The review of Contamination - A recent Arrow Video Blu-ray release. Read the review below:
Contamination is definitely an interesting film that fits in nicely with other early 1980's Italian horror films. Like many other Italian genre films of the time, Contamination takes a similar idea from a big and popular movie at the time and makes a cheaper version. For example, Contamination is often seen as a rip-off of "Alien" because of the alien eggs and exploding chests that are integral to both films. I find the idea that Contamination is a rip-off is a little overplayed. Rather the film takes a couple of the very buzz worthy aspects of Alien and creates a narrative around those aspects. This is noticeable when looking at the plot of Contamination, which share almost nothing with the plot of Alien. Contamination starts with a ship coming into the New York harbor. No one onboard is answering so some police go onto the ship to investigate. They find a bunch of mutilated bodies and eventually some glowing egg things. The people eventually learn that these eggs explode, flinging deadly acid that if touched will cause the individual's chest to explode. Eventually some higher ups in government come to investigate and discover that the eggs seem familiar. This leads some people to travel to South America to find a astronaught who stepped foot on Mars and found a terrible thing.
Contamination is by no means a "good" movie but it does have a certain charm that makes it worth while. Basically it is just a lot of fun. It replaces logical and coherent story with cool special effects sequences. Normally this spells out a bad movie but in the case of Contamination, and many other similar movies, it means a cheesy good time. Unlike bad effects based films, Contamination links the effect sequences with interesting story bits even when the overall story doesn't make much sense the film is still fun and rememberable. Essentially these types of films focus on being cool, fun, and exciting while neglecting logical storytelling.
If you have seen Hell of the Living Dead then you know what to expect with Contamination. Both films seems to jump all over the place in terms of plot and location for no logical reason. Meaning it goes from serious to comedy to horrific. As well the films seem to illogically switch the location of the film to South America during the mid point of the films. The reason for this switch outside of the films themselves is that it was cheaper and the producers were often making other films there at the same time, thus saving on costs. Unfortunately this leads the films, especially Contamination, to come to a screeching halt pace wise. The films almost do not survive this slowing of pace. For Contamination in particular, the ending helps make up for the slowing of pace but does not live up to the effectiveness of the first half of the film.
Overall Contamination is like a lot of other Italian horror films of the time, it is fun, often illogical, and filled with crazy special effects. If you enjoyed Hell of the Living Dead it is very likely that you will enjoy Contamination, as it shares a similar type of cheesiness to it. As well, Contamination is a better film than Hell of the Living Dead thanks to a slightly more coherent storyline. In the end, Contamination is a fun, cheesy little Italian horror film that fans should have a good time with as long as they have the proper expectations.
Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Chris Alexander (Editor of Fangoria Magazine): A rather solid commentary discussing the film, production, people involved, and the commentators relationship with the film by an individual who was not there during the making of the film.A worthwhile listen that doesn't have too many unfocused moments.
-Luigi Cozzi on Contamination (23 mins): This is an archival feature that is in Italian and discusses the making of Contamination, the market for science fiction films in Italy, and the similarity between this film and other big science fiction films.
-Contamination Q&A (42 mins): This was an interesting Q&A with the director, Luigi Cozzi, and actor Ian McMulloch were the two discuss their involvement in the film, the origins of the film, and the aftermath of the film. A good Q&A that was only slightly hampered by the language barrier between the director and the rest.
-Sound of the Cyclops (12 mins): This feature interviews Maurizio Guarini, the keyboardist for Goblin. He discusses the making of the soundtrack of Contamination. As well as some general information about the band during the time making the music for the film and band now. Overall a pretty decent little feature.
-Luigi Cozzi Vs. Lewis Coates (43 mins): This is a brand new interview done with Luigi Cozzi in Italian where he discusses the movies he has made and his love of science fiction.
-Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery (43 mins): This feature has Maitland McDonagh and Chris Poggiali discussing the Italian film industry of the 19060's, 70's, and 80's. Specifically, they discuss that film industry's penchant for using popular money making films made as were as a basis for their movies, like how Contamination was a rip-off of Alien and other popular science fiction films.
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Graphic Novel: The graphic novel is based on the original screenplay for the film and features the artwork of Sergio Muratori. This feature is on the disc itself.
-Booklet: The Blu-ray release from Arrow Video contains a 22-page booklet filled with images and a new writing on the film from Chris Alexander.
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