“They invade your body … control your mind … blow you
apart!” If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Ridley
Scott and Dan O'Bannon (the Director and Writer of 1979's Alien)
must have been blushing like schoolgirls when Luigi (Starcrash)
Cozzi's gut-busting spin on their 'haunted house in space' shocker exploded
onto the exploitation scene. Taking a handful of iconic images from Scott's
film – including the alien eggs and the chest-burster scene – Contamination
dispenses with subtlety and goes for spectacular slow-mo splatter...
Click “READ MORE” below to continue the review and see more
screenshots…
“We've got a sighting – you're right – she's coming in
fast, it's against every regulation in the book.” A chopper cuts
through the skies of New York City and swoops down low over the Caribbean Lady
cargo ship, charging full steam ahead towards the harbour – but where on earth
are the crew? In search of answers to the mystery, Dr Turner (Carlo Monni)
and NYPD Lieutenant Tony Arras (Marino Masé, Tenebrae) venture
into the deep, dark depths of the ship with a hazmat team. At first it seems
like everyone simply vanished, but then they start stumbling into bodies –
exploded from the inside out and contorted in the agony of death. But within
the hold, packed full with supposed boxes of coffee, they discover a whole host
of pulsating eggs – and that's when things really start to get nasty.
“It's more like he exploded from the inside.”
Examining one of the eggs, Dr Turner and one of his team get a face full of
gunk as the glowing green orb tears open and covers them in some kind of vile
fluid. In excruciating slow motion their faces burn and their torsos swell –
before exploding in gleefully gory geysers of high pressure blood and innards!
Suffice it to say, Lieutenant Arras has found himself wrapped up in a
considerable amount of trouble.
“Call headquarters and tell them we may have an
epidemic on our hands.” Responding to this bizarre outbreak of
they-don't-know-what, Special Division 5 – with their high tech facility full
of flashing lights, twiddled dials, and hexagonal shapes – step in under the
command of Colonel Stella Holmes (Louise Marleau). They dive in quick,
bringing hot lead and hotter flame to a small Import/Export warehouse in the
Bronx where they discover yet more of these eggs – these strange things capable
of killing in seconds – but what are they and where do they come from?
“I saw it happen to human beings … it was horrible.”
Step forward Commander Hubbard (Ian McCulloch, Zombi 2), a former
astronaut driven to drink after his seemingly wild tales of eggs hidden within
a cave system at the polar ice cap of Mars saw him dismissed as a wacko. But
there's no time for bad blood – there's an entire world out there waiting to be
saved and only they can do it!
“You've always made me feel like a caveman.”
For the most part this is Louise Marleau's film as she takes centre stage for
the majority – until McCulloch gets to play the gun toting hero come the third
act, that is – doling out sardonic comebacks and besting her male counterparts
from the get-go. She's smart, she's quick-to-act, and she's certainly no
brainless bikini bimbo. She gets to run circles around Lieutenant Arras, who
takes the role of the somewhat buffoonish chauvinist – a flashy sod who fancies
himself as a ladies' man – while Hubbard, who starts out as a seething
drunkard, is quickly brought into the fold by her humility and strength of
character. Indeed, as the dick-swinging military men bumble about looking for
something to shoot at, she's coming up with answers, and while she does get
kind of side-lined in Act III, she makes for an impressive lead.
“What's the purpose behind any living being? Grow,
multiply, survive!” Stylishly shot by Giuseppe Pinori (Murder
Rock) with some atmospheric synth grooves from Goblin (at the time
riding high on their score to George A. Romero's iconic Dawn of the Dead),
Cozzi's film looks and sounds the part – indeed, it outstrips much of it's
competition. However, it's not all grand, as a sluggish second half of Act II
testifies, in which there's a twenty-five minute slump – including a ten minute
sequence involving dinner plans and a quick shower that utterly fails to cook
up even a mere whiff of suspense. It's strange, especially as the film starts –
and finishes – strong, very strong in fact. The opening search of the cargo
ship is filled with tension, and Act III crams in plenty of action – and exploding
guts – to make up for a plodding dose of filler once the trio head off to
Colombia.
“Let's go see what this mystery is all about.”
Speaking of Colombia, there's some excellent location work throughout the film
with numerous scenes taking place in New York City (even the apartment with
a view of the NYC skyline is a real find). Likewise, the lighting and set
design are both strong – and inventive – while 'The Cyclops' straddles the line
between cheesy and creepy quite well. If only that twenty-five minute segment
had been tighter (the guided tour of the coffee factory feels like nothing
else but playing for time) then Contamination would have been a
clean run. As it is though, the vast majority of the movie has all the things
any exploitation film fan would want – and, for the most part, it's done with
considerable talent. Existing fans of Cozzi's gore-flinging
sci-fi/horror/action fest will be left with a smile on their face by Arrow
Video's Blu-Ray/DVD release, while new converts will find plenty of gleefully
gruesome delights to indulge in.
“You can feel them in your blood!”
Presentation wise it's another home run from Arrow Video who, like with their
recent HD release of Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, give this flick
a generous helping of love. The original mono audio (in English and Italian
options, with subtitles) is clean and clear, while the visuals are
pleasingly crisp. The print shows occasional signs of damage – but these are
negligible – so the film looks fantastic in HD and illustrates Arrow's
dedication to giving these kind of films superior releases. On occasion they
have stumbled – such as failing to notice numerous cuts to 2014's HD release of
David Cronenberg's Shivers – but with their expansion into simultaneous,
region-free releases in the UK and North America, it seems like an impressive
new era is coming to the world of re-released classics of European genre
cinema. This, the full 95 minute version of the film, is accompanied by a handsome
roster of extra features – including commentary, documentaries, Director and
Star Q&A, Interviews, an on-disc graphic novel based on the original
screenplay, and the now standard booklet that impressively details various
aspects of the film. This release is 'Dual Format' so there is a Blu-Ray copy and a DVD copy of the film with the accompanying extras.
N.B. Screen shots were captured from the DVD copy of the film
included in the package because I don't have a Blu-Ray drive from which to capture
HD images. You can see HD screens over at Blu-Ray.com HERE.
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