Contamination is an Italian horror and science-fiction effort from Luigi Cozzi, a movie about an alien invasion that never really gets off the ground thanks to a couple of stalwart heroes as played by Ian McCulloch and Louise Marleau. Obviously being influenced by the likes of Alien and to a lesser degree, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the film tries its best to keep its audience entertained and for the most part, does just that.

Cozzi starts it all off with a mystery and some oozing, alien eggs which as one is supposed to surmise, happened to be the cause of death for all of those onboard an abandoned ship. This leads to more eggs, more mystery, a cop with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, investigation, attempted murder, more eggs, a jaded astronaut, a dead astronaut who is very much alive and an honest-to-goodness alien from the planet Mars. There is a lot packed into this movie’s eighty-two minutes and yet even so, it does tend to drag a little during the middle which makes it all seem much longer than it really is. There is a tense atmosphere throughout which is a great boon to the picture, Cozzi keeping viewers on the edge of their seats no matter the situation that is playing out on the screen before them. Whether facing off against the threat of an egg that is about to take them over or simply trying to figure out what the next move might be, the players in this film do try and more often than not, succeed in keeping it a compelling affair. It would have been nice if Cozzi could have kept a bit of the action going to keep things a little more exciting but such as it is, it is but a minor fault.

The special effects were surprisingly effective, not so much when it came to the eggs for they required little but were quite good where the alien called The Cyclops was concerned. It was an overly large monster and overly complicated in design which dulled the horror of the creature but it looked good and really drove home the threat that it represented. There are few kills in this movie but when there is one, it is gory and looks great, especially when The Cyclops is going to feed on those who are sacrificed to it. All of it is sure to turn the stomach of those a little sensitive to things such as this and in this, Cozzi definitely went above and beyond. As for the cast, they sold it all quite well with Marleau really putting in a fantastic performance when her partner was killed by the alien overlord.

As for everything else, the story was not bad but it could have been stronger than it was. It could have used a little something extra to really put it over the top, something to fill up those middle acts, liven it up and keep things rolling along at a good pace. That all being said, it was enjoyable as a whole and while other films might have treated the subject matter better, Contamination was good enough to while away some time and provide an escape from the affairs of everyday life.  Not to mention, it has a soundtrack by Goblin which makes it all worthwhile right there.

2.5 out of 5