Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Contamination .7 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 23, 2017

Fabrizio Laurenti's "Contamination .7" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original U.S. trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Attacked

The first thing that should be made clear about Fabrizio Laurenti’s film is that it has been promoted with at least four different titles. So in addition to Contamination .7, different licensors appear to have used Creepers, Troll 3 (likely because a few of the people that were involved with Troll 2 were also involved with this film), and The Crawlers. (Shout Factory has even included a nice reversible cover with this particular title). Additionally, in the opening credits Laurenti is introduced as Martin Newlin, though it is unclear if this was an alias that he used only for the North American release of the film. Finally, this was the last film on which cult actress Laura Gemser (Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Black Emanuelle) worked as a costume designer.

The entire film is set in and around a small mountain town where the local residents suddenly begin to disappear. Anyone with half a brain would instantly realize that there is a ‘thing’ that attacks these folks and that there is some sort of a connection between it and the nearby nuclear power plant, but it takes a long time before the sheriff finally puts two and two together. However, at this point it no longer seems to matter because the remaining residents are already engaged in a deadly game of survival with the thing from the forest.

Laurenti and his prolific friend Joe D’Amato probably attempted to create something original by borrowing bits from Steve Sekely’s The Day of the Triffids and Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, but what they came up with looks disappointingly amateurish. Indeed, while their main idea -- having powerful live radioactive roots attack the clueless residents of a secluded town -- might have sounded great during early pre-production discussions, as a concept for a feature film it is basically unusable. It is probably a good guess that this is also the main reason why the film looks so cheap -- a serious producer instantly would have recognized its vulnerability and distanced himself from it.

Small horror thrillers like Contamination .7 can still be quite attractive, but it is usually because they manage to build some sort of an exotic atmosphere that either hides their flaws or makes them work in their favor. (Luigi Cozzi's Contamination is precisely that kind of a bad film that becomes very entertaining because it creates a special atmosphere). Unfortunately, in Contamination .7 the major flaws are like big gaping wounds that quickly become infected and then collapse the entire project.

The only solid element of this film is the original score that Carlo Maria Cordio (Pieces) created for it. The music has an excellent dark intensity that initially creates the impression that there will be plenty of thrills, but by the time the locals organize themselves it is already quite clear that Laurenti was simply very lucky to book Cordio and have him contribute to the film.

Contamination .7 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fabrizio Laurenti's Contamination .7 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory.

The film was probably remastered not too long ago because this release is sourced from a pretty decent master. Generally speaking, clarity and depth remain quite pleasing throughout the entire film; there are only a couple of darker sequences where it is easy to see that some encoding optimizations should have been made so that grain is better exposed and resolved. Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern. Color reproduction is mostly pleasing, but this is another area where some optimizations could have been made to rebalance and strengthen the entire color scheme. Image stability is very good. Lastly, there are no distracting large cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, or warped/torn frames to report. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Contamination .7 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The quality of the lossless track is another indicator that the film must have been remastered. While overall dynamic intensity is modest, clarity, depth, and fluidity are very good. Also, the lossless track is free of the balance fluctuations that routinely pop up on older masters that were prepared in the early stages of the DVD era. For the record, there are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, or digital distortions to report.

Contamination .7 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Contamination .7. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Cover - reversible cover..

Contamination .7 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are a lot of cheap genre films that Italian directors made during the '70s and '80s that I find quite attractive -- mostly because many of them have tremendous atmosphere -- but I was bored to tears by Fabrizio Laurenti's Contamination .7. It is just too silly, and more often than not also looking painfully amateurish. However, if you enjoy the film, consider picking up Shout Factory's release. It is sourced from a nice and surprisingly healthy master. RENT IT.