Contracted (film)

Contracted
Directed by	Eric England
Produced by	Eric England, J.D. Lifshitz, Raphael Margules, Matt Mercer, Joshua Petrino
Written by	Eric England
Starring	Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Alice Macdonald
Music by	Kevin Riepl
Cinematography	Mike Testin
Editing by	Josh Ethier
Studio	BoulderLight Pictures, Southern Fried Films
Release dates	November 23, 2013 (2013-11-23)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Contracted is a 2013 horror thriller film directed and written by Eric England.^[1] It was first released on November 23, 2013, in the United States and stars Najarra Townsend as a young woman that finds herself suffering from a mysterious sexually transmitted disease after a rape.^[2]

Synopsis

After having a fight with her girlfriend, Samantha (Najarra Townsend) decides to drown her sorrows by drinking at a party. While there she is drugged and is raped by a stranger. The next day Samantha finds that she has contracted a mysterious disease from the man, one that starts showing symptoms that disturbingly ruin her life. She confesses to the doctor that she is lesbian and this was her first intercourse with a male. She tries to keep the infection a secret from her mother and friends but cannot. Movie ends showing her as a zombie.

Cast

• Najarra Townsend as Samantha
• Caroline Williams as Sam's Mom
• Alice Macdonald as Alice
• Katie Stegeman as Nikki
• Matt Mercer as Riley
• Charley Koontz as Zain
• Simon Barrett as BJ
• Ruben Pla as Doctor
• Dave Holmes as Therapist
• Celia Finkelstein as Woman #1

Production

England remarked that he began working on Contracted due to him wanting to "tell a story within the virus/infection subgenre like we’ve never seen before" and that he wanted to use sex as a plot device as it was something that "most people can understand and relate to".^[3] He wrote the movie's script in March 2012 and shot Contracted during a 15 day period in Los Angeles in May of the same year.^[4] Casting for the film was difficult due to the limited funds, as well as some actors finding the film's content "too bold" or having scheduling conflicts.^[4] Veteran horror actress Caroline Williams was cast as the mother of the main character after England and film producer Matt Mercer approached her via her Facebook page.^[4]

England had initially planned to have the film center around the film's protagonist experiencing the loss of her virginity, but changed it to focus on a character that is uncertain of her sexuality and has a prior lifestyle different than the one she currently has.^[5] He had also initially planned to have the film set outside of the United States and focus slightly on xenophobia, but did not have the budget to accommodate this and as such, changed the movie's setting to Los Angeles.^[6]

Reception

Critical reception for Contracted has been mixed and as of November 30, 2013, the film holds a rating of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes based upon 14 reviews.^[7][8] Fangoria compared Contracted to the similarly plotted Thanatomorphose, saying that while both had a similar premise, Contracted's "visual palette is relatively conventional" in comparison.^[9] The New York Times wrote a mixed review, saying that the "ending to this fable misses the opportunity for broader metaphorical resonance, but getting there has its own unnerving rewards".^[10] In contrast, the Los Angeles Times remarked that while the film was "absurd" it was also "compelling" and that it would play well off of the unrelated 2013 film Blue Is the Warmest Colour.^[11]

References

External links

• Contracted at the Internet Movie Database
• Contracted at Rotten Tomatoes