I’m a big fan of zombie films.
Honestly, I’ve always loved stories that have tinkered in this world wherein the dead aren’t quite dead – not, at least, the way they should be dead, dead, deader-than-dirt – and I think there have been many good attempts as well as there have been great flicks to explore such subject matter from a whole variety of perspectives. What frustrates me about the smaller zombie films is almost one problem I see universally: there’s only the germ of a founding idea. In other words, there really isn’t any story. Nothing substantive. Nothing relatable. Nothing of merit. Rather – in its place – there’s a collection of incidents or vignettes loosely strung together in the attempt to coerce a tale where there truly isn’t one. Sure, the initial idea may sound grand, but – lacking a legitimate through-line to carry the action and characters – it’s still only an idea once the end credits arrive.
Sigh.
And, yes, this is what brings me to Contracted (2013), a smaller, gentler, quieter zombie yarn that never quite ends up being anything more than the sum of its performances, all swirling around a premise that could’ve used a greater resuscitation.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the kind of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“After being drugged and raped at a party, a young woman contracts what she thinks is an STD; but it’s actually something much worse.”
Depressed from the lull in her personal life, young Samantha (played by a pleasantly fresh-faced Najarra Townsend) decides to go to her friend’s party and live it up. (Good for her!) But a chance encounter with a possible sexual predator (very, very, very bad for her!) leaves the woman making the worst possible decision: she engages in unprotected sex with the first mysterious man she happens across. What starts out as some mild physical discomfort suddenly warps her body into something much deadlier as she spends the next three days paying the ultimate price for a momentary lapse in judgment.
OK, let’s get this out of the way up front: I know every one of us – you, me, your mom, etc. – have all made a bad decision at one time or another. Now, I’m not talking about turning right when we should’ve turned left. I’m really more interested in those kinds of decisions that we always wish we could take back. We’re human, we’re slow learners, and we wind up doing things now and then for all the wrong reasons. It doesn’t have to be anything life-threatening; but it’s still something we wish we could’ve done differently in that moment and saved ourselves a lot of headaches, heartache, or stomachache along the way.
That said, there’s the great little germ of inspiration in Contracted, and – the way I see it – it kinda/sorta boils down to this: writer/director Eric England had this clever (if not slightly comical) twist of where zombies could truly come from. Without spoiling it (though the product packaging actually does that fairly well if you read it), let’s just say that it involves a little bit of what would be normally harmless necrophilia and one night of casual sex.
Still with me?
Honestly, I’ve always loved stories that have tinkered in this world wherein the dead aren’t quite dead – not, at least, the way they should be dead, dead, deader-than-dirt – and I think there have been many good attempts as well as there have been great flicks to explore such subject matter from a whole variety of perspectives. What frustrates me about the smaller zombie films is almost one problem I see universally: there’s only the germ of a founding idea. In other words, there really isn’t any story. Nothing substantive. Nothing relatable. Nothing of merit. Rather – in its place – there’s a collection of incidents or vignettes loosely strung together in the attempt to coerce a tale where there truly isn’t one. Sure, the initial idea may sound grand, but – lacking a legitimate through-line to carry the action and characters – it’s still only an idea once the end credits arrive.
Sigh.
And, yes, this is what brings me to Contracted (2013), a smaller, gentler, quieter zombie yarn that never quite ends up being anything more than the sum of its performances, all swirling around a premise that could’ve used a greater resuscitation.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the kind of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“After being drugged and raped at a party, a young woman contracts what she thinks is an STD; but it’s actually something much worse.”
Depressed from the lull in her personal life, young Samantha (played by a pleasantly fresh-faced Najarra Townsend) decides to go to her friend’s party and live it up. (Good for her!) But a chance encounter with a possible sexual predator (very, very, very bad for her!) leaves the woman making the worst possible decision: she engages in unprotected sex with the first mysterious man she happens across. What starts out as some mild physical discomfort suddenly warps her body into something much deadlier as she spends the next three days paying the ultimate price for a momentary lapse in judgment.
OK, let’s get this out of the way up front: I know every one of us – you, me, your mom, etc. – have all made a bad decision at one time or another. Now, I’m not talking about turning right when we should’ve turned left. I’m really more interested in those kinds of decisions that we always wish we could take back. We’re human, we’re slow learners, and we wind up doing things now and then for all the wrong reasons. It doesn’t have to be anything life-threatening; but it’s still something we wish we could’ve done differently in that moment and saved ourselves a lot of headaches, heartache, or stomachache along the way.
That said, there’s the great little germ of inspiration in Contracted, and – the way I see it – it kinda/sorta boils down to this: writer/director Eric England had this clever (if not slightly comical) twist of where zombies could truly come from. Without spoiling it (though the product packaging actually does that fairly well if you read it), let’s just say that it involves a little bit of what would be normally harmless necrophilia and one night of casual sex.
Still with me?
OK, right there, that’s clever. Right? Innovative, even. Hell, it’s even a bit brilliant. If nothing else, it’s a development that offers a unique perspective. A good script could bank some popularity upon that crux. It probably isn’t going to win any awards by itself, but it shows that some honest thought went into the creative process, and it all wound up getting committed to celluloid. If nothing else, now you’re here reading about it.
But … is that idea strong enough on its merits to sustain the interest of a 90-minute motion picture?
Well, so far as this critic is concerned, England’s story fleshed out here isn’t. Sadly, there’s far too much chickified emotional baggage that firmly weighs down the first half of the film as we explore Samantha’s everyday life and wade through some personal circumstances that just aren’t riveting enough to have us wait for the stuff of real substance – the Horror – to occur. From what I gathered, she’s going through a bad break-up; she’s definitely struggling with her sexuality; and she lies to a personal physician about a very private matter. (Never a good idea, Samantha, no matter how embarrassing your screw-up was!) In fact, we spend so much time exploring Sam’s bad choices that, at one point, I started to wonder why we were even watching her at all … then I remembered there was that whole ‘contracted’ illness thing that was promised in the offset, so I stuck it out.
Once it becomes clear that this is no ordinary STD, then the picture elevates to appreciable heights, but – meh – that’s fairly late in the 90 minutes. Dare I suggest what I’ve done many times before that Contracted would’ve been vastly more entertaining as a short film or even a single installment of an anthology project? It has a very Twilight Zone feel to all of it, and, as frightening as it was to watch poor li’l strugglin’ Samantha come more and more apart psychologically she was vastly more ‘becoming’ as a character once I knew for certain we were leaving her behind and, in her place, was something more exciting? I mean … what does it say about us, culturally, when we finally realize that, as zombies, the lives we’ll lead may be vastly more interesting than what we did as ordinary human beings?
That’s the real chiller, if you ask me. Yes, it’s a cautionary tale, but that part of it’s been done before … and much better.
Contracted (2013) is produced by BoulderLight Pictures and Southern Fried Films. DVD distribution is being handled by MPI Media Group on behalf of the IFC Midnight label of flicks. As for the technical specifications, my suspicion is that this nifty little indie production benefitted from a respectable budget, as the picture does contain some very good quality sight and sounds as well as a good handful of practical, in-camera effects and make-up work. Lastly, if it’s special features you want, then buckle up: the disc offers two separate commentary tracks as well as a ‘making-of’ short, some behind-the-scenes fodder (nothing all that grand there), the animated pitch, Ms. Townsend’s audition tape, and the theatrical trailer. That is a nice package, indeed, for those wanting to know more about this particular world.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Look, if you’re as die-hard about your undead flicks as I am, then you’re likely to sit through Contracted (2013) despite its turgid, zombie-like pace. Methinks writer/director England was trying to say something about either life or relationships or maybe even one-night-stands in our communicable-disease-friendly world, but I gotta say I think I missed it what it may’ve been. Instead, what I did see was a great idea poorly shackled with the emotional baggage of Katherine Heigl’s next direct-to-DVD stinker. Townsend’s performance? That’s actually pretty solid, though I’d find it hard-pressed to see how her work here might open any doors for her.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at MPI Media Group provided me with an advance DVD copy of Contracted (2013) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
But … is that idea strong enough on its merits to sustain the interest of a 90-minute motion picture?
Well, so far as this critic is concerned, England’s story fleshed out here isn’t. Sadly, there’s far too much chickified emotional baggage that firmly weighs down the first half of the film as we explore Samantha’s everyday life and wade through some personal circumstances that just aren’t riveting enough to have us wait for the stuff of real substance – the Horror – to occur. From what I gathered, she’s going through a bad break-up; she’s definitely struggling with her sexuality; and she lies to a personal physician about a very private matter. (Never a good idea, Samantha, no matter how embarrassing your screw-up was!) In fact, we spend so much time exploring Sam’s bad choices that, at one point, I started to wonder why we were even watching her at all … then I remembered there was that whole ‘contracted’ illness thing that was promised in the offset, so I stuck it out.
Once it becomes clear that this is no ordinary STD, then the picture elevates to appreciable heights, but – meh – that’s fairly late in the 90 minutes. Dare I suggest what I’ve done many times before that Contracted would’ve been vastly more entertaining as a short film or even a single installment of an anthology project? It has a very Twilight Zone feel to all of it, and, as frightening as it was to watch poor li’l strugglin’ Samantha come more and more apart psychologically she was vastly more ‘becoming’ as a character once I knew for certain we were leaving her behind and, in her place, was something more exciting? I mean … what does it say about us, culturally, when we finally realize that, as zombies, the lives we’ll lead may be vastly more interesting than what we did as ordinary human beings?
That’s the real chiller, if you ask me. Yes, it’s a cautionary tale, but that part of it’s been done before … and much better.
Contracted (2013) is produced by BoulderLight Pictures and Southern Fried Films. DVD distribution is being handled by MPI Media Group on behalf of the IFC Midnight label of flicks. As for the technical specifications, my suspicion is that this nifty little indie production benefitted from a respectable budget, as the picture does contain some very good quality sight and sounds as well as a good handful of practical, in-camera effects and make-up work. Lastly, if it’s special features you want, then buckle up: the disc offers two separate commentary tracks as well as a ‘making-of’ short, some behind-the-scenes fodder (nothing all that grand there), the animated pitch, Ms. Townsend’s audition tape, and the theatrical trailer. That is a nice package, indeed, for those wanting to know more about this particular world.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Look, if you’re as die-hard about your undead flicks as I am, then you’re likely to sit through Contracted (2013) despite its turgid, zombie-like pace. Methinks writer/director England was trying to say something about either life or relationships or maybe even one-night-stands in our communicable-disease-friendly world, but I gotta say I think I missed it what it may’ve been. Instead, what I did see was a great idea poorly shackled with the emotional baggage of Katherine Heigl’s next direct-to-DVD stinker. Townsend’s performance? That’s actually pretty solid, though I’d find it hard-pressed to see how her work here might open any doors for her.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at MPI Media Group provided me with an advance DVD copy of Contracted (2013) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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