Review of Contracted (2013) by Brett B — 04 Dec 2013

Ultra-icky, CONTRACTED reminds one of early Cronenberg, at least from a no-holds-barred, visceral standpoint. There's very little held back here in terms of body horror, and it's thoroughly disgusting, but there is a certain amount of artful flair displayed by director England, which helps to temper the more distasteful stuff, albeit only somewhat; it's definitely not a movie for even the slightly squeamish.

It wallows, almost gleefully, in the potential horrors of the human body, and it's pervasively, overpoweringly uncomfortable. None of that is really a negative, but when taken in the context of the narrative itself - which feels like it's building up to something much bigger and more interesting.

.. only to fizzle out without anything resembling a strong payoff - the movie's pretty much just an exercise (however well made) in provoking grossed-out reactions from the audience.