If a movie was popular in America, it's safe to bet that there'll be a load of cheap Italian rip-offs of it, and Contamination is, of course, a Spaghetti impression of Ridley Scott's Alien. Despite being an obvious rip-off, however, Contamination has enough ideas of it's own to ensure that the film works as a standalone piece. This film was one of the 74 included by the British censors on the infamous 'Video Nasty' list, and after the first ten minutes; it's easy to see why. While the film is never extremely gory, there's enough blood and guts to both satisfy gore fans and annoy the censors. The film differs from Alien first and foremost because it takes place mostly in New York, rather than in space; and actually reminded me a lot of Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh-Eaters in the way that it starts out in the USA and then moves elsewhere. The plot follows a team that discovers a load of singing eggs (yes, singing eggs) on an abandoned boat. It's not long before one of them explodes near to an unfortunate man, who promptly finds himself without his skin. This prompts an investigation into the mysterious life-form...
The main reason why this film is so enjoyable is the sense of humour that runs throughout. There's a scene towards the start in which a police offer finds himself in quarantine which sets the film up nicely, and makes sure the audience knows that they're not going to be in for an entirely serious ride. The plot plays out well, and the way that it sets itself up for the twist mid-way through is good. The special effects aren't very imaginative, as most of the aliens take the form as the aforementioned singing eggs; although there is a scene towards the end of the film which features a full alien, and while it doesn't give Ridley Scott's film a run for its money, it is rather nice in a kitschy sort of way. Luigi Cozzi clearly isn't the best Italian director, but he does a rather good job with Contamination, and considering The Killer Must Kill Again also; he's a little better than he gets credit for. The only real nasty scene in the movie for me sees an experiment performed on a mouse; but overall, I'd say this just about deserve its Video Nasty status, and fans of Italian horror shouldn't be too disappointed by this cheap little flick.
The main reason why this film is so enjoyable is the sense of humour that runs throughout. There's a scene towards the start in which a police offer finds himself in quarantine which sets the film up nicely, and makes sure the audience knows that they're not going to be in for an entirely serious ride. The plot plays out well, and the way that it sets itself up for the twist mid-way through is good. The special effects aren't very imaginative, as most of the aliens take the form as the aforementioned singing eggs; although there is a scene towards the end of the film which features a full alien, and while it doesn't give Ridley Scott's film a run for its money, it is rather nice in a kitschy sort of way. Luigi Cozzi clearly isn't the best Italian director, but he does a rather good job with Contamination, and considering The Killer Must Kill Again also; he's a little better than he gets credit for. The only real nasty scene in the movie for me sees an experiment performed on a mouse; but overall, I'd say this just about deserve its Video Nasty status, and fans of Italian horror shouldn't be too disappointed by this cheap little flick.