Entertainment Earth

6/30/2015

CONTRACTED


Title: Contracted
Writer/ Director: Eric England
Cast: Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Alice Macdonald, Katie Stegeman, Matt Mercer, Charley Koontz
Year: 2013
Min: 78

Samantha (the gorgeous Najarra Townsend) is at a party sans her pretty girlfriend Nikki (Katie Stegeman). Samantha calls her up, but she doesn't pick up the phone. Her friend Alice (Alice Macdonald) gives her a couple of shots to loosen her up. She also calls out Alice's creeper, Riley (Matt Mercer), who also happens to be this party. But, the actual danger comes not from him, but from a dude named BJ (Simon Barrett) who hands her another drink. Half conscious, Sam ends up in his car where he rapes her.

The next day she wakes up with blood running down her crotch and sharp pains. Soon things go from worse to totally fucking fucked up, as she begins to fall apart, literally and figuratively. She has "contracted" what is clearly the single worst STD in the history of mankind. To make things harder on her, her mom (Caroline Williams) thinks that she is back on drugs and doesn't approve of her lesbian lifestyle, her actual girlfriend is increasingly distant, her creeper keeps showing, and her work just plain sucks. The bad things continue to pile up and what happens as the movie progress will churn your stomach and make sure you NEVER forget your condom!

Make no bones about it, this is the one of the absolute best body horror movies to come down the pike, in a very long time, as well as being one of the most disgusting ones, too. Writer/ director Eric England has crafted an excellent movie that moves at a quick clip and keeps you interested up until the crushing ending. From start to finish this grim horror all the way and all the better for it. Working both as an allegory for date rape and warning of the dangers of STDs, this one should be played at a sex ed class!

The acting is truly excellent. Najara Townsend is amazing in the lead. We feel for her, throughout the movie. She is a likeable if flawed person going through an increasingly horrible situation. After seeing this movie, I am definitely a huge fan of this talented, young actress. Also, excellent is Caroline (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2) Williams who gives what maybe the best performance of her career, thus far. Her scenes with Townsend add an emotional weight to the story that helps to add to Samantha's whole ordeal.

There is some gore, but most of the shocks come from the actual disease and how it affects Samantha's body. What happens to her is increasingly barf inducing. Even, I seasoned horror viewer that I am, was in awe of what happens to her body. I kept screaming, "holy shit!" and "That's fucked up!". No spoilers here, since it's best to not how far this goes, so all I will say is "maggots". That's all you get from me, this time! The impressive and disgusting make-up FX by Mayera Abeita are gruesomely realistic. Plus, she has the very difficult task of making the gorgeous Townsend look more and more fucked up, something she achieves with disgusting perfection. 

Contracted is up there with some of Cronenberg's work, as far as quality body horror goes. It might also be the best disease horror movie ever. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a better one. Utterly disgusting, smart, intense, fast paced, and with excellent acting, I give this medical nightmarish chunkblower my highest possible recommendation.

**** out of ****
  

6/28/2015

6/19/2015

A Return to Jurassic Park

 
I will finally be seeing Jurassic World tomorrow. The fourth installment in the franchise is already a HUGE hit at the box office and according to the reviews is actually a worthy follow-up to the Spielberg classic, unlike the often maligned second and third installments. Does the first film hold up? Are the sequels really THAT bad?

I should mention that I clearly remember seeing the first film in the movies, twice actually! I was a huge fan of it (having grown up loving dinosaurs, as a child), so much so that I read the book (which is one of my favorite novels, ever), own a mint in box Raptor, and owned it on VHS. I saw it a bunch of more times and while I always liked it, I never enjoyed it as much as that first viewing. I never bought it on DVD, so now watching the blu-ray (which I only bought recently), what would my thoughts be of this blockbuster film? Let's see!

ALL REVIEWS ARE OUT OF FOUR STARS

Jurassic Park- A rich, old dude named John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) opens up a park where genetically created dinos live. He calls upon some experts to give a look and has two kids from his family come over to the island, too. Needless to say things go downhill, as the dinos are set free and begin to attack.
Jurassic Park was a massive hit when it came out. While, some have called it a perfect film, I would disagree.
On the upside, Spielberg directs the movie with a sense of awe and wonder that gives it's amazing and a lot of heart. The CGI is flawlessly mixed with the impressive practical FX of Stan Winston. The dino attacks are nail-biting and rousing. The first T-Rex attack is absolutely smashing, in particular, on blu-ray. The raptors hunting the kids is tense and the climax rocks hard.
Good acting from the cast, including both Sam Niel and Jeff Goldbulm and a likeable and hot heronie in Laura Dern all add to the plus.
The movie is hampered by annoying kids and, having read the book, a desire from me, for it to be a gorefest. The book is better for sure, but this is a fun, little sci-fi classic, and one that actually has aged quite well.

***1/2




The Lost World: Jurassic Park- Based on the Michael Crichton book of the same name, this sequel, tell us that dinos were bred on a different island where they are flourshing. Hammond sends Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldbulm) to go there and join his hot girlfriend (Julianne Moore). His daughter stows away and joins them, among others, and they see that there are people there intent on bringing dinos to San Diego. Much screaming and dying ensues.
When, I first saw this I didn't like it much at all, aside from the upped gore quota. I am glad to say the movie aged well, though, and is better than I recall it being. But is still highly flawed and really not that great.
First off, it's overlong and highly uneven. The length hurts the pacing, as does the annoying kid (what is with kids in the franchise?!). Her scene where she uses her gymnastics to drop-kick a raptor is THE worst scene in the whole series.
That said the acting is good. Goldbulm is, well, gold. Moore is a beautiful and talented woman but kinda wasted here. The FX (both practical and CGI) are as flawless as in the first film. But, it's the vicious dinosaur scenes that makes this one worth seeing. While, still staying within the (old)parameters of the PG-13 rating, there is some solid carnage including a spectacular moment where two T-Rexes rip a dude in half.
Speilberg has some solid and tense moments, that combined with the aforementioned gore make the movie slide towards a more horrific feel than the first film.
Never is this more evident than the fun climax where a T-Rex rampages through San Diego. Fans of giant monster horror movies will be happy. I know I was.
**1/2






Jurassic Park III- My favorite character from the first film Alan Grant (Sam Niel) gets tricked by annoying couple to go to the second island and look for their stupid, fucking kid.
This is interesting. I remember really liking this one and thinking it was fun, when I saw it in the movies. Watching it now, I think what the fuck was I thinking?!
This movie does NOT hold up, at all. The CGI are no where near as good as the first two. Why? My guess this shit was rushed. They look pretty bad in some shots. The couple are AWFUL! Tea Leoni as the wife is a pretty lady, for sure, but God is she truly a pain in my fucking ass here! William Macy is wasted as her stupid husband. I HATED their scenes together. Fuck, I hated them both, even when they were separate from each other. I kept wishing that they would die, but... well let's just say the body count is lower, this time around and violence heavily toned down. There are lapses in logic through out and total stupidity abounds.

The dinosaurs scenes can be fun, though. The new dinosaur, the massive Spinosaurus is cool. His fight with the T-Rex is pretty awesome but, too short. The best scene is the pteradon attack. They're one of my fav dinos, but even this hurt by the lame-brained directing and script.
It's not the worst film ever made, but it is the very definition of middle of the road and being utterly forgettable, especially when the weak-ass climax hits followed by the lame and highly crappy ending.
**

So what are your thoughts on the series? Please, no spoilers on the 4th film, since I, as I stated before, I will be seeing it tomorrow.