Although humor might not seem the first thing you'd expect to burst out in this "gut-blasting classic" (at least, that's how it's marketed), it really is present from the get-go. When an abandoned ship arrives in New York City it is promptly investigated by a handful of men bedecked in white containment suits. This would have been a good time to activate the subtitles on the dvd, had they been available, because all that face protection makes for several scenes of interminable, muffled dialogue where the actors may as well have had their mouths duct-taped. But a picture is worth a thousand words, and when one of the men bends down (in slow motion) to pick up a pulsating green egg, it ends up spewing liquid bacteria out - and the chest-explosions begin. Although gory, even sensitive viewers can find solace in noting how every human chest exploded in the film is thickly padded to Michelin Man levels. When the eggs are later analyzed the scientists conclude their origins can be traced to a previous Mars mission. The time frame for the film is, at best, a bit "confused," mixing street footage from what one might gather to be the 1970's with flashbacks to the doomed Mars mission that posit serious technological advancements still lacking to this day. But the story continues, and colonel Stella Holmes (played by Louise Marleau) teams up with one of the discharged astronauts from the Mars mission (played by Ian McCulloch, who starred in Fulci's ZOMBIE), and they follow their leads to a coffee plantation in Bolivia where the eggs are being cultivated by....well, I certainly don't want to give away any more surprises. But what I will say is that I think I know where Matt Groening got his inspiration for Kang and Kodos, the green aliens who make yearly Halloween appearances in THE SIMPSONS.
Blue Underground has gone above-and-beyond the call of duty with this dvd, presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and with four audio formats to choose from to ensure that the score by Dario Argento's favorite prog-rock band, Goblin, can really shine. The disk also comes with a theatrical trailer, an "Alien Arrives on Earth" featurette where Cozzi discusses the films origins, a behind-the-scenes documentary, a poster and still gallery with 67 images and 26 conceptual drawings, and a graphic novel that can be accessed via DVD-ROM.
In the interview book, Spaghetti Nightmares, edited by Luca M. Palmerini and Gaetano Mistretta, the director revealed how he created that exploding body effect: "By using a very effective yet quite simple device: a false belly made out of foam rubber and filled with animal entrails was attached to the actor and this was then made to explode by introducing a jet of compressed air. As for the explosion of the rat, we passed from a shot of a real rat to a shot of a rubber one, which we then exploded and then in editing, we inserted a close-up of the woman between these shots." As for those alien eggs, Cozzi revealed "They were just plain olives, in fact, we tucked into those afterwards! The larger eggs were made out of silicon and the impression that they pulsated was created by them being inflated and deflated by blowing air into them via a tiny tube and also placing a lamp inside them and flashing it on and off intermittently." For more information about Contamination, visit Blue Underground. To purchase a copy of Contamination, visit TCM Shopping.
by Pablo Kjolseth
