Review of Contracted (2013) by Courtney K — 27 Mar 2014
This is a pretty damn smart, and subversive, horror movie. I say this because it's pretty much an anti-zombie film. It's a zombie film without relying on all the typical cliches and stereotypes seen in stuff like The Walking Dead.
This film tells the BEGINNING of the outbreak through the eyes of Samantha, whose one night stand at the beginning of the film has left feeling some pretty terrible side effects such as puking blood, her nails and teeth are falling of, etc.
Basically, the story is that she's rotting pretty much from the inside out. And it's a really cleverly told story because you're not even aware of the fact that it's a story about the start of the "zombie" outbreak until at least 3 minutes before the film ends and I really believe that it does so in such an effective manner that you never really even think about the possibility, at least before the ending, that this is anything more than what is presented to you, as this woman suffering some very extreme effects after having sex with a man that's been up to some pretty unsavory things if the beginning of the film is any indication.
The fact that it's a cleverly disguised film about the start of the zombie outbreak was really one of my favorite parts of the film, if not my favorite. The rest of the film is quite good and seeing Samantha's physical, and even emotional, transformation is really good and seeing how her life slowly starts to spiral out of control.
The make-up for Sam's physical transformation is as good as it's gonna get for what it is essentially a low-budget horror film. The acting is also quite solid from all involved. There's no one real outstanding performance, but they're all more than solid.
As mentioned, the story is very smartly-written and even if the film certainly takes a while before it really gets going, I think the payoff, and its ramifications, make this film more than worth watching.
No complaints here, good film and good twist on a concept that, pun not intended, has been done to death.
This review of Contracted (2013) was written by Courtney K on 27 Mar 2014.
Contracted has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
