Plot: What’s it about?
New York Harbor is always a place of constant traffic, so countless ships come in and then leave around the clock. But when an unexpected vessel pulls in to dock and turns out to be deserted, it is a rare incident, to be sure. After attempts to communicate with the crew fail, a team of police officers ventures inside the ship, only to discover their worst fears are proven true, as the crew had been slaughtered. The bodies show immense signs of damage, as if they exploded from within and of course, that makes everyone very nervous. Then however, the real threat is uncovered when the officers find some strange green eggs, which seem to be alive, as they move a little and emit some pulsing sounds. When the eggs explode and spray green slime all over the men, within a short time the muck seeps into their systems and soon, they implode and their guts launch out of their stomachs with intense force. This puts into motion a large scale investigation, in which a research team scours the globe for information on the hideous eggs. Obviously, the eggs are being created and harvested, but by whom and where? Will the team discover where the eggs came from, how they got here, and how to ensure they’re never seen again?
I won’t even try to argue that this is even a decent movie, but come on, Contamination is so bad, its a blast to watch. This is kind of like a throwback to the 50s sci/fi cheese era, with liberal elements from Alien tossed in and of course, this was meant to try to cash in on the success of Ridley Scott’s genre classic. But instead of effective tension, eerie visuals, and great performances, like Alien boasted, Contamination has laughable special effects, total darkness in many scenes, and some of the most ham handed efforts you’ll see. So if you’re looking for a movie to take seriously, then this isn’t what you’re after, but for fans of B movies and low rent schlock, Contamination is one you won’t want to miss. The dialogue is so terrible, you’ll be rolling and find yourself repeating some of the lines, while the performances are passable, given the low budget surroundings and less than impressive material involved. The plot is nothing special, but is solid enough to hang the gore scenes on, which is what matters in this case. As you should know, the main attraction here is the carnage, with some very cool exploding people moments. You’ll see the guts blast out from all angles, even in slow motion and as bad as the rest of Contamination is, these scenes more than compensate. I am in awe of Blue Underground’s disc, as it not only presents the film uncut & uncensored, but in a brand new transfer with soundtracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and DTS ES. As such, Contamination is given a strong recommendation to all those interested.
You’re out of luck if you come to Contamination looking for top level performances, but at least genre regular Ian McCulloch is on deck. Although McCulloch starred in just under a dozen feature films, his name is well known to fans of horror cinema, as he has been involved in a few of the most notorious productions. In Contamination, you can tell McCulloch wants to turn in a solid effort, but within the confines of this material, he is simply unable to do much. He is the best out of the lot seen in this picture, but McCulloch could have done a lot more with this role, had some time been taken to enhance the material. But as well all know, the writing here is thin and exists only to hang some cool gore sequences on, so McCulloch just does what he can. That’s all we can ask however, as at least he was able to keep a straight face throughout. Other films with McCulloch include Zombie, Running Blind, The Ghoul, Witching Time, and Zombie Holocaust. The cast also includes Louise Monroe (Satan’s Sabbath, Virgin Lovers), Martin Mase (The Godfather: Part III, Tenebre), and Lisa Hahn (Cesar and Rosalie, War of the Planets).
Video: How does it look?
Contamination is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a low budget horror movie from 1980, so it doesn’t have the best chance for a pristine transfer, especially given how many very dark scenes are present. I mean, some are shot in pitch black with flashlights or what not, so unless the time was taken to create a top notch treatment, those scenes would lose all visual composition. And this is true of previous home video editions, which have ranged from putrid to almost watchable. But now Blue Underground has stepped in and given us a brand new anamorphic widescreen edition, taken from the original vault negative, no less. The result is an eye opener and while the material will never look flawless, this is without question the finest home video of Contamination. The black levels are razor sharp and even in the darkest of scenes, crucial detail shines through with ease. The colors look a tad faded, but brighter than before and that’s enough to be satisfied in this case. I found the print to be quite clean also, with minimal grain and defects to mention. I cannot say enough about Blue Underground’s work on this transfer, it simply has to be seen to be believed.
Audio: How does it sound?
In an unexpected, but very welcome notion, Blue Underground has included brand new Dolby Digital 5.1 EX & DTS ES soundtracks. I mean, most studios won’t put this much effort into their elite level blockbusters, but Blue Underground has given this low rent horror picture the deluxe treatment, so let’s hope for a wealth of DTS releases down the line. Although these mixes represent the best possible presentation of the elements, the material is simply not that conducive to dynamic audio and as such, don’t expect miracles here. But these mixes are active and bring the film to life like never before, thanks to creative and natural use of the surrounds, so the audio never comes off as hollow or forced. The limitations of the material hold things back somewhat, but damn, these are masterful audio presentations. This disc also includes a 2.0 surround option and the original mono mix, so all the bases have been covered here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The most substantial extras here are featurettes, one an eighteen minute interview with director Luigi Cozzi, the other a twenty-three minute general behind the scenes piece, which also features Cozzi. I have to be honest, I was surprised to find anything beyond a trailer here, so I was pleased to find these two insightful supplements. This disc also includes a selection of poster artwork & still photos, some conceptual sketches, and if you have access to a DVD-ROM drive, you can view a special graphic novel.
