Contracted (film)

Contracted
Film poster
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
Edited by	Josh Ethier
Production company	BoulderLight Pictures Southern Fried Films
Distributed by	IFC Films
Release dates	July 7, 2013 (2013-07-07) (NIFFF)[1]
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Contracted is a 2013 horror thriller film directed and written by Eric England.^[2] 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.^[3] It has been compared to the 2012 film Thanatomorphose, with which it shares similarities. Twitch Film has criticized the movie for its marketing, in which England describes the character Samantha's rape as a "one night stand".^[3]

Plot

The film opens with a man, later revealed to be named BJ, in a morgue who has sex with a corpse that has a biohazard symbol on the toe tag; afterward, he handles an empty test tube while washing up. Later, at a party, Samantha unsuccessfully attempts to contact her ex-girlfriend Nikki and meets with her friend Alice, who encourages Samantha to drink to forget about her recent break-up. Riley, who has an unrequited crush on Samantha, and Zain attempt to flirt with her, but Samantha brushes them off and excuses herself. She eventually gives in to Alice's intense pressure and becomes drunk. BJ introduces himself to Samantha and hands her a drink that he claims she dropped. Samantha, too drunk to know whether it is her drink or not, accepts it. Although she says she is a lesbian who is already involved in a relationship, as a result from being drunk and drugged, she agrees to have intercourse with BJ. From inside his car, Samantha begs BJ to stop and eventually blacks out.

Samantha wakes up in her house. She shows symptoms beyond that of a severe hangover but irritably tells her mother that she is fine. At the restaurant where she works, Samantha has trouble eating and doing her job. Alice reveals that the police are seeking a man named BJ who was at the party, and Alice later becomes worried when Samantha is ill in the bathroom; Samantha explains it away as bad cramps and a lingering hangover. After many attempts, Samantha finally meets with Nikki, but Nikki seems bored and distracted. When Samantha finds an important letter that Nikki had casually tossed aside, she becomes upset and leaves. As pressures mount on Samantha, her condition worsens, and her denial gives way to fear. Although reluctant to seek medical assistance for fear that Nikki will find out that she has contracted a sexually transmitted disease from a male, she eventually visits her doctor, who believes her to have a rash and infection. While eating lunch with Samantha, Nikki expresses her disdain for flirtatious males and dismisses a man who insists that he has seen Samantha before.

Samantha's symptoms continue to worsen, which alarms her friends and mother, who accuses Samantha of being on drugs again. However, Samantha keeps the worst of it hidden, and she avoids seeking further medical attention. When her eyes turn bloodshot and hair falls out in clumps, she decides to return to her doctor, but she is called in to report to work. Frustrated, she agrees to postpone her doctor's appointment until someone can cover for her. Although taken aback by her sickly condition, her boss forces Samantha to prepare food. Samantha's rotted fingernails fall off, horrifying customers who find them in their food. Samantha flees the restaurant and returns to her doctor, who advises her to avoid contact with other people until tests can determine the nature of her disease. Instead, Samantha visits her mother, who attempts to stage an intervention, and Zain, who gives her heroin and reveals that he sold Rohypnol to BJ at the party. Concerned for Samantha's health, Alice contacts Nikki, and, when Samantha attempts to turn to Nikki for help, Nikki flatly rejects her and calls her sexually confused.

Enraged, Samantha breaks in and chokes Nikki to death. She then drives over to Alice's in a rage, eventually murdering her as well. In desperation and not being in her right mind, Samantha turns to Riley and invites him to Alice's house. Although confused, Riley goes along with Samantha's overtures, and they begin to have sex. Midway through, Riley sees maggots fall out of Samantha's vagina and becomes repulsed by the discovery that she has hidden the extent of her decomposition. Highly disturbed, Riley runs to the bathroom and inspects himself. While there, he discovers Alice's body. Riley freaks out, and Samantha flees the house. In her car, Samantha fades out of consciousness, and she is involved in a car crash. As she steps out of the vehicle, she is revealed to have transformed fully into a zombie. Her mother, who has arrived at the scene, begs the police not to shoot Samantha. As the police caution Samantha against moving, she lunges at her mother. The film fades to black and ends with her mother's screams.

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

Production

England said that he began working on Contracted due to his 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".^[4] He wrote the film's script in March 2012 and shot Contracted during a 15 day period in Los Angeles in May of the same year.^[5] 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.^[5] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

Release

Contracted at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival on July 7, 2013.^[1] IFC Films released it in the United States in theaters and video on demand on November 22, 2013,^[8] and on DVD on March 18, 2014.^[9]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 47% of 15 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4.8/10.^[10] Metacritic rated it 48/100 based on five reviews.^[11] Rob Staeger of The Village Voice wrote the film moves from moralizing to under-explored themes while remaining full of stereotypical characters.^[12] 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.^[13] In a mixed review, Andy Webster of The New York Times wrote that the "ending to this fable misses the opportunity for broader metaphorical resonance, but getting there has its own unnerving rewards".^[14] In contrast, Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times stated 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.^[15] Staci Layne Wilson of Dread Central rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote the film is neither body horror nor a zombie film but simply a gross-out film.^[16] Dennis Harvey of Variety called it "a body horror opus" whose vague themes and unlikeable characters are not readily discernible as intentional.^[17]

Ben Croll of Twitch Film criticized the film's marketing, which depicts a one-night stand that is opposed by an unambiguous depiction of rape in the film. However, Croll states that the major themes of the film are denial and self-deception, which color Samantha's own perception of the incident.^[3] Something Awful was critical of the rape elements in the movie and stated that "England punishes a lesbian for being raped in the most horrible ways imaginable. Worse, the STD is the only means by which he gives his character agency. And there's something all too misogynistic in the way he returns to the vagina, again and again, for his wellspring of horror. Yes, horror as a genre has frequently dealt with the ways in which men fear everything between the vulva and the stomach. If you, aspiring horror filmmaker, are planning to tread this well-tread ground, do something interesting - like Teeth. Otherwise, find something else. And quit punishing your female protagonists for being women."^[18]

Sequel

On December 3, 2014, it was confirmed by Deadline.com that a sequel to Contracted was in the works, titled Contracted: Phase II, slated for a release in 2015. ^[19]

References

External links

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