Gerontology scientist Benjamin Land (Hiram Keller, FELLINI SATYRICON) arrives in Amsterdam to work with Dr. Paul Linden (Eric Schneider) who is said to be doing revolutionary work on extending human lifespans (though Land notices that Linden seems to have aged prematurely). Invited to stay at the other man's apartment, he arrives to discover Linden has hanged himself. Looking into Linden's work, he discovers that lab mice that have lived twice their two-year lifespan, a mysterious flu epidemic that killed nine people at the rest home where Linden was testing hand-brain coordination, Linden's kinky mistress Anna (Tina Aumont, TORSO), and a skulking Swiss industrialist (played by a skulking Klaus Kinski) who seems to know Land's every move before he does. The directorial debut of American film executive Alexander Whitelaw, LIFESPAN is more mystery than science fiction along the lines of Polanski's THE TENANT (director Whitelaw recalls that Polanski liked his film but hated the acting and avers that it motivated Polanski to option Roland Topper's novel with which it shares the conspiracy to position a protagonist to fill a dead person's shoes by a combination of provocative intrigue, prodding, seduction, and even contrary warning). Although Eddy van der Enden's (DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS) cinematography and Terry Riley's "spiritual" score combine with the ageless Amsterdam locations to create a feeling of languor, Land's constant narration keeps the film moving during its 81 minute running time. More distracting than the expected and accepted post-dubbing of Dutch supporting characters is the dubbing of American actor Hiram Keller (the recording quality of which sometimes blurs the distinction between his spoken voice and his narration) who isn't quite up to the director's conception of a Narcissus obsessed with freezing the biological clock and comes across more passively than his manipulated character. Aumont is given little to do although she features in a memorable double-helix bondage sequence and Kinski mainly skulks around and does not engage with or speak until the half-way mark. Regardless, LIFESPAN is a most unusual if compromised thriller that is worth seeking out.