quite sure what he thinks of Steve Railsback’s performance because to him, he’ll always be the Charles Manson he portrayed in Helter Skelter (1976). The excellent practical and visual effects are what pull Jeff into this movie. 

All three of this episode’s Grue-Crew compare Lifeforce to the feel of Hammer’s Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and indeed, may have been a better picture if Hooper had gone full-Quatermass. And of course, they all agree that Mathilda May is phenomenal at portraying the female vampire with style and grace while spending nearly the entire film unabashedly nude.

For other Decades of Horror discussions of Tobe Hooper films (and Quatermass and the Pit to boot), checkout the following episodes:

Eaten Alive (1976) – Episode 136 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

Salem’s Lot (1979) — Episode 69 — Decades Of Horror 1970s

The Funhouse (1981) — Episode 90 — Decades Of Horror 1980s

Poltergeist (1982) – Episode 106 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986) — Episode 81 — Decades Of Horror 1980s

Quatermass And The Pit (1967) – Episode 93 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

If you so desire, at the time of this writing, you can stream Lifeforce from Tubi and PlutoTV with ads, or from various PPV streaming services. If physical media is what trips your trigger, Lifeforce (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD) is scheduled for release May 24, 2022 from Scream Factory. And let’s face it, it’s always time to revisit Tobe Hooper’s films.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal will be Vamp (1986), featuring a speechless Grace Jones. 

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans:  leave them a message or leave a comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

Check out this episode!

[uchujinphoto]

Wu Tang x Texas "Hi" from Fenn O'Meally on Vimeo.

Texas Wu-Tang Clan Starring Kadeem Ramsay

Jamal Odusanya as Tattoist

Written and Directed by Fenn O'Meally Production Company: Smuggler  Executive Producer: Elizabeth Doonan Produced by Emma Wellbelove Cinematography by Molly Manning Walker Art Direction by Max Randall Costume Design by Natalie Roar Edited by Charlie Von Rotberg at Homespun

Commissioned by Lisa Foo Label BMG

Directors rep OB Management

Edit assistant: Luke Anderson  Colourist: Joseph Bicknell at Company3 VFX: Electric Theatre Company Sound designer: Raphaël Ajuelos Stills photographer: Fenn O’Meally
 Production Manager: Gaaron Clarke Location Manager: Jonathan Church 1st AD: Steven Eniraiyetan
 Steadicam: Matt Allsop Gaffer: Bill Rae Smith Electrician: Ana Krkjus Electrician: John Letsinger 1st AC: Jerry Pradon 1st AC (B Cam): Eve Carenno Loader: Ines Duarte Camera Trainee: Joana Magalhaes

Key Grip: Pete Olney 2nd Grip: Dave Rist

BTS: Chad McLeann Titles: Ralph Dennis & Tal Sound Recordist: Emanuele Costantini

Tracking Vehicle drive; James Herring Crane Tech: Sam Graysmark Head Tech: Lawrence Bewsher Picture Vehicle Owner: Howard Francis Stunt Driver: Andy Godbold

Art Assistant: Steph Pollard Props Transport: Dimitri Topalov Wardrobe Assist: Emmanouela Hair and Makeup: Aaliyah Oke

Production Runner: Georgina Dale Runner: Rohan Reddy Runner: Tanaka Chigwanda Runner: Joshua Ojo Production Van Driver: Gary Mavor Medic: Keith Young

BIG THANKS TO Kodak Panavision Pilot Lighting Company 3 ETC

[hotfps]

Texas Wu-Tang Clan Starring Kadeem Ramsay Jamal Odusanya as Tattoist Written and Directed by Fenn O'Meally Production Company: Smuggler  Executive Producer: Elizabeth Doonan Produced by Emma Wellbelove Cinematography by Molly Manning Walker Art Direction by Max Randall Costume Design by Natalie Roar Edited by Charlie Von Rotberg at Homespun Commissioned by Lisa Foo Label BMG Directors rep OB Management Edit assistant: Luke Anderson  Colourist: Joseph Bicknell at Company3 VFX: Electric Theatre Company Sound designer: Raphaël Ajuelos Stills photographer: Fenn O’Meally
 Production Manager: Gaaron Clarke Location Manager: Jonathan Church 1st AD: Steven Eniraiyetan
 Steadicam: Matt Allsop Gaffer: Bill Rae Smith Electrician: Ana Krkjus Electrician: John Letsinger 1st AC: Jerry Pradon 1st AC (B Cam): Eve Carenno Loader: Ines Duarte Camera Trainee: Joana Magalhaes Key Grip: Pete Olney 2nd Grip: Dave Rist BTS: Chad McLeann Titles: Ralph Dennis & Tal Sound Recordist: Emanuele Costantini Tracking Vehicle drive; James Herring Crane Tech: Sam Graysmark Head Tech: Lawrence Bewsher Picture Vehicle Owner: Howard Francis Stunt Driver: Andy Godbold Art Assistant: Steph Pollard Props Transport: Dimitri Topalov Wardrobe Assist: Emmanouela Hair and Makeup: Aaliyah Oke Production Runner: Georgina Dale Runner: Rohan Reddy Runner: Tanaka Chigwanda Runner: Joshua Ojo Production Van Driver: Gary Mavor Medic: Keith Young BIG THANKS TO Kodak Panavision Pilot Lighting Company 3 ETC

[artwalktv]

Texas Wu-Tang Clan Starring Kadeem Ramsay Jamal Odusanya as Tattoist Written and Directed by Fenn O'Meally Production Company: Smuggler  Executive Producer: Elizabeth Doonan Produced by Emma Wellbelove Cinematography by Molly Manning Walker Art Direction by Max Randall Costume Design by Natalie Roar Edited by Charlie Von Rotberg at Homespun Commissioned by Lisa Foo Label BMG Directors rep OB Management Edit assistant: Luke Anderson  Colourist: Joseph Bicknell at Company3 VFX: Electric Theatre Company Sound designer: Raphaël Ajuelos Stills photographer: Fenn O’Meally
 Production Manager: Gaaron Clarke Location Manager: Jonathan Church 1st AD: Steven Eniraiyetan
 Steadicam: Matt Allsop Gaffer: Bill Rae Smith Electrician: Ana Krkjus Electrician: John Letsinger 1st AC: Jerry Pradon 1st AC (B Cam): Eve Carenno Loader: Ines Duarte Camera Trainee: Joana Magalhaes Key Grip: Pete Olney 2nd Grip: Dave Rist BTS: Chad McLeann Titles: Ralph Dennis & Tal Sound Recordist: Emanuele Costantini Tracking Vehicle drive; James Herring Crane Tech: Sam Graysmark Head Tech: Lawrence Bewsher Picture Vehicle Owner: Howard Francis Stunt Driver: Andy Godbold Art Assistant: Steph Pollard Props Transport: Dimitri Topalov Wardrobe Assist: Emmanouela Hair and Makeup: Aaliyah Oke Production Runner: Georgina Dale Runner: Rohan Reddy Runner: Tanaka Chigwanda Runner: Joshua Ojo Production Van Driver: Gary Mavor Medic: Keith Young BIG THANKS TO Kodak Panavision Pilot Lighting Company 3 ETC

[cinearchitecture]

Destructing architecture: a London monument in Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985) | Production Design by John Graysmark.

[ggactivities]

Lista de starters #3

Elizabeth Campbell

Verena Rose

Isabella Ferrari

Edward Victory Rose II

Anne Marie Graysmark

Mark Lowell

Jaffet Mahler

Blanche Ellis

Katarina Abramovich

Mun Seo

Sun-Ye

Melek Alemdaroglu

Ginevra Valentino

John Catesby

Sofía de León