DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) (Blu-ray Review)

DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) 

Label: Scream Factory

Release Date: March 22nd 2016 
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, 2Stereo .0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: David Nutter
Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Ethan Embry, Katharine Isabelle, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, Steve Railsback, James Marsden, William Sadler

Synopsis: In the halls of Cradle Bay High School, something sinister is happening… something dark… something disturbing. Sure, the "Blue Ribbons" – the clique that's at the top of the food chain at Cradle Bay – appear perfect in every way. But underneath their clean-cut, well-mannered facades lurks a shocking secret – one that a group of Cradle Bay High's outsiders and rebels must uncover in order to save their school, their town... and their own lives.

Not sure why but I always thought this movie was an erotic thriller of some sort along the lines of Wild Things so I just never made time to watch it, but since it landed on my doorstep I decided to give it a watch. I am pleased to see that I was wrong about what sort of movie this is,  what it is is a teen sci-fi thriller not too dissimilar from something akin to The Faculty, wherein teens at the local school begin to change is dramatic way, assimilating to a certain preppie way of thinking, but the origins this time out are not alien in nature, but this turns out to be a decent '90s teen riff on something along the lines of The Stepford Wives, as burnouts are transformed into straight-a student who go a little nuts when they get turned on. 


A year after the death of his brother teen Steve Clark (James Marsden, X-Men) and his family move to the island community of Cradle Bay, a nice place with a good school, the sort of place where the usual clicks apply. Case in point we have the "Blue Ribbons", a group of A-students who are popular, the usual array of jocks and pom-pom shakers who look down and frown upon the alternative culture kids at school. If you're a stoner, burnout or grunge-afflicted teen you are cannon-fodder for the true blue bullies who love to give the alternative kids a lot of grief, These burnouts and waste-oids are the ones that new-kid Steve finds himself hanging with, namely a trio of losers named Strick (Nick Stahl, Sin City), U.V. (Chad E. Donella, The Final Destination), and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes, The Ice Storm). Stahl is pretty great as the would-be leader of the misfits teens, his character offers a memorable monologue as he gives Steve a verbal tour of the class system at the school. His sidekick U.V. is slightly less memorable, but a young Katie Holmes gives off some serious sexual heat as the bad girl, I've never thought much of Holmes but damn if she didn't stir me up a bit, but those stoner-grunge girls of the '90s always did it for me. Also notable is the appearance of a pre Ginger Snaps (2000) Katharine Isabelle as the younger sister of Marsden's character.


I have always heard this movie described as an extended version of an X-Files episode and that's not too far removed from the truth, shot up North in the Land of Maple Syrup the film shares an aesthetic that was popular on TV and in teen movies of the time, plus director David Nutter was a veteran of the X-Files himself having directed several episodes. The science fiction element comes by way of the school psychologist, Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood, Steve from Cincinnati) who runs the Blue Ribbon program at the school, a program that somehow turns burnouts into icy A-student preppies overnight, and with that revelation things begins to smell rotten in the village of Cradle Bay. Dr. Caldicott  is surgically molding the Cradle Bay teens into perfect students, but aside from the usual teen-asshole behavior one might associate with the over privileged and elite the students begin succumb to homicidal tendencies when they become aroused by the opposite sex. The fat that an aroused teen is a dangerous things is certainly no shocker, but these horny kids take it a bit too far, though the gore is kept in the shadows, there's not much here for a gore hound.

Disturbing Behavior holds up pretty swell for a late-nineties teen thriller, helped by a strong cast of young Hollywood hopefuls who have since gone onto varying degrees of success, spearheaded by a young James Marsden, someone I like but don't think he ever landed the right role, at least not the one that would propel him to stardom. I don't exactly love his turn as Cyclops in Bryan Singer's X-Men movies, but I do sort of love him in The Box. This might be my favorite Nick Stahl Role, too. Well-written and funny, but neutered to a degree when the movie studio took the film away from director Nutter and re-edited it, but his performance shines through the hackneyed edit. Holmes as the dark teen cutey makes for a good love interest, she doesn't get a lot to chew on but her top-shelf talent shines through just the same. The movie also has appearances from William Sadler (Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight) as a school janitor, the village idiot who is aware of the dark side if Cradle Bay and is doing something about it, and keep an eye out for Steve Railsback (Lifeforce) as the local sheriff who turns a blind eye to the carnage the Blue Bloods inflict on the burnout teens, his role doesn't add up to much, but it is always a blast to see Railsback onscreen, even in a nothing role.

Disturbing Behavior arrived on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in the original 1.85 aspect ratio with a new 1080p HD transfer looking pretty good all the way around, it is not the most skin-pore porn high definition image but it is decently clear with some modest depth and the skin tones look accurate It comes with choice of English language DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 and Surround 5.1 with some good atmospheric use of the surrounds, the '90s alternative-rock soundtrack . Special features include an audio commentary from director David Nutter, a half-hour of deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer for the movie.

Special Features
- Audio Commentary By Director David Nutter
- Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending with Optional Director Commentary (25 Mins) 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) 

If you enjoyed the teen sci-fi thriller The Faculty there's bound to be something here for you to love, a fun if slightly stilted teen riff on The Stepford Wives with some good sci-fi thrills wrapped-up inside a clever script with a very nineties-centric soundtrack highlighted by the inclusion of Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta", which was a song you could escape on '90s alternative radio. The movie is horribly dated by the ninetis fashions and music, but just as I am nostalgic for '80s horror there are probably a lot of '90s horror fans who love this movie more than I ever could, but this was still a fun watch and the new Blu-ray from Scream Factory is sure to please fans of the movie, and maybe win over a few newcomers. 2.5/5

TURKEY SHOOT (1981) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

TURKEY SHOOT (1981)

Label: Severin Films

Region Code: Region-FREE

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 93 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Cast: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Roger Ward, John Ley, Lynda Stoner, Gus Mercurio, Carmen Duncan, Steve "Crusher" Rackman, Michael Petrovich, Noel Ferrier

Brian Trenchard-Smith's Turkey Shoot (1982) a ridiculous Australian update of the classic man-hunt movie The Most Dangerous Game with some trashy women-in-prison tropes and and dystopian future stuff thrown into the mix for some added entertainment value. Set in the once futuristic sounding year of 2000 the government doesn't care much for dissent among the people, you're either a non-questioning member of society or you are interred in one of the prison camps where you are subjected to a nightmarish blend of social re-education and behaviour modification including physical punishment, rape and brutal murder.

The most notorious of the concentration camps is Camp 47, which is where we catch up with three subversive members of society sent for rehab, there's an innocent shopkeeper Chris Walters (Olivia Hussey, Black Christmas), a suspected whore Rita Daniels (Lynda Stoner) and repeat dissident Paul Anders (Steve Railsback, Lifeforce) notorious for having previously escaped from the other camps. The prison facility is run by sinister character warden type character Charles Thatcher played by actor Michael Craig (Vault of Horror), a role that could have easily been over-the-top but the actor keeps it pretty straight-faced, which works quite nicely against Railsback who seems to be off on another planet as the unbreakable subversive Anders, we have yet again another overly intense character from Railsback, which is a lot of fun, he keeps it entertaining.Olivia Hussey as the innocent seems a bit frazzled, not sure if that's her character or just her, it's noted on the special features she was deathly afraid of the Aussie wildlife, whatever the reason her fear translates well on-screen, but the woman just cannot handle weaponry, she looks pretty damn ridiculous firing a mounted 50 cal rifle.

Thatcher has a pair of henchmen who enforce the camp rules, the brute Ritter (Roger Ward, Mad Max) and the whip-wielding Red (Gus Mercurio, The Blue Lagoon), both of whom taunt and brutalize the subversives interred at the camp for fun. Ritter at one point makes an example of a young woman whom he nearly beats to death when she cannot recite the camp mantra, another is burned alive after an escape attempt, while Anders is made to stand in a narrow cage under a large weight which threatens to crush him. All this prison camp stuff is just foreplay to the real meat of the movie - the titular turkey shoot - a manhunt sponsored by Thatcher for the benefit of his wealthy friends. We have Secretary Mallory (Noel Ferrier, The Year of Living Dangerously), and VIPs Jennifer (Carmen Duncan, Harlequin) and Tito (Michael Petrovich, The Exorcism of Hugh). Each of the VIPS, including Thatcher, select a prisoner from camp to hunt for sport with the understanding that if the prisoner is able to evade the hunters until sundown they will have earned their freedom and entrance back into society. The chances of the unarmed prisoners making it till sundown seems pretty damn slim, but they have little 
opportunity to complain.

The weapons of choice used by the hunters include a paralyzing pistol, a crossbow with explosive-tipped bolt, and then there's my favorite of the bunch, a nutty looking man-beast named Alph (Steve "Crusher" Rackman) who looks a bit like Mr. Hyde with his top-hat! Once the prisoner's are released the game is on and as you might expect the tables are turned as the hunters become the hunted. The ensuing violence is action-pack, weird and loads of fun as the some of the hunted are killed-off in a myriad of gruesome ways and the wealthy cronies get a proper comeuppance, culminating in an action-packed air strike by the government. 

Turkey Shoot is not a flawless movie by any means, the special effects can be a bit goofy but the b-movie action and carnage is straight-up entertaining from start to finish, though some of the early camp scenes do go on for a bit too long, basically a vignette of scenes modelled after women-in-prison movies. Some of it is played for thrills and some just seem to be comedy, such as when the half-man, half-beast circus freak bites off the pinky-toe before giving his victim a fatal back-breaker wrestling move, it's just goofy stuff. Carmen Duncan as the deadly huntress with a crossbow is a lot of fun, filled with murderous desire and list, sending one bolt after another into the flesh of her victims with so much delight. There are some nice moments of gore peppered throughout, we have a pair of hands chopped off at the wrist which is done very nicely, the after image of the victims hands pulled up inside his sleeve not so much, ha ha. someone else meets their end when they are sliced in half by the plow of a bulldozer, screaming in pain as his lower half and entrails slide down a tree. Not all the effects are as effective, but Trenchard-Smith front loads this one with plenty of action and b-movie carnage. 

Audio/Video: Turkey Shoot arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films looking very nice, uncut and restored from the original camera negative, offering an eye-popping presentation of this Ozploitation nutter. A few minor blemishes here and again by way of white speckling but otherwise very nice, a little on the soft side at times but colors are solid, black levels are nice and skint ones look accurate, I only wish there'd been more of Olivia Hussey bare-skin to properly judge, ha ha. audio comes by way of an English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo track that is also solid and renders audio crisp and clean, free of distortion, the Brian May score, dialogue and sound effects come through strong, there are no subtitle options. 

Onto the extras we have what appear to be all the bonus content from the old Escape 2000 DVD from Anchor Bay including the Brian Trenchard-Smith commentary plus a 10-minute interview with BT-S in one of his patented Hawaiian short. They also carry-over the  24-minute Blood and Thunder Memories featurette with actors Michael Craig, Roger Ward and Lynda Stoner, the latter of whom doesn't exactly seem to love the movie, scoffing at the idea that it is a cult-classic, not a phrase she seems to appreciate. They also have the Escape 2000 Alternate Title Sequence and the original theatrical trailer for the movie.

Severin have brought a new wave of extras for their Blu-ray, beginning with 77-minutes of extended interviews with Brian Trenchard Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, Steve Railsback, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Gus Mercurio, Bob McCarron from director Mark Hartley's awesome Not Quite Hollywood doc, which are all focused on Turkey shoot. If you have not seen the doc 
it is mandatory viewing for b-movie and cult cinema fans. 

The Ozploitation Renaissance – round table discussion with director Brian Trenchard-Smith, producer Antony I. Ginnane and Ozploitation cinematographer Vincent Monton regroups the creative trio who brought us the movie as they discuss the ozploitation heyday and the various films they worked on, from the early sexploitation movies through to the nadir of the scene, more good stuff.  

Special Features:
- Not Quite Hollywood Extended Interviews with Brian Trenchard Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, Steve Railsback, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Gus Mercurio, Bob McCarron (77 Mins) SD 
- The Ozploitation Renaissance – round table discussion with director Brian Trenchard-Smith, producer Antony I. Ginnane and Ozploitation cinematographer Vincent Monton. (26

minutes) HD
- Turkey Shoot: Blood and Thunder Memories – featurette (24 minutes) (24 Mins) SD
- Brian Trenchard-Smith Interview (10 minutes) (10 Mins) SD
- Audio Commentary with Director Brian Trenchard-Smith
- Turkey Shoot Trailer (3 Mins) SD
- Escape 2000 Alternate Title Sequence (2 Mins) SD
- Blood Camp Thatcher Alternate Title Sequence (2 Mins) SD (Easter Egg) 

Turkey Shoot is everything you would expect from a Ozploitation update of The Most Dangerous Game, a sleazy, action-packed slice of b-movie perfection. The Blu-ray from Severin looks mighty impressive and is stuffed with value-added extras, a very high recommend for b-movie fanatics who crave some mondo exploitation in HD.

BLU-RAY BATTLE! SCREAM FACTORY VS. ARROW VIDEO'S LIFEFORCE (1985)

On September 30th 2013 Arrow Video in the United Kingdom will unleash a 2-disc Blu-ray edition of Tobe Hoopers sci-fi epic LIFEFORCE (1985) loaded with special features. Here in the US we just got a great edition from Scream Factory on Blu-ray/DVD (review HERE) but damn does this UK edition look truly stunning!

First, there's a collectible steelbook edition which looks great! Second, it ports nearly all of the special features from the Scream Factory Blu-ray including the two commentaries but Arrow present a third commentary with with Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Douglas Smith, moderated by filmmaker and scholar Howard S. Berger. There's a UK exclusive documentary Cannon Fodder: The Making of Lifeforce, an isolated Ennio Morricone music score track, nifty Gary Pullin reversible artwork and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by science fiction expert Bill Warren, a new interview with Oscar-winning visual effects artist John Dykstra by Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters. WHEW!

Here's a quick comparison of the features and you can check out my review for the Scream Factory Blu-ray HERE. 

LIFEFORCE (1985) 

Arrow Video's (Region B) 2-Disc Blu-ray Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of both the Theatrical and International Versions, transferred from original elements by MGM with supervision by director Tobe Hooper
- Optional uncompressed 2.0 Stereo PCM and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround Sound
- Isolated Music and Effects Sound Track
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, moderated by filmmaker Tim Sullivan
- Audio commentary with Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Douglas Smith, moderated by filmmaker and scholar Howard S. Berger
- Audio commentary with make-up effects artist Nick Maley, moderated by filmmaker Michael Felsher
- Cannon Fodder: The Making of Lifeforce - An epic UK-exclusive look at the genesis, production and release of Lifeforce featuring interviews with Hooper, producer Michael J. Kagan, editor John Grover, actors Aubrey Morris and Nicholas Ball, makeup artist Sandra Exelby, screenwriter Michael Armstrong, sound designer Vernon Messenger, artistic designers Tom Adams and Douglas Smith and effects artist John Schoonraad.
- Space Vampires in London: An interview with Tobe Hooper
- Dangerous Beauty: An interview with Mathilda May, Lifeforce’s iconic star
- Carlsen’s Curse: Star Steve Railsback looks back on Lifeforce and his career
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by science fiction expert Bill Warren, a new interview with Oscar-winning visual effects artist John Dykstra by Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Scream Factory's (Region A) Blu-ray Special Features: 

 - English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1
- English Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 

- 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1) 

- The original theatrical version in HD (on the Blu-ray Disc only)
- Audio Commentary with Director Tobe Hooper, moderated by Fillmmaker Tim Sullivan
- Audio Commentary with Special Make-up Effects Designer Nick Maley
- Space Vampires from London with Tobe Hooper (9:57)
- Carlsen's Curse with Steve Railsback (7:07)
- Dangerous Beauty with Mathilda May (15:15)
- Original “The Making of Lifeforce” Featurette (21:16)
- Still Gallery
- 2 Theatrical Trailers (3:30)
- TV Spot (:30)

Blu-ray Review: LIFEFORCE (1985)

LIFEFORCE (1985)
2-Disc Collector's Edition 

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: 1/A

Rating: R

Duration: 101 Minutes / 116 Minutes 

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 

Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Cast: Mathilda May, Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard

Director: Tobe Hooper

Synopsis: A mission to investigate Halley's Comet discovers an even stranger phenomenon: an alien spacecraft! Following a deadly confrontation, the aliens arrive on Earth, where their seductive leader begins a terrifying campaign to drain the life force of everyone she encounters. Her victims, in turn, continue the cycle, and soon the entire planet is in mortal danger. And when the mission's sole survivor (Steve Railsback – The Stunt Man) sets out to destroy her, he comes face to face with the most charming - and horrifying – being he's ever known. Will he be able to destroy the lovely vampiress...or will he become yet another victim of her fatal charm?

It must have been '86 during a sleepover at my friend Barry's house that I tuned into a late night showing of Lifeforce on HBO or Showtime, one of the premium pay cable channels. I slept over at Barry's house every chance I could, he was a shit-ton of fun and a very great friend, plus he had cable television - not that I slept over just to watch cable TV... he had an Atari 2600, too! During these sleepovers it seemed I would always the last one awake  and inevitably left to my own devices I would scan the cable channels for something scary to watch. It was during these dark hours of the night I first came upon George A. Romero's Day of the Dead (1985), Larry Cohen's Q (1982), Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), J. Lee Thompson's Happy Birthday to Me (1981) and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) while chowing down on a bottomless bowl of Golden Grahams, which was my preferred cereal at the time and Barry's mom always had it in abundance. To this day there's few things I enjoy more than a late-night viewing of a 80's slasher and a bowl of cereal, it's till the shit. 

Settling into Lifeforce I was hooked right from the very start,  the international spaceship Churchill, commanded by the American Colonel, Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback), is on a scientific mission to investigate Haley's Comet when they happen upon a massive 150-mile long alien craft hidden in the comet's tail. In reality Haley's Comet was due to return to our sector of the solar system that same year plus I was a NASA space nut like most kids my age, it was a perfect melding of my love of horror, teenage lust and space exploration. When the film revealed the stunning French actress Mathilda May as the main vampiress completely nude in a state of suspended animation let me just tell you that the sight of her perfect breasts were almost too much for my young mind to comprehend, it was a sublime sight.  I distinctly remember becoming flushed at the sight of her voluptuous figure and guiltily peering around the living room to be sure Barry's parents wouldn't  spy me watching what I considered to be space-porn! Star Wars (1977) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) were pretty great sci-fi fantasy films but they weren't exactly brimming with breasts, this was a new sci-fi experience for me and I liked it, A LOT!

The crew return to the Churchill with the trio of humanoid aliens to the ship and make preparations to return to Earth. A few weeks later all radio communication is lost with the Churchill and the listless spaceship arrives in Earth's orbit but space command is unable to make any contact with the crew. They launch another shuttle to intercept the ship and they discover the ship has been gutted by an intense fire, the bodies of the crew are burned beyond recognition but the trio of aliens encased in the strange sarcophagus are untouched. The sarcophagus are brought to London where they are studied at European Space Research Center under the direction of Dr. Leonard Bukovski (Gothard) and Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay) but as preparations are being made for an autopsy the female alien (Mathilda May) awakens and seduces a guard sucking the life force right outta him, the draining process turning him into a shriveled corpse. The vampiress escapes the guarded research facility and before you know we find out that the aliens are actually shape-shifting space vampires who drain the life force from their victims, whom in turn re-animate a few hours later as life force craving zombie-vampires, it's a vicious cycle and in quick succession London is overrun with life force-sucking zombies.

Unexpectedly Col. Carlesen (Railsback) returns to earth in an escape pod landing somewhere in Texas, he's brought to London where he relays a version of what happened to the crew of the ill-fated Churchill. Carlsen joins forces with a British military officer Col. Caine (Peter Firth, Tess) and psychiatrist Dr. Armstrong (Patrick Stewart) and set out to put an end the the vamp virus that plaguing London before it becomes worldwide epidemic. Complicating the matter is the discovery that the space-vamps can transfer their consciousness into victim's bodies which makes it difficult to track their whereabouts, we also find out that for some reason Carlsen has a psychic-link with the vampiress.

What an epic and strange sci-fo horror film, it's adapted from Colin Wilson's 1976 novel Space Vampires by Dan O'Bannon (Alien) it definitely has a few head scratching moments but I am completely willing to forgive and ignore these imperfections because I just love this film,  it's chock-full of wonderful gore and gross-out special effects with a British cast of genre familiars who fully embrace the bizarre goings-on, director Tobe Hooper says he set out to make a 70mm Hammer horror film and the cast are giving it their all to make it happen. British familiar Aubrey Morris appears as Sir Percy Hoseltine whom bares witness to the horrors unfolding in the latter half of the film, he's pretty great but I can only ever see him as Alex's creepy probation officer from A Clockwork Orange (1971), such a perv! Star Trek: The Next Generation's Patrick Stewart is quite memorable in an unhinged performance ending in a disgusting torrent of blood pouring from every orifice in his face, it's good stuff for the gore hounds.  The word unhinged doesn't quite do justice to the performance of star Steve Railsback's who takes it just a bit too far during a few scenes, but it's quite an entertaining, there's no denying that.

The special effects are front and center for the duration of Lifeforce, the narrative and plotting may leave a bit to be desired from time to time but the effects, while somewhat dated today, are fantastic from start to finish, this is a fantastic special effects extravaganza. From the early space scenes to the burning of London and the numerous zombie-vamps and optical effects this is a glorious spectacle of 80's sci-fi horror, the practical in-camera effects and animatronic shriveled corpses of the undead are among the best on film bar none in my opinion, a dazzling spectacle.

Honestly, this is one of those films so laced with 80's teenage nostalgia it's nearly impossible for me to judge it by the merits of the film alone, that said, for what it's worth, this is my favorite vampire film, my favorite Tobe Hooper film, and one of my favorite sci-fi horror films all rolled-up into one.  

Blu-ray: Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (1985) is presented on Blu-ray from Shout! factory imprint Scream Factory with an AVC  MPEG-4 encode in it's original widescreen scope aspect ratio (2:35:1) and it's truly a stunner of a presentation. This  restored, high def transfer was overseen by director Tobe Hooper himself with a brand-new color-timing and it's noticeable from frame one, this looks fantastic. The newly color-times images are deep and rich plus the night scenes benefit greatly from improved contrast. There's not much if any evidence of video tampering either, there's a nice robust layer of natural film grain intact. The 1080p upgrade brings with it a healthy amount of fine detail and sharpness which was missing from the previous lackluster DVD edition, Lifeforce is quite a sight on Blu-ray!

Audio options include an English language DTS HD Master Audio 2.0 and 5.1 mixes with optional English subtitles. The 5.1 is quite immersive and Henry Mancini's score and fantastic title theme sound outstanding  Dialogue, effects and score sounds great. everything is well balanced, nothing overpowering - it all comes together quite nicely. 

Onto the special features, we begin two full length audio commentaries, the first commentary comes by way of director Tobe Hooper moderated by Tim Sullivan. They start off right away discussing the fantastic director-approved film transfer and Hooper's new color-timing. It's a nice commentary and Hooper recalls quite a bit about the film and it's production. Sullivan is a spirited moderator and burns up quite a bit it's duration himself with fanboy-esque enthusiasm and  appreciations, I enjoyed it.  The second commentary is with special effects designer Nick Maley moderated by Red Shirt Pictures' Michael Felsher. It's another insightful look back at the film through the eyes of the special effects man, who considers the film his best work, if not his best remembered.

Onto the retrospective featurettes produced by Red Shirt Pictures we begin with Space Vampires from London with Tobe Hooper (9:57) who speaks about the genesis of the what he refers to as a 70mm Hammer Film, it's cheesy original title of Space Vampires and working with Canon Films. Speaking fondly of writer Dan O'Bannon and Production designer John Graysmark who also worked on Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, as did much of the production crew. It's a great video interview peppered with scenes from the film and behind-the-scenes video.

Carlsen's Curse with Steve Railsback (7:07) features the actor reflecting on his post Helter Skelter (1976) career in Hollywood, fondly recalling his work with Tobe Hooper on Lifeforce plus the effects work of John Dykstra and Director of Photography Alan Hume. We get a fun Patrick Stewart anecdote and Railsback looking back on the wire work for the space walks, Mathilda May and the film's cult status.

Dangerous Beauty with Mathilda May (15:15) has the stunning actress openly discussing the subject of her ample nudity, her unlikely turn as an actress following a career in the ballet, working with director Tobe Hooper and actors Steve Railsback and Frank Finlay and what sounds like a traumatic eight hour session in make-up for one particularly elaborate special effect shot.

Vintage "Making-Of LIFEFORCE" Featurette (21:16) a vintage feaurette from '85 which is pretty great, revealing behind-the-scenes videos of numerous special effects shots and on-set  interviews with Tobe Hooper, Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay and special effects masters Nick Maley and John Dykstra. The special effects behind-the-scenes stuff is awesome, revealing how many of the optical tricks, miniatures and animatronics were used in the films and how the finished scene looked, loved it.

The entertaining selection special features are rounded out by a Still Gallery featuring 70 behind-the-scenes shots, stills and theatrical artwork for the film plus two Theatrical Trailers (3:30) and a TV Spot (:30). Scream Factory's 2-disc Collector's Edition also includes a standard-def DVD of the longer, and superior, international cut of the film with the same special features as the Blu-ray disc. It also includes a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the original theatrical art and brand new artwork from artist Justin Osborne  which is also featured on the slipcase cover.

Special Features: 

- The original theatrical version in HD (on the Blu-ray Disc only)
- Audio Commentary with Director Tobe Hooper, moderated by Fillmmaker Tim Sullivan
- Audio Commentary with Special Make-up Effects Designer Nick Maley
- Space Vampires from London with Tobe Hooper (9:57) 
- Carlsen's Curse with Steve Railsback (7:07) 
- Dangerous Beauty with Mathilda May (15:15)
- Original “The Making of Lifeforce” Featurette (21:16)
- Still Gallery
- 2 Theatrical Trailers (3:30)
- TV Spot (:30)

Verdict: Okay, I admit that the film is a bit of a mess and goes off the rails a bit, it's overly convoluted but at the end of the day I just love this damn film so freaking much, a special-effects driven space-vamp masterpiece of sexed-up science fiction horror, a very enthusiastic recommend from me and high marks to Scream Factory for the fantastic 2-disc edition loaded with brand-new special features. 4.5 Outta 5