CONTAMINATION: NOT QUITE ALIEN

There are some movies that are absolutely amazing. There are other movies that are so bad you wonder how they ever got financial backing. And then there are those movies that fall somewhere in between, not quite good but not as bad as one would expect. This movie falls into that category. A number of people have compared this film to alien but in truth the only similar items to be found are aliens and eggs.

When a ship heads into New York harbor at full speed and unresponsive to calls, a helicopter drops down a team to investigate what is going on. The crew seems to have disappeared but in searching the ship they find a cargo of glowing eggs. While checking things out a few of the eggs explode emitting a deadly green acid like substance. As those who were coated try to reach their friends they too explode (in some truly bad special effects that will have you laughing more than retching).

The police captain on board escapes with his life and is taken into custody by a world organization led by Commander Stella Holmes. When he passes all inspections he is recruited into the fold, trying to figure out where these eggs shipped from and just what they in fact are. Discovering the warehouse where the eggs were to be shipped, an elite team is brought in to search and destroy. What they discover is the entire floor of the warehouse covered with the eggs and the workers there in a hypnotic trance trying to save them. More exploding guts, more exploding eggs and soon they have things under control.

But now they have to track down just where the eggs are coming from and prevent an all-out invasion. Holmes recalls that a mission to Mars resulted in one astronaut eventually dying and another, Hubbard, going on and on about finding a cavern filled with egg like structures. Thought mad at the time his ravings now seem real. Holmes and the policeman track Hubbard and ask for his help in finding the location of the eggs. It’s time to save the world!

So no, this movie isn’t ALIEN and doesn’t come close to threatening the standard set by that film. What it does offer is a bit of fun and some unintentionally hilarious moments, most of them in the form of the bad special effects. The truth is that there while the Italians love these sorts of films they rarely do the genres they try to emulate justice. Instead it almost always results in a mish mash of bad special effects and sets along with photography that is lacking as well. Oddly enough the end result can still be fun. Who would think!

The movie was directed by Luigi Cozzi who was also responsible for the films STARCRASH and the Lou Ferigno versions of HERCULES. Cozzi always had his heart in the right place if not the cash to make the movies he wanted to do properly. You can tell by the end results he wanted to make something special but for one reason or another just didn’t quite get there. And after all these years the movie has developed its own following, its own set of fans.

What is truly amazing with this release from Arrow Video is the amount of extras to be found. They include:

- Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations

- Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)

- Newly translated subtitles for the Italian soundtrack

- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack

- Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker, Fangoria editor and Contamination super-fan Chris Alexander

- Notes on Science-Fiction Cinema: An archive documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage and director Luigi Cozzi on the birth of Contamination

- 2014 Q&A with Cozzi and star Ian McCulloch

- Sound of the Cyclops: Goblin's Maurizio Guarini on the music of Contamination - the Goblin keyboardist discusses Contamination's dark, progressive rock score and a lifetime making music for Italian terror

- Luigi Cozzi vs. Lewis Coates - a brand new interview with the director in which he discusses his filmmaking career from past to present

- Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery: A Critical Analysis of the Italian Cash-In - a brand new featurette looking at the Italian genre movies which sought to cash-in on popular Hollywood blockbusters

- Theatrical Trailer

- Graphic Novel based on the original Contamination screenplay [Disc Gallery]

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

- Fully-illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Alexander

For many it will be the extras that make this release worth picking up more than the film itself!

I know there is a market for movies like this and in truth I honestly believe that films of this sort need to be kept alive and well for fans to have access to. They were the bread and butter of mom and pop video stores for years. It’s good to see someone like Arrow Video is keeping them alive.

Click here to order.