The Bloody Pit #27 - CONTAMINATION (1980)

It was a year ago that Troy, Jeff and I sat down and podcasted together and the film under discussion that time was the mad Umberto Lenzi zombie epic NIGHTMARE CITY. Proving that we only seem to want to talk on the record about completely insane Euro-Cult horror movies we now sit down to hash out our feelings about Luigi Cozzi's incredible (in every sense of that word) CONTAMINATION. If you have never seen this slice of 1980's cinema madness allow our conversation to push you toward a viewing first because we spoil the holy living crap out of the film from begging to end. If you have any love for bizarre movies you will find much to love - and much to make you scratch your head in wonder. After all, when you are watching a film that is trying to copy Ridley Scott's ALIEN but on a very low budget there are going to be some interesting compromises along the way. Due to budgetary constraints writer/director Cozzi had to set the film on Earth but kept the idea of the alien eggs and a large monstrous creature from the Scott film and even titled his script 'Alien Arrives on Earth' so you know it has to be great. God, I miss the days of cheap Italian rip-off cinema! So much fun!

Please join the three of us under "Absolute Maximum Security" as we travel from New York City's sewers to the coffee fields of Columbia to the planet Mars (!) in our quest to understand and share this amazing film. Listen as Troy re-titles the movie FOOTBALLS: THE RIPENING and wonders why it wasn't called CONTAMI-GASM while I express my belief that the movie is "Nonsensical to the point of genius." Jeff has done a deep dive and brings some fascinating details from the graphic novel adaptation of the script that Cozzi has produced and that is available as an extra on the new Arrow Films Blu-Ray release. Will wonders never cease?

If you have any comments or suggestions you can send them to thebloodypit@gmail.com and we'll respond in our next Italian Horror episode. Thank you very much for downloading and listening!