Movie Review: Contracted (2013)

This movie was making the review circuit on some of the blogs that I read, and I became more curious about it each time I saw a new review pop up. With that icky looking poster and a plot that promised some equally icky body horror fun, I thought I should give the indie movie Contracted a watch. But while the movie does deliver on the gross-out side, it has some plot and character problems that made me not completely love it.

Samantha is a young twenty-something going through a difficult period in her life. She has a strained relationship with her mother, made even worse by the fact that she had to move back in with her, and has to deal with the blase attitude of her girlfriend Nikki. Everything comes to a head when Samantha contracts what she thinks is a sexually transmitted disease from a one night stand that wrecks havoc on her body and her mind.

The introduction to the story is fantastic - the movie opens with some disturbing shots of a morgue worker having sex with a corpse, which we're lead to believe is the catalyst for Sam's STD. We then get a quick introduction to most of the main characters and get a glimpse into the many relationship problems that Sam has, then Sam meets up with BJ, the man from the opening. I like how the filmmakers never fully show BJ - his face is always off-camera or out of focus - because he's not really important to the story. Revealing him would only make him the villain of the movie and make the audience focus too much on who he is. He and Sam have sex in his car, and the title, "Contracted," pops on the screen in a quick cut, almost as if at the moment Sam gets the disease.

The movie does a great job of showing the progression of Sam's illness, as more and more nasty things happen to her body. She has horrible vaginal bleeding and a scary rash on her side, her eyes get all bloodshot, her hair falls out in clumps, etc. Probably worst of all is how maggots fall out of her crotch. MAGGOTS. That's just wrong. This progression is amplified by title cards that announce the number of days since Sam's contraction, the best one being when "Day 3" turns into "Day 3 of 3," so you know that shit's about to go down soon. The makeup work on Sam is genius, as she just starts to look worse and worse with each new thing she finds that is wrong with her. They also enhanced the look of the veins on her face and neck which was very creepy and unnatural.

However, plot and character problems abound within this insane story. First, like many before me have said, none of the characters are all that likable. Samantha is probably the least likable of them all, as she just seems like a whiny, self-centered bitch. She's obsessed with her girlfriend Nikki, who actually is incredibly sexy, even though Nikki is obviously over her and doesn't even hide the fact that she is annoyed with her any time they are in the same room together. Sam is also the object of affection for two other characters in the movie, Alice and Riley, and it's a little unbelievable how so many people could be in love with this childish chick who obviously doesn't appreciate what she has. The actress tries to play Sam as sweet and innocent sometimes, but it never comes off right and you just end up hating her all the more.

It is also a little bit unbelievable how Sam and other people deal with her disease. I know that it's not really pertinent to the story, but damn did that shit get frustrating after a while. Samantha at first ignores her symptoms thinking that she just has a hangover and her period, but when blood practically gushes out of her and cramps send her to her knees in pain, she finally goes to the doctor. This doctor is a goddamn genius, let me tell you. According to him, vaginal bleeding equals... a head cold? Riiiight. So he's obviously no help. Even after she gets continually worse, though, Sam's focus is on hiding her symptoms rather than finding out what the fuck is wrong with her because, and this is the dumbest reason ever, she doesn't want Nikki to find out that she got sick from sleeping with a man. Maggots in your va-jay-jay!!! I think I would be worrying more about that. It also got almost a little funny to me how everybody was still whining about their relationship problems and talking about how much they loved Sam, even when she looked like she does on the poster up there. Please shut up about your lesbian fantasies and make this girl seriously go to the hospital or something. Sam also used to use drugs, which is her mom's explanation for what is happening to her. Which is probably why her mom is not a doctor because that stuff is obviously not from drugs.

So while Contracted is definitely great at grossing you out and making you never want to have sex again, it loses some points for having the whole cast be unlikable and for having a ridiculously unbelievable plot at times. The actors' performances are nonetheless outstanding for what they have to do. Contracted is a great little indie flick that is impossible not to take notice of, simply because of the subject matter. It's worth a look.

Michele Recommends: The Mammoth Book of Body Horror (2012)

Yeah, dudes. Horror books. They're almost as awesome as the movies. Almost.

So anyways, when I ducked into a Barnes and Noble a few months ago looking for some books by particular authors that they didn't have which is why I don't like going to Barnes and Noble... I found this. The Mammoth Book of Body Horror. I've seen a lot of these Mammoth Book[s] of Whatever around but I don't think I need to explain why this particular one caught my eye.

So after I'm done going all "Hmmmm..." over the cover and the impressive list of authors upon it, I open up the book to look at the table of contents, which is as thus:

Transformation by Mary Shelley

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Herbert West - Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell

The Fly by George Langelaan

'Tis the Season to be Jelly by Richard Matheson

Survivor Type by Stephen King

The Body Politic by Clive Barker

The Chaney Legacy by Robert Bloch

The Other Side by Ramsey Campbell

Fruiting Bodies by Brian Lumley

Freaktent by Nancy A. Collins

Region of the Flesh by Richard Christian Matheson

Walking Wounded by Michael Marshall Smith

Changes by Neil Gaiman

Others by James Herbert

The Look by Christopher Fowler

Residue by Alice Henderson

Dog Days by Graham Masterton

Black Box by Gemma Files

The Soaring Dead by Simon Clark

Polyp by Barbie Wilde

Almost Forever by David Moody

Butterfly by Axelle Carolyn

Sticky Eye by Conrad Williams

Well, blow me down! The last fifteen or so were kind of lost on me, but I didn't care because I knew I was going to buy the book just for three specific stories that I've always wanted to read - "Herbert West - Reanimator," "The Fly," and "Who Goes There?" (the story that The Thing is based on). And they were all awesome, and it is very nice to have them in one collection instead of three different ones.

Many of the other stories were nice surprises, as well. I must say that Richard Matheson's " 'Tis the Sesaon to be Jelly" was my favorite out of all of them. People might read that one and not know what the hell is going on but I totally got it and thought it was a brilliant way to present the story. "The Body Politic" by Mr. Awesome Voice Clive Barker is a very subtly funny, but simultaneously serious story about when a man's hands literally rebel against him and the rest of his body.

As for the rest of the stories, here's what you have in store for you if you read it: Robert Bloch pens an interesting yarn about Lon Chaney; Nancy Collins freaks us out with a story about a photographer who looks for circus freaks; James Herbert gives a teasing look at the "Others"; Christopher Fowler shows how grotesque and dangerous fashion can be; Graham Masterson tells a doggedly romantic and weird tale about love and revenge; and Barbie Wilde introduces us to bowels gone bad (no, seriously). 

So, if you body horror fans need something to pass the time at the doctor's office or on your lunch break, then I think The Mammoth Book of Body Horror could be for you. I may sound like somebody is paying me to say all this, but it's totally true. Some real gems in this collection, classic and not, and I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Horror Short Review: Familiar (2011)

Oh my freaking goodness, I think I just had a goshdarn heart attack.

And if you ever get a chance to see this amazing horror short called Familiar, then I'm pretty sure that you will too. This was literally some of the best twenty minutes of filmmaking that I have seen in a while and I only wish that I had filmed myself watching it. I've always believed that the best horror films are the ones that make you have those unconscious physical reactions to what you are seeing, and hoo doggy, I reacted so hard to this thing that my heart is still palpitating a bit.

At the beginning of this short, the main character reminds me of a much darker version of Kevin Spacey's character from American Beauty. John Dodd's inner monologue is full of loathing for his monotonous and boring life, with a wife he doesn't love anymore and a daughter he can't wait to get rid of so he can have more freedom. But it's only after one life-altering conversation with his wife that John's inner voice suddenly changes to a voice that is not his, but somebody(thing?) else in his head talking to him. And then the fun starts.

Robert Nolan's portrayal of John is spectacular. He is subdued and almost non-expressive most of the time, but you can tell that there is a lot more going on behind the mask. The best performance of the piece, however, is the voiceover. The writing for this is excellent as well and at first sounds very normal and at times quite funny ("Oh, you're always on time? So are my bowel movements"). As the story progresses, the voice becomes more forceful and commanding, telling John how he should really feel about his wife's pregnancy and talking him into doing some pretty horrific things - like slipping pills into his wife's food to give her an abortion. After awhile the voice starts to sound almost inhuman with its level of craziness, and while John is able to resist it sometimes, it still holds a strong influence over him because deep down he apparently agrees with what it is telling him.

Now what I wasn't expecting here was some severe body horror images that freaked me the fuck out. John discovers one morning these weird bulges that almost look like little egg sacs growing out of his side. Anybody with a fear of death or disease (like me) will most definitely find this part disgusting and horrifying - the fact that something unknown is inside your body and is making freakish physical changes to it that you can't control. In Familiar, this situation only escalates further into John having to perform some hideous self-mutilation - another topic that people with a low tolerance for pain will find almost hard to stand.

The bulges on John's side disappear (all while the voice is telling him to leave it alone) and move down to his upper leg so naturally, John decides it will be a good idea to try to cut whatever is in there out. Using a box cutter, which also freaks me out because that is a tool that I use every day at work, John starts cutting into his leg and... well, I won't completely spoil it here, but let's just say that I almost wanted to cover my eyes and not see what was in there. Can you believe that?! This little horror short turned me into a total horror pussy. It was fantastic.

The special effects are Hollywood-level and quite impressive. Beautiful blood and makeup on John's bulges. The direction and editing are brilliant, and the performances were spot on. I'd also like to make a note about how much I liked the casting of Astrida Auza as John's wife because, and I don't want to sound mean here or anything, she is not particularly hot but rather normal looking, like the people I see every day. She was obviously chosen for her talent, and does a fantastic job.

Director Richard Powell really turned out something awesome here. Apparently this short was actually a sequel to another short film he made called Worm, which is not as graphic but stars John Dodd's brother, Geoffrey, as a man who also has a voice in his head. Would really love to get a look at that one too if it's possible. This is a filmmaker with some real talent who will no doubt bring us more horrific stories to enjoy in the future.