Contracted (2013) User Reviews

Poor, poor, poor Najarra Townsend

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 11 October 2015]

I can understand why there are so many poor reviews for this film, but I'm giving it a 5 purely and simply for the effort and hard work that Najarra Townsend clearly put into this movie. She actually put in a good shift as Samantha, putting lots of energy and emotion into her part, the talent ultimately outweighed the script.

In brief, Samantha is at the party of her friend Alice. Let down by her absent girlfriend she hits the drink hard. An anonymous man BJ gives her a spiked drink, and ends up making out in his car with her. The next morning Sam wakes up pale, with flu like symptoms and cramps. The following day things get a whole lot worse.

Now I'm a bit on the squeamish side, and a movie like this isn't particularly up my alley, but I braved it out, if you've got a weak stomach ignore, as some of it's a bit nasty, it does however reach a point where all reality is lost, she got so bad at one stage it became easier to watch. Poor girl had a rather useless mum, a dreadful girlfriend, who managed to be from Australia, South Africa, The USA and somewhere near Scunthorpe all with her multiple accents. As for her GP, bless him he must have trained at Hogwarts.

The soundtrack was a little irritating for the first 10 minutes, it was a little dated.

Surprisingly well acted I thought, the moral is never have a one night stand with a man with a fuzzy face :-) 5/10 (come on she deserves that for at least trying.)

Don't bother. Mild spoilers within.

[roflmeao · 4/10 · 16 March 2014]

I'd like to write a detailed review but this movie is really not worth the effort. The characters are, without exception, unsympathetic and most are stupid to the point that they'd probably have to be reminded to breathe. i.e. a doctor diagnosing an obvious blood infection as a rash and prescribing a moisturising cream whilst completely ignoring hemorrhaging, a bloke shagging someone who looks like a corpse. I could go on but I'm making myself sad...

The plot, such as it is, has no real beginning, no suspense, no development, no climax, no finale. The progression of the disease is fairly well implemented but done to a character that after about 5 minutes in, I hated and wanted to die.

As a horror fan, I'm used to watching a lot of crap to get the rare gem. I'm not above polishing a turd to get some enjoyment out of a lemon. I'm not even above mixing my metaphors. This movie is a steaming pile. I watched it so you don't have to.

You're welcome. :)

Rated 4/10 for the special effects only.

It deserves better.

[Patient444 · 6/10 · 2 December 2013]

Contracted: harsh reviews so far, therefore I'll be the first to change the pace a little.

I've watched horror ever since I can remember, love it, all types, slashers, zombies, ghosts and so on. I graded this one with a 6, maybe a little more than I should, but it definitely has to be over 5, and I'll give you the reasons: 1) the plot was pretty OK, more complex than you see at others 2) characters were divert, one of that, one of this, pretty much natural people 3) dialogue: seems dumb sometimes, might be OK if you consider the nature of the situation each time 4) the ending: did not see that one coming, I for one thought it was heading to a different conclusion.

I actually was drawn into it, I will not criticize the fact that it didn't rely on gore, blood or nudity, always loved diversity. So, to this strange little movie, that shows how a girl can change over the days, I say: bravo! It was not great, but it does move you slowly to the edge of the seat.

Contracted: worth a shot!

Cheers!

Were all the people around her blind, or just idiots?

[JackSparrow92 · 3/10 · 17 June 2014]

This movie started out well, with the potential to become an effective, disturbing and scary "horror-movie-with-a-side-of-cautionary-tale".

However, the way all the other characters acted around Samantha (except maybe the doctor) practically ruined the movie for me. I mean, for god's sake.... both her eyes are bloodshot, she's losing her hair, she's white as a sheet with visible blue veins, her nails are bloody and falling off, and nobody reacts with more than a "oh, you should probably get that looked at"?

And by the time she has sex with that guy, one of her eyes is white and she has a huge scab on her mouth and rotting teeth. And he still wanted to schtup her? What was he, blind? Give me a break.

It's too bad, because it otherwise could have been a scarier and more shocking movie. By the last half hour I was groaning at the other characters' absurd reactions to her obviously deteriorated state. I kept thinking that perhaps there was supposed to be some satire that I just wasn't seeing, a la "Shaun of the Dead", but there wasn't. Disappointing overall.

Moments of Greatness that don't go anywhere in the end

[ms-omen73 · 6/10 · 16 July 2014]

The movie pulls the viewer in right from the get go with a dose of necrophilia, leaving you wondering just what you actually saw. Then we find ourselves following the main character Samantha as she makes her way to a party, minus her better half. While at the party she tries to be a good girl but things go wrong as she falls to pressure and drinks her sorrows away. Before you know it she finds herself in trouble with a guy at the party, and wakes the next morning bloodied, sore, not too sure of what happened the night before. Samantha makes her way to the doctor with various symptoms, and tries to blow off her discomfort since the doctor doesn't seem concerned. Samantha's condition however wont let her ignore it. We watch in disbelief as she gets sicker in the most creepy and uncomfortable of ways, while her life falls apart around her. All of this becomes too much for Samantha to bear, as her body withers so does her mind, until she finally succumbs to violent madness pulling you along for the ride!

I have to say this movie started off really strongly. I was pulled right into the story and although parts were predictable it didn't matter too much as the tension and creepiness of the movie more than made up for it. Samantha's mental breakdown led to some unexpected fun that was a nice change of pace for the film,and helped keep the story moving. The effects are done really well too, making for some cringe worthy moments! Viewers will find it almost hard to watch parts of this film as the symptoms ravage Samantha's body. There were a lot of things that worked in this movie to make it very watch worthy!

While many things worked for this film, some did not. This film really takes a high level of "suspension of disbelief" to really be able to get into. Samantha's condition gets to a point where it makes no sense why she isn't, either voluntarily or by force of the doctor who is treating her, at the hospital for treatment and quarantine purposes. The fact that neither happen are truly a hard sell to the viewer. Samantha's mother (Caroline Williams) is also a bit of a hard sell as she seems completely oblivious to her daughters medical demise in front of her eyes choosing instead to believe drugs are the issue, which is fairly ridiculous given her symptoms. However, if you can overlook those two glaring points the rest of the story is pretty good, with some decent twists.

I mostly enjoyed this one. Contracted was tense, interesting and aside from the disbelief issue, pretty absorbing. The ending of the film was a bit of a disappointment for me. It felt like a cop out of sorts. I really wish they had done something different, but I wont pan an otherwise good film for the final 5 minutes. All in all, this is worth a view, I'd definitely recommend renting this one, but I won't be adding it to my collection any time soon.

*HeatherOmen* TheHorrorNation.net

The film falls apart faster than its protagonist

[The_Dead_See · 1/10 · 15 August 2014]

I don't even know where to start on this one except to tell you to take a look at writer/director Eric England's information before you think about watching it. He was born in 1988 which puts him somewhere around 24 or 25 when the movie was made.

That someone so young is writing and directing feature length films is somewhat admirable I suppose, or it would be if the end result wasn't so incredibly naive and so factually inaccurate as to almost be comedic.

If you can get past the idea that a doctor would see a patient who has black infection lines running across their abdomen and who tells him they just bled "a lot" from their vagina, yet not strongly suggest they go to the hospital then you might like this film.

If you can suspend that disbelief for a second visit in which her eyes have bled and her hair and teeth have fallen out and even then the doctor doesn't admit her let alone contact a hemorrhagic disease specialist but instead says "it seems to be sexually transmitted", then you might like this film.

Beyond the worst doctor in motion picture history, the patient herself makes the most bizarre and incomprehensible decisions about her deteriorating condition. If you were trying to hide a one-night stand from a partner because you had a slight rash, maybe... but if you woke in a pool of blood on your bathroom floor, would you not perhaps suck it up and oh, I don't know, GO TO THE ER MAYBE? If I was cutting some slack I would put the characters stupidity down to the disease affecting her mind, but it's way too clear what's going on here - a young, healthy person is trying to write a script about body horror and clearly has no clue what it feels like to make a bathroom discovery such as a lump in the groin. Write what you know, Eric England, golden rule bar none.

The juvenile world view doesn't only break through in the portrayal of the sick protagonist or the misunderstood medical industry, but also rings clear in every other aspect of the screenplay. The character's relationships and arguments are like those of high school teens, oh god the dialogue is excruciatingly awful, and the lesbian relationship portrayed is an embarrassment to the entire LGBT community.

All of this, ALL of it, I would forgive if the film had a modicum of plot advancement or even perhaps an intriguing concept as to what the sickness was or where it came from but absolutely none is offered and as the credit screen hits after the last scene, I can't imagine one person in the viewing audience wouldn't be sitting there saying "What the hell? That's it?"

Look through my reviews. I've been on IMDb a long, long time and I very rarely feel strongly enough about a movie to give it a score of 1. There are virtually no films in existence that make me feel like every moment was a wasted one, but 'Contracted' did. Inconceivably bad. Embarrassingly bad. 1 out of 10 only because the scores can't go lower.

Sometimes Frightening, Often Unsettling And Ultimately Disturbing With a Great Lead Performance From Najarra Townsend

[sddavis63 · 7/10 · 28 January 2015]

There's a lot of really bad, dismissive reviews of this movie, but I'm going to be a dissenting voice. Overall, I actually liked it. I thought it got off to a rather slow start. I also thought that the story burdened Samantha with a unnecessary backstory (the whole unhappy lesbian relationship thing) that just got in the way of what was really important. It was almost as if the writers just thought, "oh. It's 2013. We have to have a gay angle in this." Well, they didn't need that angle, and I found it distracting. Those two weaknesses aside, though, I thought the story was sometimes frightening, often unsettling and definitely disturbing in the end, although the end was a bit of a problem as well, that I'll get to in a bit.

Samantha was portrayed by an actress named Najarra Townsend. She seems from her filmography to have been around for a while, but I've never come across her before, and I have to say I was impressed. She did a good job in the role, portraying Samantha as she gradually falls apart. That's the basic storyline. That slow opening has Samantha at a party, without her girlfriend Nikki (an irritating character who added little of substance to the story) who ends up having unprotected sex against her will with a strange man. The man is later said to be wanted by the police on some sort of childhood molestation charge if I remember correctly. From the moment of that encounter on, Samantha begins to change. She suffers cramping and severe bleeding, she develops what appears to be a rash, her eyes begin to turn red, her skin turns pale, and - most unsettling - her teeth, fingernails and hair begin to fall out. The doctor she goes to is mystified, other than believing that it's some sort of sexually transmitted disease. Her mother and her friends see the changes in her but can't convince her to get help, other than consulting the one doctor who can't figure this out. Eventually, Samantha becomes violent and homicidal. Townsend did a seriously good job with this character's evolution. I was impressed.

Irritating and unnecessary backstory aside, I was really enjoying this movie right up until the end. Then the ending left me a bit unfulfilled. It explained nothing. Samantha gets in a car accident, and as her mother and the police appear on the scene, she stumbles out of the car, flailing wildly, and apparently attacks her mother, although by then the screen has gone blank. Yes, we can take guesses. If I were a gambling man - I'd say she became a zombie? (There is, after all, a bit of a zombie fixation these days in both movies and on the TV screen.) That seems to make the most sense to me, but I would have liked the movie to continue on a little bit to give a clearer explanation of what happened to Samantha. Sometimes an open-ended ending that leaves a lot to the viewers' imagination works. In this, it really didn't. It left me thinking that we must be being set up for a sequel, and, indeed, I see that there's "Contracted: Phase 2" in production. I'm not sure about a sequel. I don't really know where it could go that this one didn't, other than making the disease more widespread. I'd have just liked things tied up in this one movie, I think. So the weak ending that was too obviously a sequel set-up detracted from this a bit. Still, it was an enjoyable movie, and I'd rate it as a 7/10.

Belongs among the worst

[cppguy · 2/10 · 27 March 2014]

I can actually think of worse movies, so I won't give this 1 star. Others have covered the movie as a whole, so I'll center on something specific.

The main character *finally* sees a doctor despite her symptoms that should have sent her to the emergency room day 1. I have to conclude from the scene with the doctor that the script writers have never once in their lives been to a doctor. The doctor she visits confines his examination to peek in her ears and a glance at the gangrenous rot at her crotch and then suggests moisturizer. Moisturizer? SRSLY?! I once had a milder rash in the nether regions and that got me a direct diagnosis and a prescription.

I can hear the script writers now: "If we had a doctor actually *be* a doctor, then she would have gone to a hospital, been treated and we wouldn't have the movie we made." That's right, you morons: it's called a "plot hole!" You write something else. Perhaps instead the doctor could have misdiagnosed or the hospital could have been the incubation point for spreading the contraction to others, but, no, the doctor became the yenta next-door saying "oy! just rub a little lotion on your bleeding crotch-rot and you'll be OK." Now transfer this stupidity to the actions of all the rest of the characters in the movie and you've got a good idea of what you're getting into... or avoiding.

A lot of wasted potentials

[pinkpink_1217 · 7/10 · 6 April 2015]

Having read tons and tons of very negative reviews on this movie, I prepared myself, as well we warned my dad who was going to watch it with me, that we probably should not expect something great from it. As it turned out, I was right. This movie isn't great; it was ALMOST great.

The first half of the movie is quite fast paced. The movie cuts straight into the core of the events and both my usually impatient dad and I were quickly drawn to the story line. The plots are very predictable, as the main character, Samantha has one night stand with a mysterious and suspicious man, and afterward finds herself starting to have unexplainable physical changes that keep getting worse and worse.

A lot of people may be annoyed by the way Samantha reacts to her terrible body changes and think that it just "doesn't make sense". That is exactly what my dad kept saying during the whole movie: "how can she let it be?" "why doesn't she go to the hospital?" "a normal person wouldn't even ignore that!". While I understand why people make similar remarks, I totally disagree with them.

What is most enjoyable about this movie is that we are seeing a girl being totally powerless and desperate as she faces the changes of her body. As the story develops and her situation gets worse, we can see that Samantha is partly in denial of what is happening to her, partly trying to play normal, partly being obviously lost and scared, and partly desperate to solve the "problems". To me, the horror that this movie tries to deliver, is not through any gore or violence, but through the desperation of the main character. And I think the movie has done a pretty damn good job in portraying that.

However the ending of the movie is absurd and feels incomplete. A lot of things were left unexplained, and both my dad and I felt like what could have turned out to be the most interesting part of the movie was somehow missed. All in all, this movie really just isn't excellent, but it isn't totally tasteless or as bad as deserving such a low rating. The movie starts out strong but it keeps going down until it hits the bottom at the end. Despite all the flaws it has, dad and I had a lot of fun watching this movie together. With some more thorough development and imagination, this movie could have been GREAT.

Gives low-budget horror a bad name.

[peepershole · 1/10 · 18 October 2013]

As a big horror fan, particularly the body horror subgenre, I was excited to see this movie at Chicago International Film Festival. Unfortunately, it's so utterly, astonishingly preposterous that enjoyment was impossible. "The Toxic Avenger" is more plausible and well-reasoned than this.

The main character almost immediately suffers a horrible symptom that would have any sensible woman dialing 911, but she opts to work a shift at a restaurant instead. I'll grant the filmmakers that maybe her disease is dialing up her stupidity, but 30 minutes in, her outward appearance is horrifying - the makeup effects are the sole redeeming element - and none of the other characters seem to notice, despite the fact that these same characters made a point to tell her how horrible she looked 10 minutes earlier, when she had no outwardly visible symptoms. Then again, a trip to the ER, rather than to a doctor whose STD exam doesn't require the patient to remove her jeans, would have ended the movie 15 minutes in.

Worst of all, the director is too cowardly to really go for the gross- out, other than the opening shot and one well-executed shot near the midpoint. Every other opportunity to make the movie truly horrifying is fumbled. For example, the medical exam could've been a terrifying "Dead Ringers"-esque nightmare, but instead it was just stultifying nonsense.

I would like to say that it's so bad it's good, but it is most decidedly not. The ability to elicit laughter might have made it passable, but instead it only elicits groans. I'm happy that the filmmakers were able to sell this dreck to some apparently rohypnol-addled exec at IFC, but they've already been paid. There's no reason to feel obligated to spend money on this mess. It'll be streaming soon enough. Skip it, unless you want to spend an evening going, "Seriously?!?" and "Really?!?" for 85 minutes. If it's low-budget gynecological horror you want, rent "Teeth" instead. It's disgusting AND clever.

Social Commentary

[PedroXL · 8/10 · 3 November 2014]

This is a decent body horror film, period. It delivers, more or less, what you would have expected from the trailer. If you wish to see this movie purely for the horror aspect then you won't be disappointed; the grotesque metamorphosis of our main character is done brilliantly. However, it is also a hard-hitting social commentary. From reading some of the other, mostly negative, reviews I would suggest that people are getting confused somewhere along the line as to exactly what a movie like this is trying to tell its audience. The problem that most reviewers have seems to be with the suspension of disbelief; she wouldn't act like that, a doctor wouldn't behave in that manner, people would realise something was very seriously wrong... in real life. This is not real life, it's a film; it's art (a funhouse mirror reflection of reality intended to teach us something about the nature of our existence). If you want realism, then watch a documentary. This film is clearly intended to warn about the risks of unprotected sex with strangers, first and foremost. It does this in an effective, and straight-forward manner. Some reviewers have a problem with the fact we never learn anything about the man, I believe this is one of the strengths of the movie. It is more poignant; an indifferent stranger that you may never even see again can completely destroy your life if you put yourself into a position of vulnerability. It's a solid piece of storytelling. This film also reflects on the way in which society largely responds to addicts, or the severely ill; in a state of denial. We, the audience, can see our main character falling apart both physically and mentally before our eyes, and yet the secondary characters hardly notice. Even when she is doing everything she can, without directly asking, as a cry for help people are largely indifferent. Society has no place for those who are not functioning correctly within the group ethos; the boss that expects you to work yourself to death, the mother that treats your problems like self-harm, the friends that use you as a pawn in their social games... society has no place for damaged individuals, and will either deny their existence altogether, treat them as a mild irritant or indeed blame the victim themselves for their problems. There are many other social themes present here to varying degrees of subtly; the nature of rape culture, the unacceptance of sexuality, the critique of Christian values, peer pressure, gay militancy, crying wolf with self-harm, taking ones health for granted, and the amount of trust placed in authority to name a few which spring immediately to mind. Contracted portrays a bleak, indifferent world view in which the victim is treated like a criminal and can largely be seen as a dressing down on how society treats its most vulnerable.

Okay, nothing overly special.

[TheHoodOfSwords · 6/10 · 29 April 2020]

This was actually... not bad! It's not good. Not bad, somewhere in the middle. The makeup and symptoms are really creepy. The story is pretty basic, but it's interesting at least. The main thing that brings me down a bit is for sure the script/ the way it's delivered. All, and I really do mean ALL of the actors sound like they're reading line for line off of a script. I found the main character Samantha to be pretty annoying at times. You're telling me she is literally vomiting blood and she doesn't immediately go to the ambulance? Anyway, that's about it for my review. It's a slightly sub-par horror movie with a lot of great makeup work.

Horrible!

[petarmatic · 2/10 · 27 February 2014]

The only reason I gave this film 2 stars instead 1 is that main actress tried very hard, bless her. Poor thing was trying to make something out of this film which was, mildly put just horrible.

Plot, was there one? What was happening to her, they never explained. Plot is not existent.

Acting is poor, except notable exception of the main actress.

All together very poor film, if I were you I would avoid it.

I really do not know what else to add about this film, since it was not worth the time.

Bad!

Better movie than most reviews and here's why!

[flash1971 · 5/10 · 17 October 2014]

Like most of you who watched this movie, I'm a true horror fan who will watch any horror movie out there. I rarely post anything on movies because most of all that needs to be said has been said. After watching this movie, I read the reviews. I wasn't shocked to see so many bad ones because everyone has an opinion but I just felt this movie deserved a little more credit than it received plus I didn't see anyone mention the most important aspect of this movie in my opinion which was the opening scene! Read more and maybe you'll change your mind on the rating. *spoilers coming now* First, let's quickly knock out the obvious flaws. The doctor exam is absurd to say the least. Let's just say this guy is a quack and move on. Also, there are so many moments you're thinking that one of her friends are going to make a bigger deal about her transformation but they don't. Let's chalk this up to them all being drunks & druggies with bigger problems of their own.

Now, to everyone who thinks a movie has to explain itself in the end or somewhere within the film, I say to you why? Because you didn't get it or because you don't want to use your own imagination to ascertain what happened? There's a tremendous amount of enjoyment in allowing our minds to imagine what's happening and why? It can be frustrating when we miss or forget key elements in a movie that helps explain things. Let's go back to the opening scene of this movie. A dead body is lying on a gurney with a toe tag that has a bio-hazard insignia on it. The gurney is shaking and squeaking. A man zips the body bag up with a woman in it and puts it away. What more do you need to know after this? The man had sex with a dead woman who was biohazardous. Something bad is going to happen and it does. The man then ends up at a party and has sex with the protagonist who contracts some disease. She is to caught up in her own misery in life because of a failing lesbian relationship, drugs, and alcohol to deal appropriately with the situation in the beginning. I would also like to add that who knows what kind of effects this could have had on her brain in general. Ultimately, the disease finally takes full control and she turns more or less into a zombie. So for everyone out there that didn't get it, here you go. This won't fix any bad acting which is clearly apparent but hopefully this will make the plot a little more clear and concise.

You will catch somethings while watching this movie... And it will stick with you...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 13 March 2014]

"Contracted" was actually a nice surprise of a movie, and a very refreshing and innovative take on the zombie genre.

The movie starts out in a fairly average manner, hinting at this being somewhat of a teenage movie, but then it does take a very nice and bizarre twist for the unexpected.

The story is about Samantha (played by Najarra Townsend) who is struggling with an overly caring and protective mom (played by Caroline Williams) and also struggling with her sexuality and relationship to Nikki (played by Katie Stegeman). When at a party with her friend Alice (Alice Macdonald) Samantha gets together with a strange guy in a moment of drunken stupor and has unprotected sex. Over the course of the next three days, Samantha's life comes crumbling down, as does her physical body and mind...

I will say that the story actually picked up a great pace and turned rather interesting come day 1 and forth in the storyline. And the story was really helped nicely along by some really great make-up and effects, as the three days came and went and we witness the deterioration of Samantha.

But of course, everything is not all good in "Contracted". One thing I didn't really understand was how people around Samantha, and particularly the doctor, could be so blind and ignorant to the deterioration of Samantha and her state of decay. How everyone was either blind or ignorant to what was going on, sort of added an element of stupidity to the movie, and a bad mistake from the director.

That being said, then I will say that I overall enjoyed director Eric England's vision in "Contracted" and his interesting approach to the zombie genre. And I will say that, with my devotion to all things zombie, then "Contracted" is well worthy of a place in any movie collection of anyone who enjoy zombie movies.

The ending of the movie was actually very satisfactory and fulfilling to the storyline, and it was a nice touch and a good ending in my opinion. Cheesy and predictable? Sure. But good, nonetheless.

Suspending disbelief has never been more difficult

[staples007 · 2/10 · 28 March 2014]

I watched 'Contracted' with very little introduction or knowledge of its premise. It simply peaked my interest on Netflix's streaming library of new movies, so I decided to give it a go. During the expositional scenes, the production quality and acting seemed to reach solid standards, leading me to believe this could be a relatively well-made film. After watching this 90-minute TV movie all the way through, I can safely say the dialogue and character development in this film is some of the most unrealistic writing I've ever had the misfortune of hearing/seeing.

Let me start by stating that throughout the entirety of the film, you will HATE every single character you come across. Each one is to some degree an embodiment of narcissism, spite, naivety, and idiocy. The main character, who "contracts" a progressively worsening virus from a stranger, is a young woman I wanted to see die within the storyline almost immediately. When the leading lady in your film is a mean lesbian-dabbling assh*le of a person, you've got a problem. Nothing about her personality is something any of us would happily relate to. She's crappy at maintaining her sobriety, she is consistently at odds with her equally intolerable mother, friends, and girlfriend, and she's simply delusional.

Without giving away too much, let me just say that the person who wrote this story has crafted a world in which every human being you run into is a complete moron without a shred of common sense. As this woman's physical appearance begins to reach the condition depicted on the movie's poster, not a single person showed the concern that a normal person would. When someone appears to be rotting from the inside, her boss is not going to demand that she come into work anyway, and the girl who happens to be walking in a bag of their own deteriorating flesh and skin is not going to put her priority on working overtime. Even the doctor she went to for help looked right at her bloody eyes and gave a confused diagnosis, while just advising her to quarantine herself for the time being. Her condition warranted an immediate visit to the ER, not a free clinic checkup, as any person with average intelligence could see. Not once, but TWICE, this main character convinces two other characters to kiss her on her disgustingly black-molding and clearly infected lips. How dumb are the people who made this movie? Every character has been specially crafted to lack any resemblance to a sensible real-life person.

I understand that suspending disbelief is vital for enjoying the horror genre, but I could not do that with regard to the atrocious character development on display in this film. I highly recommend avoiding 'Contracted' like the cinematic plague that it is.

Somewhere between good and decent.

[nightkayleen · 6/10 · 27 November 2014]

A satisfactory film. I watched it on Netflix after finding nothing else and came in with low expectations. While I wasn't blown away, I also wasn't disappointed. The main character is really the only developed one. Her dialogue and actions are interesting, but the other characters can simply be ignored. If you are looking for a movie with a good plot, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a movie that shows an interesting take on how one person can change in a short time in intense situations, look no further. "Contracted" is a good character profile, but is severely lacking in everything else. Character development here is great, but it's all that stands out in this movie. There are definitely better things to watch, but if you enjoy character analyzation and depth, "Contracted" is worth a look.

Heres the plot for this poor movie

[sexplstols · 4/10 · 13 March 2014]

OK a lot of people are wondering what the plot is, well that is simple but I agree with all the other comments regarding how poor the movie & the acting is & how dumb the characters are etc. It is just something that would not happen in the real life. The start of 1 of those symptoms would prompt a person to see a doctor but as it progresses a person would go straight to the ER.

So the plot.... well at the start of the movie you see the morgue, a guy having sex with a dead female body then keeping his sperm in a test tube (for whatever reason). This guy catches a virus from shagging a dead body & he is that same guy at the party, there are enough clues to point to this.

Not a good movie, could have been a lot better.

"Contracted" (2013) follows one week after "It Follows" (2014)

[dee.reid · 7/10 · 19 October 2015]

I'm really not sure what it is - serendipity, or what - but the 2013, Eric England-directed "body horror" film "Contracted" is the second horror film in a week I've watched that concerns the dangers of sex and sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) (or the more current PC term, "sexually-transmitted infections" - "STIs"); the first film I watched was "It Follows" (2014). Like "It Follows," as it is here in "Contracted," unprotected, promiscuous sex leads to unspeakable horror.

I have to admit, I've been recently thinking about the nature of horror films and why it is that protagonists many times have to confront some kind of unimaginable evil. We think about people, especially young people, innocent and full of life and who have their whole lives ahead of them, and yet ironically many times many of them will not live to see those promising young lives fulfilled. And you think, how would we react in a horror movie situation?

Those thoughts crossed my mind when I watched "It Follows," and it caught up with me again when I just finishing watching "Contracted." In the film, Samantha (Najarra Townsend) is a young waitress in Los Angeles who has a fight with her girlfriend Nikki (Katie Stegeman) and one night finds herself at a party being thrown by her best friend Alice (Alice Macdonald).

At this same party, Samantha meets the smooth-talking BJ (Simon Barrett, whose face is obscured in his only major scene), and the two soon wind up in the backseat of someone's car. Over the next three days, Samantha starts to get sick - like, really sick. How sick? Well, much of it cannot be described here, because it would spoil the gross-out delights to be experienced and because it would just be too gross to describe what happens to her. The short of it is this: BJ passed an STD onto Samantha the first time that they had sex, but what she's coming down with is no ordinary STD, and is in fact - as evidenced by this film's final moments - something much, much worse.

First off, I've learned my lesson from many times past from watching so-called "body horror" pictures - by legendary horror masters such as Stuart Gordon ("Re-Animator," "From Beyond") to the king of "body horror" himself, David Cronenberg ("The Fly," "Easter Promises," "Videodrome"). My lesson: never eat anything while viewing a "body horror" flick because you'll lose your appetite (if not your meal) pretty quick.

I took that to heart when watching "Contracted." While the characters are difficult to like and sympathize with, "Contracted" serves up some truly grotesque shocks and sights. The film does miss a few opportunities to talk about the full ramifications of some of the issues it raises - such as date rape - but this film does offer a new take on some well-worn horror material (which won't become clear until the very end of the picture).

"Contracted" serves partially as a cautionary tale on the dangers of unprotected sex, while offering a new spin on an old staple of the horror genre. I only recently discovered that there's a sequel in the works, so hopefully it opens up more of the mystery surrounding what goes on in this picture and afterward.

7/10

Waste of time

[stompystomper · 1/10 · 4 January 2014]

Avoid.

I read a promising review which inspired me to seek out this film.

I was disappointed with the script, the acting, make up and directing. The cinematography was the only redeeming quality.

The lead character Samantha was a self centred bitch who I actually hoped would die in the first five minutes. So to sit through an 84 minute movie, witnessing her narcissistic whining was excruciating. Her Mother, (played by an always welcome to see Caroline Williams) cared for her well being, as well as various friends, workmates and her Doctor, but at no time did she ever listen to any of them, instead pining for her irritating, uninterested girlfriend.

It seems the film makers aspired to make a gross out, body horror flick, which plays on the dangers of unsafe sex, but all they really ended up with was a monotonous mess which I am sorry I ever read the review on.

Better than what others might like to think

[jccmong · 9/10 · 6 December 2013]

I gave it a high score because I think it is a very well done movie, even with a few glitches but the acting and directing deserves a lot more recognition than what some people have said on here.

Najarra is lovely to start with, her acting is very good and natural. This movie made me look her up on IMDb for her other work. Her acting was convincing, as a young lady who didn't get on with her mom and in a troubled relationship. Her process of transformation was also well done, from being confused and wanted to keep it to herself at the beginning, to losing hope and wanting to get back at people (good people albeit) around her.

Some on here have complained about the doctor not saying much in the first diagnosis, but that is just normal. These days you go to a GP with a bleeding girlie part, chances are they'll tell you the same and observe for a few more days. Don't forget the events portrayed by the film were supposed to be over just a couple of days, a week at most. What struck me however is that the doctor should have referred to a specialist / ER after seeing her the second time, a change in the eye colour would definitely be some viral as he said it, a normal GP would not have discharged her without raising an alert. So that would probably be the biggest glitch in the movie's logic.

Others have focused on how the film doesn't answer all questions, but why should it? This film was never intended to be a detective story, it merely shows the transformation. Who cares if we don't know more about the guy who gave her the disease, he did show up at the bar paying for her drink later on and leaving with another girl, that already answers the question. He is someone with a mission to spread this to girls, maybe a big pharma agent or CIA trying to test bio weapons, who knows and who cares anyway. Also some here were left wondering what happened to the guy who fancied her, why would the film have to explain something this obvious? She caught the virus, he's gonna catch it too and go through the same transformation then... you can't expect directors to spoon feed everyone. I think it is perfectly fine and in fact great that it does't then go on to explain, the movie ended where it needed to.

All in all, it deserves at least a 6.5. Given that it is not an A list movie, I'd give it a 30% mark up. Name another B grade movie that's as well done I bet you cannot.

Creepy Yucky Shoulda Worn a Condom Fun!

[ikeybabe · 7/10 · 29 March 2014]

I liked this movie. It was creepy and sick and had plenty of what-the- hell moments. So, the acting (ie the girlfriend Nikki, the friend, the mom, weren't the best at the craft) was good enough. What I really could get into was the whole plot - a girl has a one night stand with a stranger and wakes up sick, really sick. The whole slow transformation to a *SPOILER* zombie-like being was intriguing. Oh, and those maggots at the end were so absolutely disgusting I loved it! lol Oh, maybe the condom might not have made a difference. And because this needs to be a little longer, the makeup was nicely done (even if there were times when her look wasn't completely consistent). And someone who looked as bad as she, could never served me food.

The Oscar for Best Makeup in a Film goes to...

[tss_t · 2/10 · 11 December 2013]

Unfortunately, the makeup for Samantha was the best thing that this movie had to offer. I love when movies, like the immoral opening of "Contracted", leave you with a million questions. My anxiety and excitement to watch this movie came on quick after this. My thought was "this movie is going to dive into the story line immediately being that there is only about an hour and fifteen minutes to bring everything full circle". Boy was I wrong! After the credits rolled, I had two million questions instead of none. There was no conclusion to anything that happened in this movie. Halfway through the movie, my husband and I were asking each other, is she an insect (her nails falling off reminded my hubby of "the Fly"), a vampire, or a zombie? Why did Sam not go to the hospital early on? Why did the doctor not quarantine Sam? Why did Alice kiss Sam after she had just told her that she looked like s****? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? As others have mentioned, I wish that I could get my hour and 24 minutes back. Since that's not possible, I settled for writing this review. Hopefully it'll save some other people from wasting their time.

Ridiculous things about this film...

[mary_heatley · 5/10 · 31 January 2014]

So this film wasn't actually that bad, I have seen worse, but it was seriously let down by some ridiculous elements.

To mention just a few:

1. Nikki's accent, what is it about?

2. The Doctor not admitting her to hospital or into isolation when she clearly has a terrible disease. Just "Do not come into contact with anyone", surely that would at least stick her on antibiotics.

3. Alice kissing Samantha post infection and only regretting that decision when Samantha pukes blood in her mouth.

4. Riley has sex with Samantha and fails to release that her face is rotten. He definitely deserves to get sick.

An effective cautionary tale terrifying enough to believe the hype

[kickbuttpotato · 7/10 · 26 March 2014]

Director Eric England's new flick "Contracted" yields effective scares and quite a good spoonful amount of new goodies to the horror subgenre. As you have seen by the movie's poster, the protagonist is indeed a female who looks terrible like the undead grabbing our attention, but the story focuses on a different plot.

Samantha (Najarra Townsend) gets invited to a party despite being in the midst of a conflicting lesbian relationship and identity crisis. A party-crasher introducing as B.J (Simon Barrett) is very convincing whereas Samantha becomes date-raped by the stalker. Later on, she feels something really bad and gets very sick being infected by some sort of STD as examined by the doctor. B.J. is obviously the culprit, though the movie ensues ambiguity to his true motive in the plot aside from being a full-time maniac.

By the time the movie arrives during the stages of Samantha's nasty transformation, we naturally couldn't help but to resist the relentless gore and repugnance despite being laughably red. The make-up and effects team gloriously made Townsend's character looks atrocious and terrifying. Two of my favorite points of the effects are Samantha's rotting phase and the contagion which crosses Eli Roth's Cabin Fever and Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral which is way better.

I could care less about the party scene though, for it looks tiresome to start the movie to as we have seen it countless times before. Writer- director Eric England could have made something more bona fide to begin with the characters. On top of that, some of his dialogues between Samantha and the other kids seems hackneyed and too stagey. However, the narrative offers a clever opening sequence for the plot and ends it with an alarmingly horrifying finale.

Contracted is a good icky, bloody, and insane indie horror film. It may not be the best of the bloodiest, but the movie is well-acted by new talents and delivers seriously f***ed up scenes, mystery, and dark humor you could possibly desire and a little more. With this, as anyone may have observed already, it may persuade you to wear a rubber again.