Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Contamination Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 11, 2015

Luigi Cozzi's "Contamination" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video//MVD Entertainment Group. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; audio commentary with Chris Alexander, editor of Fangoria Magazine; video interview with Goblin keyboardist Maurizio Guarini; Q&A session with Luigi Cozzi and actor Ian McMulloch, hosted by Ewan Cant; and more. The release also arrives with a 22-page illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Alexander, illustrated with original archive stills and posters. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region A/B "locked".

An egg

A large cargo ship enters the New York harbor, but with no visible crew or staff members. The local authorities quickly send a team to examine the ship and discover a pile of disfigured bodies and some unusually large green eggs. When one of the eggs bursts and kills a few of the men trying to figure out what might have happened there, the ship is quarantined.

Shortly after, Colonel Stella Holmes (Louise Marleau, The Baroness and the Pig) and detective Tony Aris (Marino Masé, Zorro) discover that a retired astronaut (Ian McCulloch, Zombie Flesh Eaters) with a serious drinking problem might know more about the eggs. They visit his home and he convinces them that the eggs can be traced back to a coffee plantation somewhere in South America.

The plot of Luigi Cozzi’s (credited as Lewis Coates) film Contamination is beyond ridiculous, but whether this is a good or bad thing is something that has been debated ever since it was released in 1980. The main reason why is the fact that Contamination unapologetically imitates and frequently even borrows elements from all sorts of big genre films, from Ridley Scott’s Alien and Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters to Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Gordon Douglas' Them!. My take on the film is that it works rather well -- as long as you see the film very, very late at night when your mind is a lot more forgiving and you are too tired to question the decisions of its characters.

Immediately after the ship enters the harbor the film heads in multiple directions at the same time. The graphic explosions are clearly meant to impress horror fans, but by the time Stella meets the retired astronaut it already feels like the film wants to be a dark psychological thriller. (With a few minor adjustments it very easily could have visited the same territory Adrian Lyne’s Jacob's Ladder did). Later on, there is also quite a bit of footage that would appeal to fans of the exotic adventure films Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus loved to produce. The end result is an ambitious but underpolished film that is extremely difficult to take seriously.

The sooner you realize that Contamination should not be taken seriously, however, the more likely it is that you will end up enjoying it. The special effects, for instance, were done by Giovanni Corridori, who had previously worked with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi on the really wild Mondo Candido and Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters, while the dark and moody soundtrack was created by the legendary Italian progressive rock band Goblin. In other words, some very talented people contributed to Contamination and throughout the film the quality of their work easily shows.

Contamination was lensed by cinematographer Giuseppe Pinori, whose credits also include acclaimed director Marco Tullio Giordana’s first two films, To Love the Damned and The Fall of the Rebel Angels.

Contamination Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.84:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luigi Cozzi's Contamination arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video//MVD Entertainment Group.

The film has been recently restored in 2K and looks very beautiful in high-definition. Indeed, excluding some tiny white specks that occasionally pop up here and there, I think that the technical presentation is as convincing as it could be. Detail and especially image depth are terrific, while clarity remains pleasing throughout the entire film. A few minor contrast fluctuations are present, but they are clearly part of the original cinematography (see screencaptures #3, 14 and 16). Colors are very healthy and stable, never appearing artificially boosted. There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is excellent. All in all, this is a terrific technical presentation of Contamination that is guaranteed to make its fans very happy. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A/B "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A, Region-B, or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).

Contamination Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0 and Italian LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for English track and English subtitles for the Italian track.

There is a pretty substantial gap in quality between the two tracks. The original English track has much better range of nuanced dynamics and far more pleasing depth. On the Italian track the mid/high-frequencies seem to fluctuate quite a bit. On the English track the music is stable and well balanced. There is only one sequence towards the end of the film where some minor fluctuations are present in the high-frequencies (producing some extremely light distortion in the music theme). The dialog is stable and easy to follow. Because some of the actors were overdubbed, some minor synch issues could be spotted, but they are part of the film's original sound design (you will likely notice that the movement of the lips is slightly different than the rhythm of the lines that are exchanged).

Contamination Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Luigi Cozzi on Contamination - in this archival documentary, Luigi Cozzi explains how Contamination was born, and discusses its production history, the difficult business climate for science fictions films in Italy, some of the obvious similarities between his film and Ridley Scott's cult film Alien, Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Gordon Douglas' Them!, etc. Also included is raw footage from the shooting of the film. The documentary was produced by Maurizio Checcoli and Luciano Galluzzi. In Italian, with optional English subtitles (23 min, 1080p).

• Contamination Q&A - presented here is a Q&A session with Luigi Cozzi and actor Ian McMulloch, hosted by Ewan Cant from Arrow Video. The Italian director explains in great detail how Contamination came to exist (after being contacted by producer/director/writer Joe D'Amato), and discusses the funding of the film, its original title, the different genre elements in the film, etc. Ian McMulloch also recalls how he was approached to play Ian Hubbard and discusses some of the film's more awkward moments. The session was filmed at Abertoir Horror Festival, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, on November 15, 2014. In English, not subtitled. (42 min, 1080p).

• Sound of the Cyclops - in this video interview, Goblin keyboardist Maurizio Guarini discusses the harmonic structure of the soundtrack for Contamination. With Goblin, the keyboardist contributed to the soundtracks of such cult films as Lucio Fulci's The Beyond and Contraband. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080p).

• Luigi Cozzi vs. Lewis Coates - in this brand new interview, director Luigi Cozzi discusses his career and body of work as well as his love for science fiction. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (43 min, 1080p).

• Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery - in this featurette, Maitland McDonagh, author of Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds, and Chris Poggiali (Temple Of Schlock), discuss the Italian film industry during the '60s, '70s and '80s and the numerous genres and subgenres that defined it. The featurette was produced by Samuelson Studios and Arrow Video. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (43 min, 1080p).

• Original Theatrical Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Contamination. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Graphic Novel - graphic novel based on the original screenplay for Contamination, with art by Sergio Muratori. Presented in a disc gallery. (1080p).

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, Chris Alexander, editor of Fangoria Magazine, highlights some of the similarities between Contamination and the films that inspired it, the film's production history, the various locations where different sequences were shot, the structure of the narrative, various genre films that came out of Italy and became cult classics, etc.

• Cover - reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin.

• Booklet - 22-page illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Alexander, illustrated with original archive stills and posters.

Contamination Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of cheesy Italian genre films should be delighted with Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment Group's new Blu-ray release of Luigi Cozzi's Contamination. The film looks marvelous in high-definition and I am convinced that the Blu-ray release will remain its definitive presentation on the home video market. I thoroughly enjoyed the excellent supplemental features on the disc as well. The video interview with Goblin keyboardist Maurizio Guarini, in particular, was outstanding. RECOMMENDED.