Why is "Lifeforce" called a vampire movie?

[Gelflingboy]

The movie felt more like a zombie movie since the so-called space vampires turn people into zombies.

If the three humanoids were really the source of all vampires on Earth then how come they didn't suck blood or have fangs like the vampires of folklore?

[JohnShaft]

Hi Gelfling.

Well, they were really a twist on the conventional Eastern European vampire. You could say almost the polar opposite. Not some insular threat that's hidden for centuries on planet Earth, but an interstellar one.

The movie was based on a book by IIRC Colin Wilson called THE SPACE VAMPIRES. I've read a few of his books, but not this one.

I've always liked LIFEFORCE, but you do have to cast off the normal vampiric pretensions when viewing it.

As for what makes something a vampire or zombie, I think it's a much greyer issue, and not completely black and white. I think if you consider that a vampire sucks the life of a person (whether through blood or directly), whereas a zombie simply eats the flesh of someone, you have to consider them vampires.

Incidentally if anyone wants to read a review of it we've got one on site HERE (http://www.horrorexpress.com/filmreview.php?id=422). It's a movie I haven't seen in a long long time.