Fun, hyper-gory Italian trash!
The Package
Made in 1982 by sleazemeister Luigi Cozzi (under his
Americanized pseudonym “Lewis Coates”), CONTAMINATION
(originally released under the moniker ALIEN CONTAMINATION) was
one of countless ALIEN wannabes that flooded the market in the
wake of that 1977 milestone (a trend that continued well into
the nineties with EVENT HORIZON and VIRUS). This one was
made in Italy, where pitches by filmmakers all reportedly boil
down to a single question: “What's this like?” Or to be
more specific, what successful American movie are you ripping
off? With Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE, for instance, the answer
would have been Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD (likewise with Ruggero
Deodato's
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, which, in a not unusual
occurrence, spawned its own sub genre which we’ll call the
Italian Cannibal Movie, which was almost as prevalent as the
Italian Post-Holocaust Movie).
The Story
A deserted ship is discovered in the New York harbor
(well, actually a dock someplace in Italy, with exterior shots
spliced in to make us think it’s NYC). When a
team of investigators boards it, they find a bunch of large
watermelon-like eggs that emit tiny spores causing people to
explode. It’s up to a hot chick scientist and her BF (who
demonstrate the spores’ deadly properties by injecting ‘em into
a rat, making it pop like a water balloon) to find the source of
the strange eggs, which turns out to be a coffee plantation in
Bolivia. Here a batty ex-astronaut, the only survivor of
an expedition to Mars, is taking care of a large, slimy,
one-eyed critter (severely under lit so we won't notice how
cheesy it is) who distributes the eggs and harbors a healthy
appetite for human flesh.
The Direction
Luigi Cozzi is best known for his Lou Ferrigno Hercules
abominations (made because they were “like” EXCALIBUR and CLASH
OF THE TITANS) and the execrable STAR CRASH (the first word in
the title should clue you in as to what film that one is
“like”). When cult movie enthusiast John Martin told Cozzi
he enjoyed CONTAMINATION, the reluctant auteur burst
out laughing. Give the guy credit: he knows his
limitations. This is trash with a capitol T, but it's
fun trash, a slick, fast moving monster movie with
surprisingly potent gore effects.
Vital Statistics
CONTAMINATION (aka ALIEN CONTAMINATION)
Cannon Film Distributors
Director: “Lewis Coates” (Luigi Cozzi)
Producer: “Charles Mancini” (Claudio Mancini)
Screenwriters: Luigi Cozzi, Erich Tomek
Cinematography: “Joseph Pinori” (Giuseppi Pinori)
Editor: Nino Baragli
Cast: Ian McCulloch, Louise Marleau, Marino Mase, Siegfried
Rauch, Gisela Hahn