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Outposter DwC returns with another in-depth, critical examination of what may be yet another true work of art, if only the rest of the world hasn’t quite realised it yet. Masterpiece Theater is back, baby! Contamination (1980) is an Eye-Talian film starring Ian McCulloch, Louise Marleau, and Marino Masè. Luigi Cozzi directed. Brace yourselves. We are going in!
*This analysis will contain spoilers*
Those pesky Italians and their multiple titles!
Contamination
When an abandoned shipping freighter drifts into New York Harbor, the NYPD and the health department are called in to investigate. They discover dozens of crates containing egg-like pods filled with a toxic substance that causes humans and animals to explode on contact. Colonel Holmes is assigned to the case.
To assist her investigation, she recruits the only survivor of the ship’s search, Lt. Tony Aris, and disgraced former astronaut, Ian Hubbard, who experienced bizarre events during a recent Mars mission. Together, they uncover an interstellar conspiracy that threatens all life on Earth. Can they locate the source of the alien contamination and save the planet before it’s too late?
When Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2 was released in 1979, it marked a sea change in Italian cinema. Studios may have thought nothing of this low-budget zombie movie in the lead-up to its release, but when it became a huge international hit, they certainly took notice. In a declining industry, here was a very low-budget film that brought in astonishing returns.
Also not lost on producers was that the success of Fulci’s film was due in part to the film being marketed and released as a sequel to George Romero’s masterpiece, Dawn of the Dead. The question now was what other American blockbuster could they be, uh, inspired by, to duplicate that success. Later that year, they would have their answer.
To say that American cinema was changing in the 1970s would be an understatement, comparable to suggesting that American politics in 2025 is becoming slightly divisive.
New Hollywood, as it came to be known, with its slew of auteurs like Coppola, Friedkin, Scorsese, etc., had ushered in a new era, but in 1975, a young whippersnapper by the name of Steven Spielberg upended cinema forever with his film about three drunk guys trying to catch a large predatory fish that supposedly injured some bathers. Jaws changed nearly everything about how movies were made, marketed, and released.
Industry insiders thought it was ridiculous to release a film in thousands of theaters in one weekend, especially in the summer when people were having picnics, sucking down J&B Scotch, and smoking while pregnant.
“Take your brother to see Jaws. Mommy will pick you up when she’s finished this bottle.”
What’s A Star War?
There’s no need to explain how successful this crazy new strategy was, yet it wasn’t for another two years before a buddy of Spielberg’s would use this same approach. Studios were certain his movie, with its nutty plot, would end in humiliation and destroyed careers.
You may have heard of Star Wars; it did okay. While Twentieth Century Fox braced for ruin in the months leading up to May of 1977, the Italians were a bit more optimistic. Sensing a smash hit, independent father and son film producers Nat and Patrick Wachsburger of Film Enterprises started making plans for their own “space fantasy” before Star Wars was even released.
Having seen a sample reel of director Luigi Cozzi’s work, they tapped him to write and direct the film, with the simple instructions to capture the tone of Star Wars. Lucas’ film wasn’t out yet, but its novelization was, so Cozzi got his hands on a copy and got to work.
The result was the pants-shittingly insane Starcrash from 1978. Boasting stop–motion effects, gonzo set design, and a performance from Joe Spinell that makes his turn in Maniac look restrained and measured, Starcrash, shockingly, was only moderately successful. I say shockingly because while Star Wars may have had a bigger budget and bigger stars, Starcrash had something Lucas’ film didn’t. A little ace up Cozzi’s sleeve that should have catapulted the film into the stratosphere…
Caroline Munroe.
In her prime.
In a leather bikini.
“Hey, Lucas. Get fucked, poser.” – Luigi Cozzi, probably.
Alien Influence
While Starcrash was not the huge success it should have been, it earned Cozzi a reputation for delivering films on time, under budget, and filmed to the precise vision of producers. This was important, as another game-changer from America was about to be unleashed upon the world.
For the big American studios, horror was a dirty word. Films like The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Omen were marketed as ‘supernatural thrillers’ because no self-respecting studio would dare wallow in the filth of the horror toilet, especially if it combined horror and science fiction.
This left Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett holding onto a script they had written for a film called Memory for several years. But thanks to Star Wars, science fiction was hot, and Twentieth Century Fox wanted another hit right now. As luck would have it, the only script they had ready to shoot was O’Bannon and Shusett’s, which, after rewrites from David Giler and Walter Hill, was now titled Alien.
After several directors had been offered the job and declined, Ridley Scott took over, and the rest is history. Alien had a big budget, name actors, and marketing that didn’t shy away from the fact that while it was set in outer space, it was balls-to-the-wall horror. And it was fuckin’ huge.
Overnight, those face-raping spiders and phallic tongue mouths completely changed how studios would approach horror. Even more importantly, Alien provided the Italians with a great idea for a new film that didn’t involve killer sharks or zombies.
After the modest success of Starcrash, Luigi Cozzi was eager to tackle science fiction again, and it just so happened that producer Claudio Mancini was looking for someone willing to make a film similar to Alien. There was only one problem: Alien cost a shit-ton more money than Mancini and Cozzi could ever dream of securing. So, Cozzi came up with the brilliant idea of setting the film on Earth, using the exceptionally creative title Alien Arrives on Earth.
He ditched the expensive spaceships but retained the concept of egg pods and a large creature. Cozzi wanted to cast Caroline Munroe, because why in God’s name wouldn’t he, for the character of Colonel Holmes…
Pictured: typical army colonel
Contamination Finalization
But, for reasons no one will ever understand, Mancini overruled him and hired Louise Marleau for the role. Another change Mancini demanded was the addition of what he called “James Bond” elements to the script, at which point I imagine Cozzi asking Mancini if he would like to write the damn thing himself. Cozzi objected to the script and title changes, but obliged regardless. Alien Arrives On Earth was now Contamination, and, like any good Italian film, it had about half a dozen titles, including my personal favorite, Toxic Spawn.
The final draft of Cozzi’s script was quite different from his original science-fiction-heavy vision, with those James Bond elements turning it into a genre unto itself: a globe-trotting, sci-fi horror conspiracy thriller. Think James Bond meets Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.
The espionage angle kicks in right from the opening shot of a helicopter buzzing over New York Harbor, attempting to reach the crew of an ocean freighter that appears to be drifting aimlessly. This is strange, because the Harbor Patrol was in contact with them just hours earlier.
After a cursory search, there’s no sign of the crew and there’s a foul stench in the air, so the health department is called in to investigate with the NYPD. After some mangled corpses are found via well-executed jump scares, a cargo hold containing crates labeled “coffee” is found; however, one of the crates is open, and it has spilled some rather familiar-looking egg-type things.
It’s pulsating and making a weird noise, so of course, the health inspector has to pick it up in slow motion. That’s when it pops, spraying everyone with goo that melts their faces and, after a few seconds of excruciating pain, makes their bodies explode while the legendary Goblin blasts on the soundtrack.
The only one who didn’t get sprayed with explosive gunk is NYPD Lieutenant Tony Aris (Marino Masè), so he’s placed in quarantine while the health department shuts down the pier. While locked up, Tony receives a visit from Colonel Holmes (Louise Marleau), who demands that he calm down and tell his story. Not realizing she’s a full bird colonel, he starts with the sass mouth:
“You don’t tell me to calm down, BABE!”
But, calm down he does when she tells him her rank and that she reports directly to the president. After hearing his story about what happened on the ship, she orders everything to be put on ice, literally; the health department goes in with their dry ice guns and best ‘Knights of Ni’ helmets to freeze the egg room.
“We’ve found the source of the contami ‘NI’ tion!”
Contamination Nation
In the futuristic government headquarters, which is definitely not made of cardboard painted black with a few lights stuck in the walls, a scientist studies the substance from the egg. She determines that it’s actually not an egg at all, but a culture of strange bacteria. Armed with the knowledge that these things aren’t eggs, the characters will spend the rest of the movie referring to them as eggs.
She tests some on a lab rat to demonstrate its explosive properties, and sure enough, the darn thing pops like a zit. A hairy, New York City-invading zit. She’ll need to conduct more tests to figure out how it works, but in the meantime, they must keep things quiet and find out who was supposed to receive the shipment of “coffee.”
The shipping logs list a Bronx warehouse as the destination, and since the receiver doesn’t know the shipment was intercepted, they’re going to raid the place. A thrilling gunfight erupts right in the parking lot after the lead SWAT officer gets shot in the face. Outnumbered and outgunned, the perps in the warehouse seem ready to surrender, but no; the leader shoots one of the eggs, popping it open and splattering himself and his accomplices with goo, causing all three of them to explode; their guts flying everywhere.
I never get tired of this practical effect. They send in the flamethrowers and torch the place, as there is apparently no danger of catching the entire city block on fire. Tony asks the colonel if she’s going overboard, but she assures him:
“I’m only doing my job. You must know that national security is at stake. Possibly more than that…”
They return to the lab, where the scientist informs them that the eggs had to have come from outer space. The colonel deduces that an astronaut must have brought them back from the recent Mars mission. She comes to this conclusion because the lead astronaut, Commander Hubbard (Ian McCulloch), wouldn’t stop raving about a chamber of eggs on the red planet, ruining his career in the process. They decide to track him down.
Hubbard is passed out drunk in the middle of the afternoon, the film finally giving me a character I can relate to, when Col. Holmes rings his doorbell. Hubbard, already pissy over someone interrupting his afternoon bender, gets even more disgruntled when he sees who it is.
It turns out the pair have a history; Holmes was the one who publicly called Hubbard a nutjob and ruined his career. They argue for a bit, and at one point Hubbard makes a sexually explicit comment, to which Holmes responds:
“You couldn’t get it up if you had a crane.”
Damn, Holmes knows how to cut a brother. After the bickering dies down, she pulls out a drawing he made of the eggs on Mars. She knows he was telling the truth because the eggs are now, somehow, on Earth.
Hubbard then has a flashback to Mars, where he and Astronaut Hamilton (Siegfried Rauch) discovered a cave straight out of Alien, filled with thousands of eggs. The memory triggers a panic attack in Hubbard. Hamilton, in his sworn deposition, claimed there was no giant egg chamber, and they’d like to ask him why he lied. Unfortunately, he was killed in a plane crash six months ago, so I’m sure this is the last we’ll hear about the character.
Seamless Storytelling
Now that Col. Holmes is piecing things together, she needs approval from the Pentagon to head to South America and investigate the coffee company listed on the crates of eggs. She’s given seventy-two hours to get to the bottom of things, or her superiors will “blow the whistle,” which means… I don’t know.
I guess the government will forget about the whole thing and hope it all works out for the best. Along for the ride is Lt. Tony, but Hubbard isn’t convinced, so Holmes challenges his manhood once again by calling him half a man, and he hauls off and slaps her right in the soup cooler:
“There. That’s so we understand each other.”
He says this to assert that while she’s an army colonel, and he’s just a drunk former astronaut, he’s running things.
Holmes responds in typical eighties fashion by smiling at him:
“Yes, we do understand each other.”
Having taken charge, he smiles back; he’s going to South America.
Our heroes touch down in Colombia, where we are treated to scenes of the local street culture. While they’re getting settled in, the film cuts to Astronaut Hamilton, that son of a bitch is alive; he faked his death in the plane crash and is cooperating fully with whatever is behind the conspiracy.
I gotta tell ya, for a relatively famous astronaut who faked his own death, the dude is living large; nice airy digs, a yacht, he even has a hot blond girlfriend, Perla De La Cruz (Gisela Hahn). I guess keeping a low profile isn’t his style because he’s got the Bond villain thing down pat.
When he’s alerted to the three Americans who just landed at the airport, he’s not pleased, but he’s not that worried either. He’s shown a photo taken at the airport and recognizes Col. Holmes, but he’s especially excited to see his old buddy Hubbard:
“They’re on our territory, so let’s send them a little welcoming gift.”
At the hotel, the gang is studying a map of the coffee company’s property and making a plan to infiltrate it. Col. Holmes, for the fiftieth time, reminds everyone that humanity is at stake if they fail, but Hubbard needs to get something to eat, and that takes precedence. Tony agrees and wants to eat right this second, but of course, Holmes wants to shower first, and an argument breaks out. The hungry men relent, and Holmes gets to take her shower. Out in the hall, Aris and Hubbard lament Holmes’ icy demeaner:
“What a waste of a good-looking woman.”
After Aris declares he has no intention of putting the moves on Holmes, Hubbard catches him sneaking back down the hall with the intention of putting the moves on Holmes, but he cock-blocks his ass. Down the hall, a shady character spies on them. When the coast is clear, he breaks into Holmes’ room, places an egg in the bathroom while she showers, and locks her in.
It starts making that weird noise at increasing intervals, getting ready to blow and spray her with its body-exploding mucus. She calls for help, but Hubbard is jamming to some local calypso tunes on the radio.
Holmes’ situation becomes increasingly desperate as Tony and Hubbard arrive to take her to dinner. When they see the ‘no moleste‘ sign on her doorknob, they just leave and go to dinner without her. Luckily, Hubbard senses something is amiss, so he goes back and busts down the door. Holmes screams from the bathroom, and he kicks that door down just in time to save her from being exploded.
Across town, Hamilton and his lady are having lunch in his mansion when the egg explodes. Having some sort of psychic link to the eggs, he senses when they pop open. He also knows that the attempt to kill Holmes has failed, and he flips out.
Climaxation
Later, Holmes and Tony discuss their plans as they head to the warehouse in a Jeep, with Tony expressing his suspicion that they might be walking into a trap. Meanwhile, Hubbard hops into a small Piper Cub to do some aerial reconnaissance. He’s an astronaut, so being a pilot makes sense, but hopping into any plane that’s lying around and taking it for a spin? Maybe that’s normal in Colombia.
While he’s goofing around on the plane, Tony and the colonel are getting a tour of the warehouse from Mr. Gomez before they’re introduced to the owner, who happens to be Hamilton’s special lady, Perla. Eventually, Tony is proven correct as they have indeed walked into a trap. Some henchmen appear with guns, and Hamilton himself makes an appearance.
Outside, Hubbard is having some plane trouble and makes a hard landing in the coffee field, knocking himself out in the process. When he comes to, he starts off on foot and finds a man dying from a wound to his gut. Just before he passes away, he says, “white zombies” did it.
Don’t get too excited, though; they’re not really zombies, just some henchmen in white hazmat suits and gas masks. Hubbard watches as they gather alien eggs that are apparently just growing out of the ground, and finally sees his chance when one of the goons is alone and lets his guard down. Hamilton grabs his gun, knocks him out, steals his hazmat suit, and hitches a ride to the warehouse with the rest of the crew.
Inside the compound, Tony and Holmes are tied up, wondering if they’ll make it out, when they share a brief romantic moment and even a kiss. Hamilton spoils the mood, however, when he comes in and orders them to get up. It’s time for them to meet the cyclops. Holmes, baffled by this order, repeats it:
“The cyclops?”
Hamilton turns, we get a super dramatic shot of his insane face, and he delivers the line in perfect mad supervillain fashion:
“Yes… The cyclops.”
I can’t wait to see this thing!
They walk through an egg incubation room with more thugs and enter the chamber of the cyclops. Shit gets super James Bond here as Hamilton explains his motives, that all creatures do what they have to do to survive:
“To grow! Multiply! Survive! Eat to avoid being eaten, kill to avoid being killed!”
He explains that the alien is controlling everyone via telepathy, or some such nonsense, when Holmes reminds him that Hubbard was able to resist the alien and will surely do so again. Hamilton scoffs because he made the fatal mistake of assuming that Hubbard died after his plane made a moderately hard landing. Way to think things through, Blofeld.
Cylcops Psyops
Then, finally, we arrive. Here, in all its practical effects glory, is the fuckin’ cyclops. And it’s amazing! Big glowing eye, tentacles, slime, and ten times the size of God! Hamilton was possessed by aliens on Mars and brought back a seed that hatched it. That’s the purpose of the eggs; they’re going to ship them all over the world so they can hatch giant, slobbering cycloptic aliens.
It hypnotizes Tony and forces him to walk towards it while Holmes screams and struggles. It’s no use, though; it crushes Tony with its tentacle and eats him.
While this is happening, Hubbard takes Perla hostage and forces her to lead him to Tony and Col. Holmes. She blows his cover in the incubation room, and the bullets fly. Hamilton kills everyone, then destroys the eggs. A few of the goons explode when they get egg goo on them, too. He grabs Perla and charges into the cyclops’ chamber just as it’s about to eat Col. Holmes. Hamilton won’t stand for anyone using his woman as a human shield, so he shoots her.
This provides the distraction Hubbard needs; he’s able to karate kick the gun out of Hamilton’s hand, and a brutal fistfight goes down. Hubbard finally gets the upper hand, and just in time to save Holmes. He aims the flare gun he took from the airplane and delivers a dramatic, “DAMN YOU!” before shooting that fucker right in the eye as the cavalry arrives outside.
The cyclops starts to die as Hamilton comes to. Just as he’s about to shoot our heroes, his neck starts melting, then he explodes. He was so taken over by the alien that he died at the same time it did. We know this because an extra tells us so while Hubbard gives Holmes some coffee. They gaze pensively at the night sky, and Holmes wonders aloud if there’s something else out there… waiting.
Back in New York, it’s garbage day, but there’s something odd mixed in with the trash: an egg, and it pops open as the screen freezes and the credits roll.
Contamination Closing
Now that’s how you do sci-fi horror: great cast, stellar set design, and a hard-driving score by Goblin. Production of Contamination began on January 14, 1980, and finished eight weeks later. It was released in Germany just two months after filming ended because Luigi Cozzi is a man who gets shit done. The film never had a theatrical release in the United States, but it was picked up for home video by the legendary Cannon Films. It is there that its success story began and where the lesson was learned.
With the rising popularity of VHS, a worldwide theatrical rollout was no longer necessary to make bank. Low-budget films could be very profitable in this market, and whoa buddy, did the financiers get wise to this in a hurry.
Less than a year after Lucio Fulci shocked the world with the theatrical success of Zombie, the Italians experienced another ‘come to Jesus’ moment in reaction to what Contamination accomplished on home video, opening the floodgates wider and leading to the phenomenon that would soon be known as the video nasties: hundreds of insanely over the top horror and exploitation films inundating every drive-in and mom ‘n pop video store in America and Europe.
Meanwhile, the home video revenue of Contamination impressed Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of Cannon Films so much that they hired Cozzi to write and direct Hercules, starring The Incredible Hulk himself, Lou Ferrigno. Hercules was a hit, and a sequel, also directed by Cozzi, was released in 1985. In addition to these, he directed the 1989 classic Sinbad of the Seven Seas.
Cozzi may be lesser known than his peers Fulci, Argento, and Bava, but he achieved one thing that those fellas didn’t: a three-picture deal with an American studio. But not just any studio; it was with Cannon freakin’ Films for Christ’s sake! Okay, technically Cannon International, but still. Not even Kubrick achieved such a feat. After that, he returned to Italy to direct the woefully underseen The Paganini Horror and collaborated with his close friend, Dario Argento, on several projects.
Cozzi remained active in the industry and continued directing well into the late 2010s, and to this day, he is the curator of Dario Argento’s Museum of Horrors in Rome, Italy. However, with Contamination, Cozzi helped kick off the VHS revolution, and in doing so, secured his rightful place in history.
10 Exploding Torsos Out Of 10
-DwC
The post Masterpiece Theatre: CONTAMINATION (1980) appeared first on Last Movie Outpost.
