Contamination – Arrow Video (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1980
Director: Luigi Cozzi
Writers: Luigi Cozzi, Erich Tomek
Cast: Ian McCulloch, Louise Marleau, Marino Masé, Siegfried Rauch, Gisela Hahn, Carlo De Mejo, Carlo Monni

Release Date: July 6th, 2015 (UK), July 7th, 2015 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 95 Minutes 20 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: OOP (UK), $39.95 (USA)

"A cargo ship drifts up the Hudson River. Its crew: all dead, their bodies horribly mutilated, turned inside out by an unknown force. Its freight: boxes upon boxes of glowing, pulsating green eggs. It soon becomes clear that these eggs are not of this planet, and someone intends to cultivate them here on Earth. But who? And to what end?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Contamination has been exclusively restored in 2K resolution for this release by Arrow Films. The original camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan at Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The film was graded on the Baselight grading system at Deluxe Restoration, London.

Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed through a combination of digital restoration tools. Image stability and density fluctuation issues were also improved." 

Contamination comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.7 GB

Feature: 27.9 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look correct, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look. Also, when compared to Blue Underground’s DVD release, this new transfer is a marked improvement in every way, especially in regards to image clarity, contrast, and black levels.

Audio: 4/5 (LPCM Mono Italian), 4.5/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, an LPCM mono mix in Italian and an LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. That said, the English-language track sounds more robust than the Italian-language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a graphic novel based on the original screenplay, a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 14 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), an interview with Goblin keyboardist Maurizio Guarini titled Sound of the Cyclops (11 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery: a Critical Analysis of the Italian Cash-in (17 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a career spanning interview with director Luigi Cozzi titled Luigi Cozzi vs. Lewis Coates (42 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Luigi Cozzi titled Luigi Cozzi on Contamination (22 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), a Q&A from 2014 with Luigi Cozzi and actor Ian McCulloch (41 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Fangoria editor Chris Alexander, reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to the first pressing), and a twenty four page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay about the film titled 35 years of Contamination written by Chris Alexander and information about the restoration. 

Included with this release is a DVD that has the same content as the Blu-ray included as part of this combo release.

Summary:

Directed by Luigi Cozzi, whose other notable films include The Killer Must Kill Again, Starcrash, Paganini Horror, The Black Cat, and a pair of Hercules remakes. Before becoming a director, Cozzi also worked on Dario Argento’s The Cat o’ Nine Tails and Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

When alien pods that are prone to explode and release flesh-dissolving fluids are discovered on a ship that has arrived in port with no survivors, red flags are raised. Wanting to know more about the alien pods, the government puts together a team that includes a former astronaut who had seen these pods before while he was on Mars. When they discovered that the alien pods originated from South America, the government sent in their team of experts to exterminate them once and for all.

Content-wise, Contamination is clearly a product of its time, as it borrows liberally from films like Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And such mimicry of successful Hollywood films has long been a staple of Italian cinema. Unfortunately, by the early 1980s, Hollywood began to produce their own "B" films.

Many elements in Contamination are borrowed from other films, but when it comes to their execution, the film falls short. Notably, there is a scene where someone's chest explodes, and this moment should make you feel uneasy or at least frighten you. Instead, such gut-busting moments are prone to evoking laughter at how absurd they come off due to poor execution.

Needless to say, trying to make sense of what is unfolding onscreen quickly proves to be a futile matter. Also, if one is determined to watch Contamination to its bitter end, then there really is only one plan of action: turn off your mind and embrace the chaos.

When it comes to the performances, they are best described as adequate. The only performance that leaves any lasting impression is Ian McCulloch’s (Zombie) portrayal of an alcoholic former astronaut, Ian Hubbard.

Fortunately, all is not lost. The anemic narrative moves along briskly, and though some things don't gel well, there isn't much time to dwell on them. Another area where the film surprises and can be a lot of fun is its unintentional humor. No scene more epitomizes the side-splitting humor in Contamination than the scene where a woman taking a shower discovers that she is locked in the bathroom with one of the alien pods. Ultimately, Contamination is an ‘A’ example of shlock cinema.

Arrow Video gives Contamination a definitive release, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer