I'm really not sure what it is - serendipity, or what - but the 2013, Eric England-directed "body horror" film "Contracted" is the second horror film in a week I've watched that concerns the dangers of sex and sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) (or the more current PC term, "sexually-transmitted infections" - "STIs"); the first film I watched was "It Follows" (2014). Like "It Follows," as it is here in "Contracted," unprotected, promiscuous sex leads to unspeakable horror.
I have to admit, I've been recently thinking about the nature of horror films and why it is that protagonists many times have to confront some kind of unimaginable evil. We think about people, especially young people, innocent and full of life and who have their whole lives ahead of them, and yet ironically many times many of them will not live to see those promising young lives fulfilled. And you think, how would we react in a horror movie situation?
Those thoughts crossed my mind when I watched "It Follows," and it caught up with me again when I just finishing watching "Contracted." In the film, Samantha (Najarra Townsend) is a young waitress in Los Angeles who has a fight with her girlfriend Nikki (Katie Stegeman) and one night finds herself at a party being thrown by her best friend Alice (Alice Macdonald).
At this same party, Samantha meets the smooth-talking BJ (Simon Barrett, whose face is obscured in his only major scene), and the two soon wind up in the backseat of someone's car. Over the next three days, Samantha starts to get sick - like, really sick. How sick? Well, much of it cannot be described here, because it would spoil the gross-out delights to be experienced and because it would just be too gross to describe what happens to her. The short of it is this: BJ passed an STD onto Samantha the first time that they had sex, but what she's coming down with is no ordinary STD, and is in fact - as evidenced by this film's final moments - something much, much worse.
First off, I've learned my lesson from many times past from watching so-called "body horror" pictures - by legendary horror masters such as Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator," "From Beyond") to the king of "body horror" himself, David Cronenberg ("The Fly," "Easter Promises," "Videodrome"). My lesson: never eat anything while viewing a "body horror" flick because you'll lose your appetite (if not your meal) pretty quick.
I took that to heart when watching "Contracted." While the characters are difficult to like and sympathize with, "Contracted" serves up some truly grotesque shocks and sights. The film does miss a few opportunities to talk about the full ramifications of some of the issues it raises - such as date rape - but this film does offer a new take on some well-worn horror material (which won't become clear until the very end of the picture).
"Contracted" serves partially as a cautionary tale on the dangers of unprotected sex, while offering a new spin on an old staple of the horror genre. I only recently discovered that there's a sequel in the works, so hopefully it opens up more of the mystery surrounding what goes on in this picture and afterward.
7/10
I have to admit, I've been recently thinking about the nature of horror films and why it is that protagonists many times have to confront some kind of unimaginable evil. We think about people, especially young people, innocent and full of life and who have their whole lives ahead of them, and yet ironically many times many of them will not live to see those promising young lives fulfilled. And you think, how would we react in a horror movie situation?
Those thoughts crossed my mind when I watched "It Follows," and it caught up with me again when I just finishing watching "Contracted." In the film, Samantha (Najarra Townsend) is a young waitress in Los Angeles who has a fight with her girlfriend Nikki (Katie Stegeman) and one night finds herself at a party being thrown by her best friend Alice (Alice Macdonald).
At this same party, Samantha meets the smooth-talking BJ (Simon Barrett, whose face is obscured in his only major scene), and the two soon wind up in the backseat of someone's car. Over the next three days, Samantha starts to get sick - like, really sick. How sick? Well, much of it cannot be described here, because it would spoil the gross-out delights to be experienced and because it would just be too gross to describe what happens to her. The short of it is this: BJ passed an STD onto Samantha the first time that they had sex, but what she's coming down with is no ordinary STD, and is in fact - as evidenced by this film's final moments - something much, much worse.
First off, I've learned my lesson from many times past from watching so-called "body horror" pictures - by legendary horror masters such as Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator," "From Beyond") to the king of "body horror" himself, David Cronenberg ("The Fly," "Easter Promises," "Videodrome"). My lesson: never eat anything while viewing a "body horror" flick because you'll lose your appetite (if not your meal) pretty quick.
I took that to heart when watching "Contracted." While the characters are difficult to like and sympathize with, "Contracted" serves up some truly grotesque shocks and sights. The film does miss a few opportunities to talk about the full ramifications of some of the issues it raises - such as date rape - but this film does offer a new take on some well-worn horror material (which won't become clear until the very end of the picture).
"Contracted" serves partially as a cautionary tale on the dangers of unprotected sex, while offering a new spin on an old staple of the horror genre. I only recently discovered that there's a sequel in the works, so hopefully it opens up more of the mystery surrounding what goes on in this picture and afterward.
7/10