LIFE
I love sci-fi horror. I really do. When I was very young, just the commercial for the movie “Alien” struck terror into my young mind. If you’ve ever seen the original 30 second trailer, it was nothing but an egg in strange light. While the music rose in crazed, tortured violin arpeggios, the egg started to vibrate. If memory serves, it cuts to black before the egg opens.
I didn’t see the actual movie until I was 12 or so. Yeah, I know, too young. Probably. Regardless, it left an indelible mark on me. I sought out other sci-fi horror movies, both good and bad, and found most of them to be terrible.
John Carpenter’s “The Thing” is perhaps the only film that managed to top “Alien” in my heart of hearts, but just barely. Anyone who has read “The Black” and its parallel stories of Arrival and Outbreak can easily see the influence of both of these films on my psyche.
In both cases, a crew is stranded with a strange beastie that then works its way through them by stalking them, using stealth and guile, and general mischief. The idea of being trapped with a hostile creature that you can’t kill touches some primal fear that has probably been with humankind since before we left the caves.
I know there are some folks out there shaking their head, calling me a wimp, or whatever else, but movies like those, books like those, stories that give you likeable characters and then put them through an emotional buzzsaw before killing them, affect me in a big way. They make my soul shudder, give me heart palpitations, and leave my skin tingling.
When a film manages to do that? It’s a winner. The sci-fi horror movie “LIFE” is definitely a winner.
First off, it takes place in zero-g. The whole goddamned film. There’s no running in zero gravity. There’s no way to hold your ground. Every action, no matter how small, has an effect on a human’s ability to stay still. And when you’re being hunted by a beastie, that’s a terrifying idea.
“LIFE” has a simple premise. But it’s damned beautiful. A Martian probe finds something that looks like single-celled life, although it appears dead. In response to this, the nations of the world decide to turn the international space station into a freakin’ quarantined laboratory and bring the sample back to the ISS. Neat idea.
All of these facts are revealed in the trailer, not to mention the first few minutes of the film, so I don’t feel bad in relating them. After this, however, I have to keep my mouth shut for fear of ruining it.
“LIFE” is filled with great characters. We get a chance to like them and, in some cases, love them. It’s storytelling 101 for suspense, horror, and the romance genres. But the film pulls it off, and I hated the fact we didn’t get to spend more time with them before, well, before whatever happens happens. Did I mention a spoiler-free review?
One of my friends remarked, “You could have written this.” Another asked if I thought they’d read “The Black” and set it in space. While the former might be true, the latter is definitely not the case. The creature in LIFE is very unique and a pretty cool idea. Although it shares some qualities with my infamous beastie, LIFE’s creature is definitely a carbon-based lifeform. And that leads to its own set of problems for the crew.
I want to see the movie again. I will ultimately end up purchasing it so I can add it to my small, but growing, inventory of good sci-fi horror. Or at least what I consider good sci-fi horror. Then again, we all know I have terrible taste.
Regardless, “LIFE” may not be unique, but it certainly is exciting and thought-provoking. And although I saw the ending coming a mile away, I was amazed they actually did what they did. Others I’ve talked to didn’t see it coming. Perhaps that says more about me than them. I’ll just say it was a satisfying film in every way and leave it at that.
The z-g effects are well done, the special effects are cool, and the creature is fairly realistic. One has to pay attention, however, to the very beginning of their experiences with the creature to see how it could possibly do what it does in zero gravity. If you blink, you might miss it, but it’s there. And it’s awesome.
If you’re a fan of Alien, “The Black,” or my Derelict saga, you’ll enjoy the hell out of LIFE. Just enter with an open mind and let the film take you into the darkness. It’s well worth it.
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