Lifeform (1996) User Reviews

Decent sci-fi horror.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 6 February 2006]

Invader starts in a restricted military zone somewhere deep in the Californian desert as the 'Viking 2' space-probe comes crashing down to Earth. What's so unusual about that you might ask? Well, Viking 2 was a probe sent to Mars & should still be there, scientist Dr. Cate Montgomery (Cotter Smith) & NASA man Michael Perkett (Leland Orser) are baffled as to how it ended up back on Earth. Montgomery calls in state biologist Dr. Gracia Scott (Deirdre O'Connell) to examine the probe to determine whether it was ever on Mars in the first place, taking samples from the probe Montgomery & Scott discover a strange circular object & an unidentified stringy slimy spiderweb type substance. The tests prove that Viking 2 has indeed come from Mars, then the military show up. Colonel Jessie Pratt (Robert Wisdom) takes total control on behalf of the military which displeases Mongomery & Scott, as they argue & try to outdo each other the strange pod like object on the probe breaks open & a slimy alien life-form emerges. Does it come in peace or does it have more sinister intentions...

Written, co-produced & directed by Mark H. Baker I thought Invader was a decent film that with a few minor tweaks could have been so much more. The script at heart is basically Alien (1979) & Aliens (1986) on a much smaller budget. Having said that there are some really unusual ideas & it at least tries to do something a little bit different with the standard 'slimy alien on the loose' formula. For instance Invader gives us an intelligent alien rather than just a motiveless 'killing machine', it tries to leave the aliens motives to the viewers own interpretation, the scientific & military teams have conflicting opinions as the alien seems to have intelligence as it lays traps, takes parts of computers & gunpowder from bullets. Both sides have theories as to what the alien is up to & the filmmakers presumably leave it all pretty vague on purpose. The character's are decent, the dialogue is better than you would expect & it would appear that a fair amount of effort was put into Invader. Unfortunately it becomes bogged down in this dialogue which slows the pace down too much & begins to grow tiresome when we all want to see some alien action & the ending is terrible, as things are moving along nicely bang, that's it film over with a deeply unsatisfying conclusion & a clichéd 'something survived' final shot.

Director Baker does his best on a low budget, the action scenes are reasonably well staged but there aren't enough of them. While he tries to give his audience something to think about he just doesn't give us enough to get excited about, it's a shame as Invader could have been a really neat sci-fi horror film in the Alien mould. The alien itself has an unusual design & I'm not sure about it, it's different & original but not that menacing or scary. There is a gooey alien autopsy, a makeshift appendix removal & a scene when a soldier is impaled with his own rifle but apart from that it's fairly tame.

Technically Invader is pretty good, the abandoned military facility makes for a forgettable & bland location. The limited special effects are good & it's generally well made throughout. The acting was OK & soon to be star Ryan Phillippe makes an appearance.

Invader had potential & some it fulfilled & some of it wasted. In the end the best way to describe it would be like a talkative Alien clone which does it a bit of a disservice as it's has certain credibility & intelligence about it. Hard to recommend because of the awful climax & a pace that is just too slow, definitely worth a watch but I couldn't help but feel disappointed by it overall.

Decent Aliens Film

[dromasca · 6/10 · 24 May 2003]

'Invader' is a decent aliens film, no more but no less either. It is done in the mid 90's, is is clearly a low budget film - so the effects are far from what big studios succeed in similar movies. Directing and acting are quite routine, nothing memorable above the usual TV series level. However, the script is quite decent, and despite some inconsistencies, it keeps somehow the interest high. The end is quite good, kind of justifying the viewer surviving the 90 minutes the movie lasts. Science fiction fans may like it, though we have seen much better. 6/10 on my personal scale.

Alien rip-off #407573-B

[unakaczynski · 5/10 · 12 July 2007]

Lifeform (AKA Invader) 1996 R

This film is about a team of scientists and military yahoos that end up fighting an alien creature. It's that simple. It's yet another film like Alien or Leviathan (which itself was a direct rip-off of Alien) or Species. In this one, intelligent life that reproduces asexually sends a Viking probe back from Mars (because Mars is new territory in the world of alien encounters you know), and that probe has been modified to carry this creature along with it. Of course, the alien gets out and gets hunted and gets killed.

Overall, the acting isn't too bad, and the special effects are competent. The alien is intelligent, so of course, the one woman in the film feels sorry for it. The design of the alien itself is kind of like those half-human, half-horse creatures. You know, a centaur. It looks all terrifying on the outside, but then it extends it's little alien body up (the part where the human part of the centaur goes) out of the normal trunk (the part that is the horse), and it looks all benevolent. The military base they're on is rather bland, and of course, Big Brother shows up and spoils the show. The Army folks saunter about trying to kill the alien and they're all afraid it may have some contagion that it's spreading around.

The atmosphere isn't bad, but the film is somewhat shallow—it's just a straight-forward science fiction/horror flick with some decent gore and a humorous kill (guy is stabbed with the blunt end of an M-16). Nothing really special, but nothing really horrible. Recommended to hardcore SF/horror buffs. And that's about it.

5/10

Intelligent and clever, for direct to video - worth a viewing

[dysamoria · 1 March 2003]

I caught this film on the Sci-Fi Channel. They were hyping it as a Ryan Philippe movie, though this is clearly not so. He plays a very minor part in the story. That's the Sci-Fi Channel for you.

The important thing is that this movie is not that bad. It suffers from lack of style, lack of cinematography, poor pacing and some annoying "rigidly following the groove of the genre" plot paths.

However, there are some good things.

The actors are high quality and deserve a shot at better films. Their characters suggest depth and background, making them almost well rounded, though such depth and background is only suggested (not demonstrated) in the film. The portrayal of the scientists and military types is non-cliched. They are intelligent and have intelligent dialog. They behave as real people would.

The science details are actually based on science and smarts, instead of gadgetry and nonsense. It is clear, as mentioned in another good review, that the scriptwriter researched the material, as there are correct descriptions of the Mars lander's capabilities and design and interesting concepts about the alien lifeform are explored.

The alien lifeform is extremely well thought out and designed. It looks great on screen, too. It is possibly the most interesting thing about this film, though treated a little more like the "creature we must hunt down and kill" than I'd like. It does demonstrate interesting behaviors and qualities not seen often before, as well as something most alien creature movies never consider: intelligent motivation.

The film does not end predictably and the process the film takes to get to that end is not that bad, either. It's just a bit anticlimactic and a little flat.

This review may sound unkind. I am simply being realistic and honest. The flaws are there and they keep this film from being high quality. Yet, there is much to like. The good aspects are plenty and are of higher caliber than you would expect to find in direct to video alien-invader flics. Normally these kinds of films rely of cliche, unintelligent characters, unrealistic scenarios, sex, gunplay and gore. This film uses mostly none of those items to make its attempt at entertaining you (some violence and gunplay, but not to rediculous extremes).

I found much to enjoy about the film, from a deconstruction point of view - the technical details, the story concept, the unique uses of the genre, the excellent alien design and portrayal, and as a general "learning tool" for film study.

As a feature film, it falls flat. As an extended length episode of The Outer Limits, it would have been a "top-ten" episode.

I think that anyone who can enjoy "flawed films with good intent" should give this film a shot; it isn't grade-A material, but it's worth a viewing or two and may inspire film makers to do better in different ways.

Invader: Poor even for the times standards

[Platypuschow · 3/10 · 26 May 2018]

Mid-nineties, alien-esque films were everywhere from the AAA blockbusters down to the b-movies. We were all spoilt for choice, but sadly finding a good one was a chore.

This one was created by the writer of Flight Of The Navigator (1986), in fact this is the only other film he did.

It tells the story of a space capsule returning to earth unexpectedly carrying an alien lifeform. Well as you can imagine things turn hairy, the military is present and immediatly sets about killing the ET.

Starring a very young Ryan Phillippe this isn't one of the worst of it's type but certainly isn't one of the good ones either.

With a generic storyline, terrible sfx and a really quite terrible finale Invader is a bit of a mess.

Ryan Phillippe fans won't even appreciate this due to his small role and the fact he's so poorly cast. He plays a soldier, but because of his age and build at the time he looks like Captain America before the super soldier serum.

The Good:

Has a couple of original moments

The Bad:

Ryan Phillippe looks ridiculous in this role

Really quite dull

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I'll never get tired of the American stance of shoot first think never

There's that corridor again

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 5/10 · 4 April 2017]

A Viking probe from Mars comes back to earth and is being studied in a science facility until the military come along to acquire it for themselves. But the probe has brought something back from Mars and it escapes into the facility. Cue lots of chasing around badly lit corridors as two scientists and a few soldiers try to find it. An unoriginal plot is acted out by a cast light on charisma so it becomes a rather tedious film. The soldiers act stupidly and the scientists make amazing assumptions based on no evidence.

The best thing is the alien itself, simian and insectoid at the same time and the other gooey alien bits are good too. Unfortunately a good alien can't redeem an otherwise unexciting movie

After seeing this, I now know why Reese Witherspoon is divorcing Ryan Philippe

[Phillemos · 3/10 · 18 November 2006]

"Lifeform" would have been a solid 30- or 60-minute episode of "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits." It takes the "Alien" theme and throws a few twists in it, such as, do we really know what the alien wants? or is the alien trying to kill us or is it scared and trying to protect itself FROM us? The problem is, it's a full-length feature movie. Thus, we have to sit around and twiddle out thumbs while the director comes up with scene after scene of boring filler. When they're not taking 15 minutes to explain something that should only take 30 seconds, they're giving a young Ryan Phillippe plenty of meaningless face time. The military grunts come across as Keystone Kops quality. If that's our finest, this country is in really sad shape. There are also too few scenes with the alien. A potentially good movie became way too pedestrian. I'm giving this a 3 out of 10.

Actually not bad for low budget DTV

[bobkuhl · 5/10 · 4 January 2020]

As my title says. Not bad. Not great. But for a low budget dtv movie made in '96 it actually holds up well; the acting isnt horrendous, they didnt try to do too much with the special effects, so while they are minimal they arent (too) cheesy, the plot does move along at a decent pace, and there are no glaring holes in the plot (the scifi element is pretty standard), not too far fetched, lastly the production values (sound, lighting, etc) are those of a made for tv movie (ie good not great- but you can see/hear/understand everything. Definitely suitable for family sci fi movie night (but make it the 1st in a double header). And the best part?-- there is room plotwise for a sequel (30 yrs later....)

well made b-movie

[leno · 7/10 · 22 July 2000]

Although it was a 'direct-to-video movie', it was nice. Convincing characters and a well thought out plot, for a B-movie. Pretty good special effects and a very nice (and unexpected) climax. If you like s-f movies you should see this movie. 7/10

The Roach that Ate Reno, or A Starship Troopers prequel?

[BrandtSponseller · 8/10 · 4 March 2005]

A mysterious object enters the airspace of a military base in California going at a tremendous rate of speed. A team is sent out to investigate. It turns out to be one of the Viking landers from that we sent to Mars. How did it get back to Earth? Why is it here? Is there a big nasty alien that's going to end up popping out of our chests if we touch it? While the last question is a bit of a joke relating to the obvious Alien (1979) influences on Lifeform (aka Invader), it's no secret that the film involves, well, an alien lifeform. What seems to be more of a secret is the film's existence and the fact that it's pretty good.

An obviously low-budget affair, writer/director Mark H. Baker overcomes this limitation with a smart, well-constructed story, plenty of sci-fi horror tension, and fine performances (including from an amusingly young Ryan Phillippe). A lot of the budget appears to have been spent on building the Viking replica, the costumes/military accoutrements for the human cast, the creature costume and special effects. It was money well spent. The effects are amazing for such a low budget film. The creature costume is as good as most big studio efforts, the Alien-style cocoons and eggs are well done, and there is a great, visceral autopsy scene.

Except for exterior location, Baker wisely keeps all of the action in a nondescript government facility. "Nondescript" may not sound very attractive visually, but it's believable. That's how government facilities look. Besides, Baker is skilled enough to make it interesting visually. The bulk of the plot is divided into two modes: (1) figuring out what the Viking lander and then the alien are doing there, and (2) "monster" chase and attack scenes.

Baker gives us fantastic sci-fi writing for both. We have a team of bright, multi-dimensional scientists examining the lander from a "hard science" angle, with dialogue that's not gobbledy-gook yet that's easy enough to understand. They propose intelligent theories and make intelligent moves. As the military becomes more involved and we begin to enter more of an action/horror sci-fi mode, Baker doesn't have his characters leave their brains at the doors. They develop an Alien-like sulfur detector to find the monster, and they have insights into its behavior that help them.

Still, the material is very suspenseful at times, and it is consistently captivating. There are clever subtexts. One is keyed to an important piece of dialogue--"Why are we exploring space if we're just going to blow-up every lifeform we come across?" Even though there is little reason to believe that the alien has ill intentions, most of our protagonists assume that it does, and they all assume that it at least poses a great danger to them in the form of unwittingly transmitted viruses, for example. They go so far as to issue a quarantine and consider drastic worst-case-scenarios and options. Baker seems to have a pessimistic view of human tendencies in the face of the unknown, and probably deservedly so.

Although there are some flaws with the film (otherwise I wouldn't have subtracted two points), including strange moves by characters, such as one wearing a face mask to guard against biological contamination and another standing a foot behind and not wearing a face mask, Lifeforce is unusual (such as its strange but refreshing nihilistic ending—apparently, fortuitously precipitated by budget limitations) and well worth watching.

Surprisingly good

[grnhair2001 · 6/10 · 1 September 2014]

Sort of a poor man's Alien, with an insect-like alien from Mars (or recently hanging out there, if not from there) arriving on Earth with lots of special effects methylcellulose and rather irksome parthenogenesis.

While clearly this was movie shot on a budget, they did okay at having lots of nervous military guys running down dark hallways terrified of where the monster might be. In this, it very much used Alien's techniques.

I did some eye-rolling at the cliché of the military guy coming in and taking over, at the alien's ability to tap right into earth computers, and so on--but that's nothing worse than you'd see in big-budget s-f movies.

What was above average: First, the score, by Kevin Kiner, which elevated the tension levels nicely, and the script detail that we never did know if the alien was evil, invading, nice, curious, lost, confused, or what. You know, if this sort of event did happen, we'd be just as clueless about its intentions.

(As it ends up, the biologist could have skipped the appendectomy and stayed part of the main plot.)

A well thought out b-movie.

[Royce-5 · 7 April 1999]

"Lifeform" starts off with an intriguing mystery. Viking 2, one of the two landers that were dropped on Mars by NASA during the 70's, has returned to Earth. From the start we get the idea that Lifeform's scriptwriter did his homework, as one of the scientists examining the lander starts rattling off real-life technical details about the lander, rather than some spurious techno-babble. From there things rapidly switch to a monster hunt straight out of the '50s, as the scientists bicker with the military when the Lifeform in question breaks loose from it's hiding place in the lander and starts running around the sealed lab complex. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but the script never insults the audience, neither the scientists or the military act like idiots, and the f/x aren't _too_ cheap. There's even a genuine red-herring or two to keep the audience interested, not to mention some clever ideas about the Lifeform's biology. If you can't find anything else on the tube, you could do worse than to watch this.

Not a Bad Pic

[Signet · 8/10 · 20 March 2001]

The picture is not as a bad as I feared it would be and although I was perplexed by some anomalies in the Cotter Smith character, I thought it more than passable. One amusing sidelight, however: the director was determined to keep nineties cutie-pie Ryan Phillipe front and center throughout the film. Thus, we have "Private Ryan" involved in every critical aspect of the plotline from alien stalking to emergency surgery on a fellow soldier to an exobiological autopsy. One is given the impression that, in Hollywood, it is impossible to consider doing hard science or carrying out military maneuvers without the handy presence of a pretty slack-jawed youth.

"Welcome To Planet Earth!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 18 October 2021]

When an object lands in the Mojave desert, it turns out to be our own Viking Mars probe. Taken back to a lab facility for decontamination and study, the team there soon realizes that it has been altered. Then, the military gets involved and takes over the entire project.

Uh oh!

Something that has stowed away in the probe leaps out, and escapes. It's on the loose and growing at an alarming rate. It also displays a superior intelligence. Now, the scientists and soldiers must keep the mutating creature from getting out of the lab.

LIFEFORM is a low-budget sci-fi thriller that makes the best of its limited resources. Not surprisingly, the best aspect of the movie is the ever-changing alien. It's different and actually pretty menacing. This movie is far more intriguing than anticipated...

Great SciFi

[lphenneg · 10/10 · 12 February 2011]

It was a low budget film people! But it has a great story. Even the alien is more believable then the big budget crap we get now days. The actors were not the best, but again, low budget. I thought even they did a great job considering what they had to work with. Its an independent film remember. If we would support stuff like this there would be better scifi out there.

Look at it this way when you watch it. It was someone with little money trying to put a great idea on film. I'm sure if given a 200 million dollar budget it would have been fantastic!

Okay, so here goes, the acting I give a 6 plus, the story a 10, the production with budget considered a 10. Try to watch the story and not be too hard on the films special FX. It isn't easy to create a monster on the screen (alien, wolfman etc.) Not everyone can afford the big time SFX companies or the computer time to make it work.

An alien seeks information.

[michaelRokeefe · 27 March 2004]

If you like smart Sci-Fi you will like INVADER aka LIFEFORM. A Viking probe satellite mysteriously returns from Mars and like a Trojan Horse has a surprise in tow. A strange pod resembling an armadillo spawns a creature with a taste for blood and the curiosity to gather intelligence of Earth's inhabitants. The curious visitor takes on the form of an armored ape... albeit angry and clever with the ability to transform its shape. The story line is well thought out, but too similar to most "alien" movies. Is the Martian hitchhicker trying to prevent an invasion of the red planet? An abrupt twist at the finale leaves a few questions unanswered. The cast includes: Deirdre O'Connell, Cotter Smith, Leland Orser and Ryan Phillippe.

Not a goof

[sg-78949 · 10/10 · 27 October 2018]

The light sources when main power is switched off is clearly shown as the emergency lighting

Great alien movie!

[Movie Nuttball · 17 May 2003]

Lifeform is really a fantastic movie with just about everything!The acting is good by the stars but the most miss looked one is Carlos Carrasco.The alien is really neat looking and the movie is scary with its build up and it has very different ending!This is a must see for all alien and sci-fi fans!