Director: Luigi Cozzi
Year: 1980
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Contamination - Alien arriva sulla terra, Contamination: Alien on Earth, Alien Contamination, Toxic Spawn
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
Arriving in New York, the local police are called in to investigate an unmanned ship in New York Harbor where a series of strange alien eggs are found onboard that belong to a species that destroyed civilizations before, and when a takeover plot is uncovered race to stop their plans to annihilate mankind.
Review:
This is a rather fun and enjoyable Italian cheese-fest. One of the best things about this one is the fact that the eggs are quite intriguing. The first discovery in the bowels of the ship is full of creepy suspenseful scenes featuring the abandoned crew quarters as well as the rows of coffee shipments down in the hold create a wholly suspenseful and chilling setup. When faced with the strange eggs that emit an eerie moaning noise and prove to burst when in proximity to a victim, showering them in some substance that causes the person to messily explode, a real sense of the danger they pose is immediately apparent and the gruesomeness of what's being done is where the danger and fear come from.
There's also the fact that this one generates quite an impressive build-up that comes from that initial start. The discovery of the eggs makes for a fine series of investigative work to be done on looking at the nature of the eggs and how they operate, leading to the action-film style shootouts in their raid on the warehouse that leads the group to the real cause behind their arrival on Earth. The second half, with the move to the sunny tropics, offers up more fun, namely the gorgeous scenery and the cheese level attained once the true plot has been found, is great fun to be able to get all that action and cheese into the film giving it some interest than otherwise possible. The film's ability to remain fun with the slowing pace is a great move, since it really keeps the interest level up through some fine action, tons of cheese and a great story, which are part of the reasons why this movie remains so good.
There's also the fact that this one has a large amount of incredibly bloody and gory scenes that derive most of the film's pleasure from. This is the film’s trick of having a victim's chest burst out when merely touched with the creature's slime, as all it takes is a single touch and the victim is suddenly and violently exploded from inside. The look is incredibly graphic, with guts and interior organs come spilling out and decorate the surroundings with the free-flowing blood. It happens to at least a half-dozen in here and is really a full-on blast to witness. The effects to accomplish this are full in that goopy, splatter style as well, giving it a fun cheesy feel and having a lot to like overall.
This one has a couple of minor flaws that hold it down. The make-up effects for the chest-bursting moments are pretty gruesome, although it's repeated too often for the effect. They always happen in slow-motion and you can tell when they're coming because one moment a character is as skinny as a rake and the next they have a huge padded chest ready to blow open. Another factor is that there's a slight spot in the middle where they bring on board the other astronaut to the solution, and it winds down a tad to incorporate this into the film. It slows down a finely-done pace up until that point and there's very little that can be done about it. Otherwise, this here is a rather fun Italian horror fare.
Overview: ****/5
With a few minor flaws and just enough good points, this one here has a lot of good points to it that makes for a rather enjoyable time. This is highly recommended to fans of the Italian or European Horror scene, can enjoy a cheese-fest every now and then or have a special affinity for these types of films, otherwise, this one should be held with caution.
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