Called "the illegitimate son of Alien" by writer/director Luigi Cozzi himself, the similarities are quite obvious if not a blatant rip-off. This is something the Italians were known for in the 80's and boy did they crank 'em out by the dozen! The description I gave above is about as good as it gets in terms of plot for you. Freely admitting to cribbing elements from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Them, the previously mentioned Alien, and Lucio Fulci's own rip-off Zombi 2, Cozzi haphazardly throws these ideas in a blender and churns out this shlock classic. Now, this isn't a groundbreaking piece of filmmaking by any stretch but it does bring the gore in buckets and if you've ever wondered just how many chest explosions Ridley Scott should have used then watch Contamination.
The thing that I give Italians all the credit in the world for is using the format of filmmaking to make you think you're watching a film that was shot in America when, in fact, only a day and a half's worth of the entire shoot was done in the US! Also, the Italians were masters of dubbing (this movie is not a great example) and that's how you get very Italian looking actors playing English speaking characters. Even the lone English actor (Ian McCulloch) dubs his own voice because the film was shot without sound. The music is of particular importance because it is done by THE GOBLIN. Not GOBLIN but THE GOBLIN. By this time Claudio Simonetti had left the group to persue his solo career and left the other members to craft the soundtrack. It's pretty rocking and adds another layer to the film. Luigi Cozzi loves science fiction as evidenced by him using sci-fi writers L. Ron Hubbard and Edmond Hamilton as the basis for his hero (Ian McCulloch's Hubbard) and villain (Seigfried Rauch's Hamilton). There is a goofy monster that you have to see to believe and, like Bruce in Jaws, was limited in its movements and use so it just kind of sits there not looking too menacing. Believe it or not, this was labeled a Video Nasty by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) so I have inadvertently started my reviews with this flick although it wasn't actually prosecuted. Again, that is a whole other topic for another time as I really want to dig in to that saga with both hands. There's "officially" 39 films that were banned in the UK but a total of 72 earned the infamous label of Video Nasty. The only reason I could see this being banned is for poor attempt at an unofficial sequel. |