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A ship has entered New York harbour manned by a dead crew, and with a
cargo hold full of crates that are supposed to contain coffee - but they
really contain some sort of eggs, which tend to explode and release a
lethal acid upon those nearby, who in turn explode themselves ...
Soon, Colonel Stella Holmes (Louise Marleau) figures that the eggs must
be from outer space, and she contacts Hubbard (Ian McCulloch), the first
astronaut who has ever set foot on Mars. But Hubbard has since turned an
alcoholic, mainly because he was once unhonourably discharged from the
NASA after he reported about the eggs on Mars. But somehow, Col Stella
convinces him that he was right and everyone who discharged him (including
herself) was wrong, and ultimately he promises to help her fight the alien
eggs. So Col Stella, Hubbard, and NYPD cop Aris (Marino Masé) travel down
to South America, where the coffee originated from, and while Col Stella
and Aris make a tour of the coffee plant, and have to find out it actually
belongs to Hamilton (Siegfried Rauch), the astronaut on Mars with Hubbard
who was instrumental for Hubbard's discharge claiming there had never been
any eggs. Hubbard was thought dead, but apparently he has faked his own
death and is under the influence of Martian being Cyclops, which
apparently prepares the earth for Martian invasion. Problem is that
Hamilton, his right hand woman Perla (Gisela Hahn), and his small army of
"coffee workers" manage to apprehend Stella and Aris.
Meanwhile, Hubbard flies over the area in a small airplane, and gets a
good view of the plantations where the eggs are actually grown - but then
his airplane has engine troubles ...
Could this mean the end of the world already?
During his career, director Luigi Cozzi made quite a few very enjoyable
movies (if enjoyable for very different reasons), from the sadly
under-appreciated thriller The
Killer Must Kill Again to the cheapo-special effects-filled sci fi
hommage Star
Crash to the hilarious Hercules-films
starring Lou Ferrigno.
Contamination, one has to admit, cannot live up to these other
movies, it's a much more routine genre movie, soaked in blood and covered
in guts, as was the flavour of the day, and quite
obviously influenced by Alien with
shades of Zombie Flesh Eaters -
never achieving the impact of either of these films. But that said,
there's still plenty to like about the film, especially for retro genre
fans, from the wooden but slightly self-ironic performances of the leads
to the wonderfully designed 1950's style monster to the many very
competently and gruesomely executed special effects.
So no, it's no classic ... but if you're into 80s sci fi/horror, you'll
very probably find yourself liking it nevertheless!
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