Contagion (1988)

Load of rubbish!!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill horror film. It's a gem of subtle camerawork and slow-building tension heightened with some genuinely extreme and horrifying moments.The first director I thought this Aussie was paying homage or crafting his film after was Kubrick--with his menacing use of camera movement and perpetual, unforgiving environment, Kubrick was a master. This director and film don't achieve that level of craft, but it was a surprise and reward to see an unknown weaving together advanced camera and editing techniques to build some scary moments.The opening shot is something out of the helicopter shot following the car in The Shining. Not as long or nearly as technical, but with the added voiceover, the same tension of dropping down into this dark world is there.Many of the shot selections are subtly creepy and right on the mark. When the hitchhiking girl gets into the cab of the flatbed truck, we get a subjective shot from the driver's POV and never see the driver. This creates undeniable, yet subtle tension. And a few minutes later we learn why with an unreal payoff that made me question if Tom Ford watched this movie when writing Nocturnal Animals to have crafted the horror in his kidnapping scene.The eccentric soundtrack always seems to come in at the right moment, with the compositional themes of a nightmare opera. The composer plays on the minor keys, creating a subtly 'off' sound to match the story and camerawork.When the two women in the countryside come into the story I realized what type of film, tone-wise, I was finally watching. It's something like Scorsese's After Hours, but as horror. (or I suppose you could just call this early Peter Jackson.) The protagonist gets himself into these unreal, sometimes darkly funny situations, and we watch, gripping our armrest more and more tightly, seeing how far it will go.Sure, there are some messy plot-points: it's a bit convenient the hitchhiker is dropped off right where she is; and the nature behind the protagonist's condition isn't explored very well. But these are somewhat forgivable. As a whole, though, the story development--the ways the main character could've gone, to challenge his condition and be challenged-- is the weakest element, especially in the third act, and takes away from the film's greater potential, keeping it from achieving the completeness of the films I mentioned above. For the most part, the last thirty minutes aren't patiently built up with slow-rising tension, or leveled with the same amount of detail as the first hour. Though there are moments there, and it does end on a high note that lives up to the rest of the film, making it a gem worth checking out.

Mark is driving late at night through a desolate wooded area when suddenly his headlights shine on a young female hitch hiker being assaulted by an unknown assailant.Stopping to help,Mark finds himself being abducted and chased by a group of backwoods rednecks.Mark believes he has found escape when he stumbles upon an old mansion which is inhabited by a strange old man and 2 mysterious women.They promise him great wealth.. for a price.Soon Mark is caught in a web of madness and murder,but is everything as it really seems?Is Mark going insane or was this chain of events already planned out for him?"Contagion" is an overlooked Australian supernatural slasher full of surprising plot twists.There is also a bit of nasty violence and graphic nudity thrown in.The film is incredibly rare and very hard to find,which is a shame.8 out of 10.

When a young man named Mark is driving through a desolate wooded area in the dark of night, his headlights espy the assault of a young hitchhiker. He stops to help the girl, but in the process becomes abducted by a group of dangerous backwoods heathens. By and by, he escapes to an incommunicado mansion where a strange tycoon and two mysterious blonde beauties promise him great wealth...at a cost. A killing spree ensues, and Mark spirals deeper and deeper into madness under the watchful eyes of the ghostly three.This is a genuinely creepy supernatural body-count film, and highly original stuff...why it has lingered for so long in relative obscurity is anyone's guess. 7/10

Well I bought the Image laserdisc edition of this movie recently. To start with disc: the video transfer is fairly good with a little noise here and there, but the colors a good and the picture quality is very nice. The Sounds is in glorious mono, very clear. Over all very nice pressing. This movie had me fooled a little, I bought assuming it was a haunted house movie. This is not the case, it is about a traveling salesman who one night on the road witness a young girl getting attacked by some madmen and he decides to stop and help her out. In the process he get beaten up and as a resolute he starts to hallucinate, thinking he sees a beautiful mansion, here the residents are two beautiful girls and a strange man. To begin with they are more than friendly to him, but the movie soon it takes on a very nasty murdering plot switch. The story is a little thin, but the cinemaphotography is interesting, so it is worth a watch. This is not my kind of movie, but if you like slasher films and you might what to have a look at Constagion.