Plot
A cargo ship pulls into New York Harbor with no one on
board. The police find a cargo full of green pulsating eggs which burst when
in contact with humans, spreading a green slime that seeps into the skin and
causes their
victims to explode with a hideous chest-bursting death. A research team is called in to
trace where the eggs came from and the trail leads them to former astronaut
Hubbard, who returned from a mission to Mars years earlier rambling about
alien life forms.
Review
Italians used to do rip-offs better than anyone so needless to
say this exercise in splatter is simply a thinly-veiled clone of Alien,
or at least a whole film based around the most infamous moment in that film, being John
Hurt's chest-bursting exercise. To create a film entirely around one cool
moment (albeit such an iconic moment) is a bit of a tough ask and
Contamination does it's best to flesh it out.
The first
thirty minutes are quite promising
with a cool opening scene aboard the deserted boat, complete with lots of
exploded bodies and gore. Unfortunately the film runs out of steam quite
early when Ian McCulloch's astronaut character comes on board and the
investigation into what is happening picks up pace. It's rather dull and
talky and doesn't lead anywhere in a hurry as the characters go from one
clue to the next. You know most of the budget has already been blown on the
copious amount of exploding people here so the rest of the film is
constantly trying to better it. However you'll have to keep watching, as
dull and monotonous as it may be, as the end third picks up pace again when
it's revealed that behind the exploding eggs is a hideous alien, trying to
take over the planet! Not since the 50s have you seen anything as ridiculous
as this thing at the end. Criticism aside, it probably works in the film's favour because it's just pure cheese from the start and never pretends to be
anything else.
As I've already stated, the film has been
written around the idea of someone's chest blowing up. The make-up effects for the chest-bursting
moments are pretty gruesome, although it's repeated once too often for my
liking. They always happen in slow-motion for added impact and you can tell
when they're coming because one moment a character is a skinny as a rake and
the next they have a huge padded chest ready to blow open. The effect looks
great the first time, not so by the time the film has ended and pretty much
everyone has blown up. There's also a fantastically haunting
synth-soundtrack from
Goblin which gives the film that distinctive Italian feel. Say what you want
about the actual films but there are some very gifted composers out there who
really left their mark in these films. The soundtrack is arguably the
best bit of the film and the signature theme is one of my favourites, giving
the finale a powerful kick as the characters fight and try and to survive as
the giant alien locks in it's hypnotic gaze. One final note goes to Ian
McCulloch who puts in a great performance. I've seen some of his work in
these Italian horror films and the guy never looks like he's slumming it,
despite clearly knowing what sort of trash he's starring in. McCulloch has a
strong presence on screen and gives the film a much needed seriousness.
Verdict
Contamination is your typical Italian
horror - gory set pieces are preferred over pretty much everything else
including story and logic. But
whereas with some of it's brethren, this one actually manages to hold
together a reasonable plot and doesn't just go off on a tangent. Coupled
with a solid lead performance and a rich soundtrack, this has been unfairly
forgotten behind some of the more infamous films of it's time.
