Contamination (1980) - Arrow

[Hellhound]

Originally Posted by nick7125

Just in case anyone was still wondering about the slipcover situation. I ordered mine from Best Buy and it arrived today and had a shiny new foil slipcover. So, apparently they are still out there.

I got mine from the last DeepDiscount 15% off sale and it also had a slip. I was tempted to order a copy from Arrow since I could have gotten it for cheaper during their sale but other people confirmed that Arrow isn't selling the version with the slip anymore, so I decided to pay a little more to get one.

[StingingVelvet]

They said the first printing would have slips and it makes sense this didn't sell well, since it's a terrible movie. Not surprised they're still coming with slips. You can which Scream Factory movies sold less as well by seeing which come with slips way after release, like Cat People and Ginger Snaps in the recent sale.

[Werdsniper2]

I just watched this streaming on Amazon tonight, and my sentiments are much the same as previous posters on here. I love the gore...it's plentiful in the beginning but, as previously mentioned, it's absent toward the middle part of the film which does indeed get pretty boring. It almost seemed like a different movie entirely once they head to South Africa. With that said, I still enjoyed it and the synth soundtrack is awesome.

It's been a year and a half since the last post in this thread so this is probably a shot in the dark, but does anyone know if this still comes with that nice looking slip? For me, it's worth buying if it does, and not worth buying if it doesn't.

It's $22 on Amazon right now, but I need to be certain about that shiny slip. It was reportedly limited to a certain amount of earlier buyers.

[splintersan]

I bought mine well over a year ago and it did not come with a slip but mine may have been the UK edition, I can't quite remember at the moment.

[kem71]

Originally Posted by Werdsniper2

I just watched this streaming on Amazon tonight, and my sentiments are much the same as previous posters on here. I love the gore...it's plentiful in the beginning but, as previously mentioned, it's absent toward the middle part of the film which does indeed get pretty boring. It almost seemed like a different movie entirely once they head to South Africa. With that said, I still enjoyed it and the synth soundtrack is awesome.

It's been a year and a half since the last post in this thread so this is probably a shot in the dark, but does anyone know if this still comes with that nice looking slip? For me, it's worth buying if it does, and not worth buying if it doesn't.

It's $22 on Amazon right now, but I need to be certain about that shiny slip. It was reportedly limited to a certain amount of earlier buyers.

I just received my copy from Amazon and unfortunately it did NOT come with the fancy slipcover. The good news is that it DID come with the booklet though.
Great disc. Obviously not the greatest film, but still loads of fun. The extras are cool too.

[Werdsniper2]

Originally Posted by kem71

I just received my copy from Amazon and unfortunately it did NOT come with the fancy slipcover. The good news is that it DID come with the booklet though.
Great disc. Obviously not the greatest film, but still loads of fun. The extras are cool too.

I ended up buying this from Arrow UK (it was cheaper, but I can't recall the actual price right now) and just like you, it unfortunately did not come with the slip. With that said, I still own the movie now and I'm a happy camper. It is what it is...oh well!

[DaylightsEnd]

I just picked this up after not having seen it for many, many years. All I really remembered about it were some of the excellent melodic hooks from the entertaining score. And it didn't disappoint. Arrow truly did a fantastic job on this transfer, way back in 2015. Moreover, this flick is chock-full of cinematic Itali-trash gold. It's a shameless, ambitious Alien-meets-Zombie Italian clone sci-fi/horror-adventure mash-up, with a kiss of Body Snatchers and some James Bond-style villain action rolled in for good measure. As you'd have to expect, it has catastrophic pacing issues and insurmountable plot holes, but if you're micro-analyzing "Alien Contamination" for continuity and sophisticated production, you need your head examined. Some of those slow-mo alien pod-burst and body-burst sequences are beyond hilarious. There's even a cop/suicide-by-pod scene. The various hazmat, heat and tactical suits utilized throughout, the funky sound effects, and the matter-of-fact dialogue delivery are top-shelf low-grade magic. The bizarre, disgusting, ridiculous finale was riveting. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I'm stunned at the picture quality, because the last time I saw this flick on either vhs or dvd long ago, the transfer was literally unwatchable. Kudos to you on this, Arrow. I'm late to the party, but it's a worthy addition and a great entry in the Italian B-horror knockoff genre.

[agenda]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

Arrow truly did a fantastic job on this transfer, way back in 2018.

You mean 2015...?

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by agenda

You mean 2015...?

Yes, typo, sorry. The 2015 release.

[DaylightsEnd]

I wonder if this release sold well for Arrow on blu, and if Arrow or some other boutique might consider dropping this title in 4k uhd. From a restoration standpoint, the 7+ year old 2k scan showed the underlying elements to still be in excellent shape. There's no denying a 4k uhd would be gorgeous. Plenty of the darker material especially could really benefit from the format. Maybe 88 Films' awesome current efforts to restore quite a number of Italian zombie and cannibal films from this era in 4k could help push this title up into the queue...

[Surge92]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

I wonder if this release sold well for Arrow on blu, and if Arrow or some other boutique might consider dropping this title in 4k uhd. From a restoration standpoint, the 7+ year old 2k scan showed the underlying elements to still be in excellent shape. There's no denying a 4k uhd would be gorgeous. Plenty of the darker material especially could really benefit from the format. Maybe 88 Films' awesome current efforts to restore quite a number of Italian zombie and cannibal films from this era in 4k could help push this title up into the queue...

You liked it that much? I haven't seen it since I first got the Arrow blu-ray years ago. I remember thinking it was pretty cool but nothing that blew me away. I might have to watch it again.

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by Surge92

You liked it that much? I haven't seen it since I first got the Arrow blu-ray years ago. I remember thinking it was pretty cool but nothing that blew me away. I might have to watch it again.

She's a trainwreck, with some pretty brutal pacing issues, and she's a bit of an acquired taste, like most Itali-trash clone mash-ups. The score is great, some of the cinematography is gorgeous, the special effects and costumes are a scream, and there's just enough "so zany it's entertaining" action going on to warrant an upgrade, at least from a collector's standpoint. A 4k won't make the film better than it is, but any Italian clone mashup collection of films from that period would feel incomplete without it. I also find it plenty re-watchable, especially the first half, which has some great atmosphere. I have a pretty high tolerance and wide forgiveness for films of this ilk, though. We'll certainly never see anything like this ever filmed again, and I find the vintage stuff more enjoyable than much of the bland, uninspired new tripe that rolls out on Shudder, Netflix, etc....

[saltysam]

It's got Ian McCulloch so it's instantly got something for it. It's stupidly daft but very entertaining.

[Rockercub]

Right after Starcrash and before the Hercules movies. Cozzi's golden era!

[Walter Kafka]

Originally Posted by DaylightsEnd

She's a trainwreck, with some pretty brutal pacing issues, and she's a bit of an acquired taste, like most Itali-trash clone mash-ups. The score is great, some of the cinematography is gorgeous, the special effects and costumes are a scream, and there's just enough "so zany it's entertaining" action going on to warrant an upgrade, at least from a collector's standpoint. A 4k won't make the film better than it is, but any Italian cone mashup collection of films from that period would feel incomplete without it. I also find it re-watchable, at least the first half, which even has some great atmosphere. I have a pretty high tolerance and wide forgiveness for films of this ilk, though. We'll certainly never see anything like this ever filmed again, and I find the vintage stuff more enjoyable than much of the bland, uninspiring new tripe that rolls out on Shudder, Netflix, etc....

This is purely second-tier Italian genre filmmaking for me (and that's still pretty darn good.) I gave it three and a half stars out of five. I'd welcome a 4K upgrade. I haven't owned it since VHS (on the Lettuce Entertain You label )

[Resident Evil Labs]

Cool finally picking this up, fun trashy ride

[snipemonkey]

Agree. I have a great nostalgic love for this movie. First saw it (as Alien Contamination) on a local late-night broadcast in Amarillo, Texas back in the mid-80s. Most of the gore was excised but I ate it up all the same. At 10-12 years (and before VCRs were widely owned) you take what you can get.

Yeah, it's dumb as all get-out but it's good unpretentious fun in the same way a ton of these Italian knock-offs seem to be.

[Resident Evil Labs]

How do you think this stacks up against the HD stream?

[WaverBoy]

I just now shelled out $59 clams on eBay for the limited 2-disc edition with booklet and slipcover. I’ve never even seen this but I’ve always loved the score and I just watched the trailer and it was epic and so…yep. I’m insane. I admit it. And I love fancy slipcovers and booklets. And goofy gory sci-fi. And Goblin.

[Armakuni]

Can anyone tell me if the arrow iTunes version includes the Italian audio track? iTunes and Blu-ray only states the English track.