Trailer

Contamination (1980)

R   |    |  Horror, Sci-Fi

Contamination (1980) Poster

A former astronaut helps a government agent and a police detective track the source of mysterious alien pod spores, filled with lethal flesh-dissolving acid, to a South American coffee plantation controlled by alien pod clones.

Watch on Prime Video included with Prime
5.3/10
3,395
Rate
Critic Reviews

Videos

Photos

  • Carlo De Mejo and Louise Marleau in Contamination (1980)
  • Marino Masé and Louise Marleau in Contamination (1980)
  • Contamination (1980)
  • Ian McCulloch in Contamination (1980)
  • Louise Marleau in Contamination (1980)
  • Marino Masé and Louise Marleau in Contamination (1980)

See all photos

Get More From IMDb

For an enhanced browsing experience, get the IMDb app on your smartphone or tablet.

Get the IMDb app
Facebook
Twitter
E-mail

Reviews & Commentary

Add a Review

User Reviews
11 May 1999 | thecaptain_uk
Ian McCulloch's finest acting moments...
Well this was another movie that tried to pass itself off as Alien 2 long with Ciro Ippolito's Alien 2 - On Earth. The problem with doing this is that one immediately draws a comparison with Alien which had a much bigger budget and therefore is always going to look a lot better.

Luigi Cozzi's stab at Alien isn't too bad, although he himself has stated that his is a better movie than Ippolito's film although I don't agree - sure the effects are slightly better, but there is only one effect in the entire movie - the chest exploding (or popping) that is repeated about a billion times in super-slow-motion. Alien 2 - On Earth was much more fun.

Anyway the narrative begins as an exact copy of Zombie Flesh Eaters with the appearance of an abandoned boat floating into New York Harbour. Even the dialogue is copied from that film - "The skipper of that boat must be a real turkey!". Not only do the Italians rip-off Hollywood movies, they rip each other off as well.

Predictably the police who investigate the boat stumble across the dead crew, who fall out of cupboards and look as if they have been ripped open from the inside! They then discover some strange egg like shapes, "Maybe they're avocados!" enthuses one policeman. However when they try to pick one up it explodes, showering the police in sticky goo. The goo leads to immediate imflammation of the belly and "pop!" they're guts fly out all over the place. Not a bad effect although if you look closely at one of the victims, he has suddenly become a foot wider (to make room for all those animal entrails).

The police captain escapes and helps Commander Stella Holmes (Louise Marleau) in the hunt to discover the origin of the eggs.

They visit Hubbard (Ian McCulloch), who was part of an expedition to Mars some years previous who was declared crazy after talking about seeing thousands of eggs there. Now living in alcoholic squalor he moans at Lt. Holmes before telling his story. Cue flashback of the expedition to a Martian cave and a terrible attempt at recreating the exact scene in Alien. The acting in this bit is truly atrocious as McCulloch delivers his lines "I looked at Hamilton - and he was, his eyes, he was beginning to....Hamilton.....HAMILTON!" Followed by a Daa Daaa DAAAAAAAA on the soundtrack. Truly the funniest part of the movie using that same useless Goblin soundtrack that for some reason everyone raves about - why? It's terrible!

Well it's not great and nowhere near as fun as "Alien 2 - On Earth" but it's better than the average trash movie. Starts well and finishes okay but it sags very badly in the middle which does make you want to nod off.

Critic Reviews

More Like This

Zombie Holocaust

Zombie Holocaust

Nightmare City

Nightmare City

Hell of the Living Dead

Hell of the Living Dead

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror

Absurd

Absurd

Antropophagus

Antropophagus

City of the Living Dead

City of the Living Dead

Beyond the Darkness

Beyond the Darkness

Demon Wind

Demon Wind

Cannibal Ferox

Cannibal Ferox

Cut and Run

Cut and Run

The Mutilator

The Mutilator

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer/director Luigi Cozzi's first script for the film was titled "Alien Arrives on Earth," making no effort to hide that his inspiration for Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and that this was his idea for that film's sequel. Some countries also directly marketed the film as a sequel to Scott's film.

Quotes

NYPD Lt. Tony Aris: Jesus Christ, the whole world is going to be wiped out and all this broad's worried about is getting changed!
Colonel Stella Holmes: Listen, Aris, if I have to die with the rest of the world then I want to have a proper dress on and clean underwear.

Goofs

When Commander Hubbard is telling Colonel Holmes about the expedition to Mars he claims the eggs were green just as the one in the photograph she showed him. But the photographs she has shown him were in black and white so he couldn't possibly know if they were green as well.

Alternate Versions

The film was never given a UK certificate (under any titles and for either cinema or video/DVD) until 2004. The BBFC's site will confirm this. The film was available on UK video in the early 80s in both an uncut form, and in an unofficially cut BBFC approved version, though the introduction of the Video Recordings Act and the listing of the film as a video nasty outlawed both versions. About 2 minutes and 40 seconds of cuts had been made to the BBFC version, including:

  • 13 seconds cut from opening sequence showing a dead man's mutilated and decomposing body in a cupboard.
  • 73 seconds cut from opening sequence showing several men graphically exploding after tampering with alien pods. Footage includes facial explosions and several scientists exploding at the gut in lingering slow-motion.
  • 19 seconds cut from warehouse sequence showing criminals exploding at the gut after unwisely standing amongst alien pods.
  • 2 seconds cut from warehouse sequence in which remains of freshly-exploded men are shown.
  • 9 seconds cut from climax, in which man's head is devoured by queen alien.
  • 11 seconds cut from climax showing a scientist exploding at the gut after being shot by Ian McCulloch.
  • 33 seconds cut from climax showing chief villain's chest exploding in slow-motion viscera-launch spectacle. The film was finally granted an uncut 15-rated certificate in the UK in 2004.

Soundtracks

Connexion
Written by I Goblin

Storyline

Plot Summary

Genres

Horror | Sci-Fi

Details

Release Date:

11 June 1982

Language

Italian

Country of Origin

Italy, West Germany

Filming Locations

New York, USA

User Polls

The 9 Best Worst Alien Rip-Offs!
Italian Horror Music

What to Watch Right Now on IMDb TV

From Will Smith's Oscar-nominated performance to an iconic horror anthology series, we break down the must-see movies and shows available to stream for free this month on IMDb TV.

Watch our video

Around The Web

 | 

Powered by ZergNet

More To Explore

Search on Amazon.com