[TCM Underground] This week on TCM Underground: Lifeforce; Poltergeist

[Ubiquitous]

Lifeforce:
When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters an
alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back on
Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous woman,
proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning the town
into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a surviving
astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the ruthless alien
presence.

Poltergeist:
Evil spirits abduct a suburban family's daughter causing chaos and havoc.

--
Watching Democrats come up with schemes to "catch Trump" is like
watching Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner.

[anim8rfsk]

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> [TCM Underground] This week on TCM Underground: Lifeforce; Poltergeist
> Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net>
> July 19, 2019 at 3:43:21 AM MST

>
> Lifeforce:
> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters an
> alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back on
> Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous woman,
> proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning the town
> into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a surviving
> astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the ruthless alien
> presence.

Patrick Stewart's best film.

--
Join your old RAT friends at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688985234647266/

[Ian J. Ball]

On 2019-07-19 15:25:39 +0000, anim8rfsk said:

> Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
>> [TCM Underground] This week on TCM Underground: Lifeforce; Poltergeist
>> Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net>
>> July 19, 2019 at 3:43:21 AM MST
>>
>> Lifeforce:
>> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters an
>> alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back on
>> Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous woman,
>> proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning the town
>> into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a surviving
>> astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the ruthless alien
>> presence.
>
> Patrick Stewart's best film.

Why? - Does he die?... ;p


--
"Three light sabers? Is that overkill? Or just the right amount
of "kill"?" - M-OC, "A Perilous Rescue" (ep. #2.9), LSW:TFA (08-10-2017)

[anim8rfsk]

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 08:52:09 -0700 Ian J. Ball<IJB...@mac.invalid> wrote:

> On 2019-07-19 15:25:39 +0000, anim8rfsk said:
>
> > Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:
> >
> > > [TCM Underground] This week on TCM Underground: Lifeforce; Poltergeist
> > > Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net>
> > > July 19, 2019 at 3:43:21 AM MST
> > >
> > > Lifeforce:
> > > When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
> > > an
> > > alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back on
> > > Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous woman,
> > > proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning the town
> > > into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a surviving
> > > astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the ruthless
> > > alien
> > > presence.
> >
> > Patrick Stewart's best film.
>
> Why? - Does he die?... ;p

LOL, well, as a matter of fact ...

[Ubiquitous]

anim...@cox.net wrote:
>Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>> Lifeforce:
>> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
>> an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
>> on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
>> woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
>> the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
>> surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
>> ruthless alien presence.
>
>Patrick Stewart's best film.

/me waiting for other shoe to drop...

[anim8rfsk]

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 10:14:42 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> anim...@cox.net wrote:
> > Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> > > Lifeforce:
> > > When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
> > > an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
> > > on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
> > > woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
> > > the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
> > > surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
> > > ruthless alien presence.
> >
> > Patrick Stewart's best film.
>
> /me waiting for other shoe to drop...

A simple statement of fact.

Of course, most of Sir Patrick's films are unmitigated pig shit, more often
than not directly as a result of his involvement.

[Ubiquitous]

anim...@cox.net wrote:
>Fri, 19 Jul 2019 10:14:42 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>> anim...@cox.net wrote:
>>> Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>>>> Lifeforce:
>>>> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
>>>> an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
>>>> on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
>>>> woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
>>>> the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
>>>> surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
>>>> ruthless alien presence.
>>>
>>> Patrick Stewart's best film.
>>
>> /me waiting for other shoe to drop...
>
>A simple statement of fact.
>
>Of course, most of Sir Patrick's films are unmitigated pig shit, more often
>than not directly as a result of his involvement.

I consider Excaliber to be another good one, altho he's not a major char in
it.

[anim8rfsk]

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 10:56:19 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> anim...@cox.net wrote:
> > Fri, 19 Jul 2019 10:14:42 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:
> > > anim...@cox.net wrote:
> > > > Fri, 19 Jul 2019 03:43:21 -0700 Ubiquitous<web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> > > > > Lifeforce:
> > > > > When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
> > > > > an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
> > > > > on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
> > > > > woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
> > > > > the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
> > > > > surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
> > > > > ruthless alien presence.
> > > >
> > > > Patrick Stewart's best film.
> > >
> > > /me waiting for other shoe to drop...
> >
> > A simple statement of fact.
> >
> > Of course, most of Sir Patrick's films are unmitigated pig shit, more often
> > than not directly as a result of his involvement.
>
> I consider Excaliber to be another good one, altho he's not a major char in
> it.

That's the only other candidate I know of.

[Ubiquitous]

neo...@webtv.net wrote:

>On Friday, July 19, 2019 at 9:03:54 AM UTC-4, Ubiquitous wrote:

>> Lifeforce:
>> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
>> an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
>> on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
>> woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
>> the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
>> surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
>> ruthless alien presence.
>>
>> Poltergeist:
>> Evil spirits abduct a suburban family's daughter causing chaos and havoc.
>

>One is good, one not. Which is which ?

Lifeforce (1985)
Following the success of Poltergeist (1982), director Tobe Hooper had a
chance to punch his own ticket. But instead of another Steven Spielberg theme
park ride, Hooper delivered Lifeforce (1985), an obsessive head trip in 70mm,
one that details the ways in which quivering men fail to satisfy a voracious
(alien) woman's sexual desire. Ravaged by critics, Janet Maslin memorably
described it as "hysterical vampire porn", and it made only $11.5 million on
a $25 million budget.

Cannon Films, led by producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, signed Hooper
to a three-picture deal following the success of Poltergeist. To sign the
contract, Hooper dropped out of The Return of the Living Dead (1985), for
which screenwriter Dan O'Bannon (Alien) took over as director. In their first
meeting, Golan and Globus handed Hooper the novel The Space Vampires (1976)
by Colin Wilson. The production began a few days later, with Hooper fondly
remembering how they "bypassed all the usual development things you have to
go through." One of those "development things" they went without was having a
completed script. Hooper hired O'Bannon and Don Jakoby to write it, but it
was far from finished by the time the compressed shooting schedule began. The
tight schedule also frustrated the effects team led by John Dykstra (Star
Wars), who later complained that a rushed film processing job introduced
flaws into the delicate optical printing work.

If Golan and Globus expected the same Spielberg effect of Hooper from
Poltergeist, they were to be disappointed. What they got instead was the
uncompromising horror nerd who made the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).
Hooper recalled his own attitude as, "I'll go back to my roots, and I'll make
a 70mm Hammer film." Recognizing Colin Wilson's novel as a variant on The
Quatermass Xperiment (1955), he made Lifeforce with ripe colors and riper
melodramatics, along with his actors adopting the postures and tones of his
favorite Hammer icons. For example, Frank Finlay in his character of Dr. Hans
Fallada, takes on the epicene inquisitiveness of Peter Cushing.

Cannon, realizing the strangeness of Hooper's film, started to impose
changes. They replaced Henry Mancini's score, cut down the U.S. release
version by 15 minutes and changed the title from The Space Vampires to
Lifeforce. But it didn't help at the box office. Hooper believes that
changing the title was a mistake and that everyone then, "expected it to be
more serious, rather than satirical. It isn't quite camp, but we intended it
to be funny in places."

The film starts as exploratory sci-fi, with Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve
Railsback) leading a British-U.S. space mission to investigate Halley's
Comet. As they float on wires through matte-painted backgrounds reminiscent
of Forbidden Planet (1956), they discover the corpses of hollowed out devil
bats. Then they enter a crystalline chamber modeled on the diamond-shaped
alien pod from Quatermass and the Pit (1967), where they find three perfectly
preserved human bodies, one a well-proportioned woman (only known as "Space
Girl", Mathilda May) who exerts a hold on Carlsen, even in stasis. Here the
horror begins, as this female is, yes, a space vampire, sucking the life
force out of anyone in her path. Once she and her two male companions
(including Mick Jagger's brother, Chris) reach Earth, they leave piles of
shriveled up human husks in their wake, which realistically twitch in the
animatronics by Nick Maley.

Space Girl embodies female desire without socialized restraint: she knows
what she wants and she gets it. After she escapes a government facility, one
of the doctors is asked how she overpowered him. He responds, "She was the
most overwhelmingly feminine presence I've ever encountered." Tasked with
acting for the majority of the movie in the nude, May uses her ballet
training to move with grace in an often graceless role. She moves with such
control that she seems to float, like Bela Lugosi in Tod Browning's Dracula,
her blood-sucking ancestor.

The male characters are either insular pedants or macho creeps, playing with
their spaceships or microscopes but utterly befuddled at the presence of a
prepossessing nude woman. Railsback is in a perpetual cower, prematurely
embarrassed at his inability to fully please the Space Girl. By the end, he's
sweating and flinching so much that he becomes Renfield to her Dracula. The
only time he can gain some measure of control is by injecting her with
gallons of sleep serum, and that's only when she's taken over the body of
Patrick Stewart (yes, Captain Picard). She speaks through Stewart's mouth, "I
am the feminine in your mind, Carlsen". Railsback then kisses Stewart, in one
of the more radical moments in 1980s Hollywood cinema.

To fulfill his contract with Cannon, Hooper went on to make Invaders from
Mars (1986), a remake of the 1953 science-fiction film, and The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), neither of which were the hits they were hoping
for, but they received an indelible body of work.

By R. Emmet Sweeney

[Ubiquitous]

neo...@webtv.net wrote:
>On Friday, July 19, 2019 at 9:03:54 AM UTC-4, Ubiquitous wrote:

>> Lifeforce:
>> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
>> an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
>> on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
>> woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
>> the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
>> surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
>> ruthless alien presence.
>>
>> Poltergeist:
>> Evil spirits abduct a suburban family's daughter causing chaos and havoc.
>

>One is good, one not. Which is which ?

Poltergeist (1982)
When Steven Spielberg decides to direct a movie, he directs a movie...even if
he's not officially the director. Back in 1982, Spielberg, though still only
35 years old, had established himself as the most commercially astute
filmmaker in movie history. He already had Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of
the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and the recently-
completed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) under his belt when he decided to
produce a good old-fashioned haunted house movie called Poltergeist. But
Poltergeist was the first hands-on producing job that Spielberg had ever
performed with another director at the helm, and he inevitably wound up
behind the camera, filming portions of the picture.

Poltergeist's plot exploits all the cliches of the haunted house genre with
an F/X-heavy, video-centric twist. Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams and their
three kids (played by Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, and Heather O'Rourke)
have the misfortune of moving into a new suburban home that happens to have
been built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Eventually, the spirits are
released, and they're not happy with the intrusion. It's not long before one
of the children, innocent little Carol Anne (O'Rourke), gets pulled into the
netherworld via a static-filled TV screen. The rest of the picture consists
of creepy/violent occurrences while the house is put through the wringer by a
mini clairvoyant (Zelda Rubinstein) and a parade of angry spirits. It may be
slick and overproduced, but you're still guaranteed to get some well-earned
shrieks out of it before it's over.

Tobe Hooper, who scared the bejeebies out of drive-in moviegoers with his
nightmarish cult film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), was signed on to
direct Poltergeist, although, if you think about it, Hooper's pitiless,
blood-and-guts sensibility was hardly a good fit for Steven Spielberg. At
this point in his career, and for several years thereafter, Spielberg had an
often unfortunate penchant for getting cute and tossing magic dust in the air
in his films. That certainly wouldn't work with a horror film, but there's no
doubt that Poltergeist's bet-hedging commercial gloss is Spielberg's
handiwork. The movie is actually more unnerving than truly horrifying.

No one has ever said exactly what Spielberg did or didn't film, but it's
pretty obvious that he wasn't sitting in his producer's chair, thoughtfully
smoking a pipe. The picture contains more than a few Spielbergian shots that
sweep in at a low angle toward an awed character, and Williams even remembers
Spielberg climbing into a swimming pool full of "corpses" with her while
shooting the climactic scene. Viewers who are familiar with his work from the
period won't have too much trouble finding other clues. In one particularly
icky scene where a character hallucinates that he's tearing the flesh off his
own face, that's actually Spielberg's hands doing the tearing!

Although they might look rickety by current standards, the special effects in
Poltergeist were the film's major attraction when it was released (it ended
up grossing a very respectable $40-million at the box office.) Richard
Edlund, one of the original forces behind George Lucas' Industrial Light and
Magic, created all those swirling ghosts and murderous trees.Today, Edlund is
hailed by industry insiders as an F/X pioneer, and has taken home Oscars® for
three different Star Wars films, as well as for Raiders of the Lost Ark. (His
most recent work can be found in last year's bomb, The Stepford Wives, 2004).

Nelson and Williams, of course, have both enjoyed respectable careers in
movies and television, with Nelson finding quite a high profile as the title
character in the ABC sitcom Coach. There is, however, a genuinely tragic bent
to the stories of two other Poltergeist cast members.

Just a few months after the picture's release, Dominique Dunne, who plays
the eldest daughter in the haunted family, was killed by an enraged
boyfriend. The pointless death of this promising young actress saddened movie
fans across the country, and badly rattled members of the Los Angeles film
community. In a twist worthy of a modern thriller, Dunne's killer would serve
only three years behind bars before being released, a turn of events that her
father, Dominic Dunne, a contributor to Vanity Fair magazine and other
publications, would document in detail.

The other Poltergeist cast member who met an untimely demise is Heather
O'Rourke. The tiny actress, whose character's supernatural predicament drove
the original picture, went on to appear in two Poltergeist sequels, but
unexpectedly died of an intestinal obstruction shortly after wrapping
Poltergeist III (1988). That film is dedicated to her memory. (If you are
interested in learning more about Poltergeist III, you might want to check
out the Poltergeist III.com website.

[BTR1701]

In article <qh471d$6kk$4...@dont-email.me>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> neo...@webtv.net wrote:

> >On Friday, July 19, 2019 at 9:03:54 AM UTC-4, Ubiquitous wrote:

> >> Poltergeist:
> >> Evil spirits abduct a suburban family's daughter causing chaos and havoc.

> Poltergeist's plot exploits all the cliches of the haunted house genre with
> an F/X-heavy, video-centric twist. Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams and their
> three kids (played by Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, and Heather O'Rourke)
> have the misfortune of moving into a new suburban home that happens to have
> been built on an ancient Indian burial ground.

Umm... no. It was just a regular cemetery.

"You son of a bitch! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies,
didn't you? You son of a bitch, you left the bodies and you only moved
the headstones! You only moved the headstones!"

Some of the corpses lurching out of the ground at the end were wearing
tuxedos. Not too many ancient indians went into the ground in a 3-piece.

[BTR1701]

In article <qh4719$6kk$3...@dont-email.me>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> neo...@webtv.net wrote:
> >On Friday, July 19, 2019 at 9:03:54 AM UTC-4, Ubiquitous wrote:
>
> >> Lifeforce:
> >> When a space mission involving American and British astronauts encounters
> >> an alien craft, the humanoids within are brought aboard the shuttle. Back
> >> on Earth, one of the extraterrestrials, who appears to be a gorgeous
> >> woman, proceeds to suck the life force out of various Londoners, turning
> >> the town into a city of roaming half-dead people. When Tom Carlsen, a
> >> surviving astronaut, realizes what is happening, he sets out to stop the
> >> ruthless alien presence.

> If Golan and Globus expected the same Spielberg effect of Hooper from
> Poltergeist, they were to be disappointed. What they got instead was the
> uncompromising horror nerd who made the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).
> Hooper recalled his own attitude as, "I'll go back to my roots, and I'll make
> a 70mm Hammer film." Recognizing Colin Wilson's novel as a variant on The
> Quatermass Xperiment (1955), he made Lifeforce with ripe colors and riper
> melodramatics, along with his actors adopting the postures and tones of his
> favorite Hammer icons. For example, Frank Finlay in his character of Dr. Hans
> Fallada, takes on the epicene inquisitiveness of Peter Cushing.
>
> Cannon, realizing the strangeness of Hooper's film, started to impose

> changes. They replaced Henry Mancini's score...

Yeah, 'cause that was the problem. The music. Sheesh.

[Ubiquitous]

For some reason, I remember an ancient native american burial site being
involved.

[anim8rfsk]

Which was totally retconned in P2 where the problem was actually a Jonestown
type religious mass suicide in one of the giant caves BENEATH the cemetery
back in the early 1800s. This also paved the way for

P3 where it turns out the wimminfolk in the family are majik and it's all
their fault.

The 2015 remake (has anybody actually seen that?) seems to use the mythology
of P1 and P3, skipping over P2.

[anim8rfsk]

Well, now, wait a minute. They stuck in some cues by other guys, but it's my
understanding the score is predominately still Mancini.

[Dimensional Traveler]

The titles Theme is definitely Mancini.

--
Inquiring minds want to know while minds with a self-preservation
instinct are running screaming.

[A Friend]

In article <atropos-D7A06D...@news.giganews.com>, BTR1701

<atr...@mac.com> wrote:

> In article <qh471d$6kk$4...@dont-email.me>,
> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> > neo...@webtv.net wrote:
>
> > >On Friday, July 19, 2019 at 9:03:54 AM UTC-4, Ubiquitous wrote:
>
> > >> Poltergeist:
> > >> Evil spirits abduct a suburban family's daughter causing chaos and havoc.
>
> > Poltergeist's plot exploits all the cliches of the haunted house genre with
> > an F/X-heavy, video-centric twist. Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams and
> > their
> > three kids (played by Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, and Heather O'Rourke)
> > have the misfortune of moving into a new suburban home that happens to have
> > been built on an ancient Indian burial ground.
>
> Umm... no. It was just a regular cemetery.
>
> "You son of a bitch! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies,
> didn't you? You son of a bitch, you left the bodies and you only moved
> the headstones! You only moved the headstones!"

General question: In IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, we see that George Bailey
has been responsible for financing and building Bailey Park, where nice
middle-class people can live as proud homeowners and free Americans.

George is sent to the world where he was never born. We see that
Bailey Park is gone, and in its place is a creepy cemetery. We see
that Harry, who in this world died in the pond accident in 1919*, is
buried there.

Now, doesn't all this mean that Bailey Park is built on the grounds of
a creepy cemetery? Didn't George have to clear the place out in order
to build all those homes? Isn't Bailey Park a POLTERGEIST just waiting
to happen? How come no one has ever noticed this?



*Happy Centennial, Harry Bailey!

[anim8rfsk]

I haven't noticed it because I've never seen IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

[A Friend]

In article <0001HW.22E6332902...@NEWS.EASYNEWS.COM>,

I saw it a few times on the local overnight movie show in the very
early '70s, before PBS found it and started beating us all over the
head to death with it. I really don't care much for it. I understand
that this makes me an evil shit.

[anim8rfsk]

Mon, 22 Jul 2019 12:20:24 -0700 A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:

> In article<0001HW.22E6332902...@NEWS.EASYNEWS.COM>,

I've seen so many snippets and homages on other shows that it feels like a
rerun I've seen too many times.

I really liked the MARRIED WITH CHILDREN version.

[Ubiquitous]

anim...@cox.net wrote:
>Mon, 22 Jul 2019 12:20:24 -0700 A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:
>> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
>>> Mon, 22 Jul 2019 10:58:34 -0700 A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:

With Sam Kineson?

[anim8rfsk]

Yep!

[A Friend]

In article <0001HW.22E6459502...@NEWS.EASYNEWS.COM>,

I still miss Sam Kinison.

[anim8rfsk]

Mon, 22 Jul 2019 13:24:47 -0700 A Friend<no...@noway.com> wrote:

> In article<0001HW.22E6459502...@NEWS.EASYNEWS.COM>,

It's not fair we lost Sam and Pauly Shore survives!

[Ubiquitous]

Yeah, that one was good.