Lifespan is a paced euro movie that sets your brain thinking after you have watched the end credits. Shot in the Netherlands with some very nice location shooting locations , perhaps because i live in Europe and know Amsterdam a bit i can relate to the film more. Director Sandy Whitelaw seems with this movie offers Klaus Kinski in a more solid more relaxed part playing the Swiss Man with that European style himself asking and wanting and is prepared to pay for it. This movie has a fresh brisk pace rather like a Autumn morning in Amsterdam Centrum.

"Lifespan" is a partially successful film, beset by too naive dramatic turns and dialogues in view of the serious issues addressed in its plot (a young doctor who aspires to immortality and achieve the status of God, while his words reveal a high level of gerontophobia) and gratuitous eroticism that mostly adds to expose the anatomy of the leading lady, a character that contributes little to the plot. However, the film covers several topics concerning the survival of humanity which are strongly current today, making this drama of scientific anticipation (rather than science-fiction) a visionary film, albeit on a small scale. "Lifespan" addresses the global status of drug factories, which are supposed to alleviate humanity's ills. Today financial gain has been imposed upon people's welfare, supported by a "natural selection" of the fittest based on the individuals' riches, which, as anybody knows, are the results of many persons' greed and hoarding of material goods of our planet, which by nature (and elementary philosophical reasoning) belong to everybody. Moreover, "Lifespan" speaks of vanity rather than mankind's need of immortality. The obsession of the three main males in the plot with the pretty and beautiful Anna is a reflection of man's desire to "entrap" this (so overrated) skin-deep stage of life, while the elderly are called "the almost dead". In this age of mutilating surgeries, pseudo- transformations of gender, anatomy and curves, "Lifespan" is very much in force and delights in the beautiful faces and bodies of its dream cast, which reunites three icons of the counterculture beauty of the 1970s: American Hiram Keller, French Tina Aumont and West German Klaus Kinski. If one is a bit tolerant of the limitations I have noted, you will find a high level of inspiration that often reaches moments of fascination, that, although not maintained throughout the duration of the film, constitute a time capsule of an era, of a way of thinking and seeing the world that anticipated how our own would be. Recommendable.

Here's a bizarre thriller from Holland which doesn't really go anywhere despite an intriguing premise - and bizarrely ends up caught up in the dream world of a raving maniac! LIFESPAN is similar to films like FRAGMENT OF FEAR and SPIDER LABYRINTH in its depiction of an outsider finding himself going deeper and deeper into a world of mystery and death but it doesn't come close to the power and effectiveness of those two movies. Despite being classified in the "horror" section, the only true horror comes from the scene of a gruesome hanging, and otherwise this sits firmly in the mystery/thriller genre.The plot doesn't really ever get too deep but despite this, I still found myself confused by the film. This is a shame as it starts off well, with much promise of things to come, and an oppressive air of mystery as well. The Amsterdam locations are used very well to give the film an unusual, European look and the acting isn't bad either, although the post-dubbing is occasionally echoey and unrealistic. Hiram Keller takes the lead role of the young scientist caught up in the intrigue and does a pretty good job of it in my opinion, although his droning voice-over is pretty sleep-inducing. Tina Aumont is good as the femme fatale, and Euro-favourite Klaus Kinski also pops up as a mystery Swiss who hangs around on street corners mysteriously.Sadly as the film goes on, it begins to become apparent that nothing much is going to happen in it, despite vain attempts to throw a bit of kinky sex and grave-robbing into the brew to make it appeal to exploitation fans. In the end it becomes irritatingly insubstantial and the lack of any real, interesting, explanation for the mysterious events is pretty annoying. LIFESPAN is a missed opportunity which should only be watched at a last resort for the spooky atmosphere it contains, and at least it's short. But the lack of any decent action or plot development is very boring and its one of the few films that has nearly sent me to sleep.

As the previous review states, "Lifespan" owes little to the genres of suspense or horror. Instead, it's a brainy, absorbing drama that's rewarding to those who give it a chance. Hiram Keller plays an American scientist picking up on the research of a colleague who committed suicide, and discovers he was on the verge of finding a cure to the aging process. Klaus Kinski is excellent (as always) in a small role as the owner of a sinister pharmaceutical company. The film plays out much like the early works of David Cronenberg (minus the violence and special effects); his fans should appreciate this. The only drawbacks, really, are an ambiguous ending (which actually fits the rest of the film), and the sometimes-corny, self-conscious voice-over narration. 3 stars out of 5.