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This was actually... not bad! It's not good. Not bad, somewhere in the middle. The makeup and symptoms are really creepy. The story is pretty basic, but it's interesting at least. The main thing that brings me down a bit is for sure the script/ the way it's delivered. All, and I really do mean ALL of the actors sound like they're reading line for line off of a script. I found the main character Samantha to be pretty annoying at times. You're telling me she is literally vomiting blood and she doesn't immediately go to the ambulance? Anyway, that's about it for my review. It's a slightly sub-par horror movie with a lot of great makeup work.

Contracted: harsh reviews so far, therefore I'll be the first to change the pace a little.

I've watched horror ever since I can remember, love it, all types, slashers, zombies, ghosts and so on. I graded this one with a 6, maybe a little more than I should, but it definitely has to be over 5, and I'll give you the reasons: 1) the plot was pretty OK, more complex than you see at others 2) characters were divert, one of that, one of this, pretty much natural people 3) dialogue: seems dumb sometimes, might be OK if you consider the nature of the situation each time 4) the ending: did not see that one coming, I for one thought it was heading to a different conclusion.

I actually was drawn into it, I will not criticize the fact that it didn't rely on gore, blood or nudity, always loved diversity. So, to this strange little movie, that shows how a girl can change over the days, I say: bravo! It was not great, but it does move you slowly to the edge of the seat.

Contracted: worth a shot!

Cheers!

"Contracted" was actually a nice surprise of a movie, and a very refreshing and innovative take on the zombie genre.

The movie starts out in a fairly average manner, hinting at this being somewhat of a teenage movie, but then it does take a very nice and bizarre twist for the unexpected.

The story is about Samantha (played by Najarra Townsend) who is struggling with an overly caring and protective mom (played by Caroline Williams) and also struggling with her sexuality and relationship to Nikki (played by Katie Stegeman). When at a party with her friend Alice (Alice Macdonald) Samantha gets together with a strange guy in a moment of drunken stupor and has unprotected sex. Over the course of the next three days, Samantha's life comes crumbling down, as does her physical body and mind...

I will say that the story actually picked up a great pace and turned rather interesting come day 1 and forth in the storyline. And the story was really helped nicely along by some really great make-up and effects, as the three days came and went and we witness the deterioration of Samantha.

But of course, everything is not all good in "Contracted". One thing I didn't really understand was how people around Samantha, and particularly the doctor, could be so blind and ignorant to the deterioration of Samantha and her state of decay. How everyone was either blind or ignorant to what was going on, sort of added an element of stupidity to the movie, and a bad mistake from the director.

That being said, then I will say that I overall enjoyed director Eric England's vision in "Contracted" and his interesting approach to the zombie genre. And I will say that, with my devotion to all things zombie, then "Contracted" is well worthy of a place in any movie collection of anyone who enjoy zombie movies.

The ending of the movie was actually very satisfactory and fulfilling to the storyline, and it was a nice touch and a good ending in my opinion. Cheesy and predictable? Sure. But good, nonetheless.

I can understand why there are so many poor reviews for this film, but I'm giving it a 5 purely and simply for the effort and hard work that Najarra Townsend clearly put into this movie. She actually put in a good shift as Samantha, putting lots of energy and emotion into her part, the talent ultimately outweighed the script.

In brief, Samantha is at the party of her friend Alice. Let down by her absent girlfriend she hits the drink hard. An anonymous man BJ gives her a spiked drink, and ends up making out in his car with her. The next morning Sam wakes up pale, with flu like symptoms and cramps. The following day things get a whole lot worse.

Now I'm a bit on the squeamish side, and a movie like this isn't particularly up my alley, but I braved it out, if you've got a weak stomach ignore, as some of it's a bit nasty, it does however reach a point where all reality is lost, she got so bad at one stage it became easier to watch. Poor girl had a rather useless mum, a dreadful girlfriend, who managed to be from Australia, South Africa, The USA and somewhere near Scunthorpe all with her multiple accents. As for her GP, bless him he must have trained at Hogwarts.

The soundtrack was a little irritating for the first 10 minutes, it was a little dated.

Surprisingly well acted I thought, the moral is never have a one night stand with a man with a fuzzy face :-) 5/10 (come on she deserves that for at least trying.)

The movie pulls the viewer in right from the get go with a dose of necrophilia, leaving you wondering just what you actually saw. Then we find ourselves following the main character Samantha as she makes her way to a party, minus her better half. While at the party she tries to be a good girl but things go wrong as she falls to pressure and drinks her sorrows away. Before you know it she finds herself in trouble with a guy at the party, and wakes the next morning bloodied, sore, not too sure of what happened the night before. Samantha makes her way to the doctor with various symptoms, and tries to blow off her discomfort since the doctor doesn't seem concerned. Samantha's condition however wont let her ignore it. We watch in disbelief as she gets sicker in the most creepy and uncomfortable of ways, while her life falls apart around her. All of this becomes too much for Samantha to bear, as her body withers so does her mind, until she finally succumbs to violent madness pulling you along for the ride!

I have to say this movie started off really strongly. I was pulled right into the story and although parts were predictable it didn't matter too much as the tension and creepiness of the movie more than made up for it. Samantha's mental breakdown led to some unexpected fun that was a nice change of pace for the film,and helped keep the story moving. The effects are done really well too, making for some cringe worthy moments! Viewers will find it almost hard to watch parts of this film as the symptoms ravage Samantha's body. There were a lot of things that worked in this movie to make it very watch worthy!

While many things worked for this film, some did not. This film really takes a high level of "suspension of disbelief" to really be able to get into. Samantha's condition gets to a point where it makes no sense why she isn't, either voluntarily or by force of the doctor who is treating her, at the hospital for treatment and quarantine purposes. The fact that neither happen are truly a hard sell to the viewer. Samantha's mother (Caroline Williams) is also a bit of a hard sell as she seems completely oblivious to her daughters medical demise in front of her eyes choosing instead to believe drugs are the issue, which is fairly ridiculous given her symptoms. However, if you can overlook those two glaring points the rest of the story is pretty good, with some decent twists.

I mostly enjoyed this one. Contracted was tense, interesting and aside from the disbelief issue, pretty absorbing. The ending of the film was a bit of a disappointment for me. It felt like a cop out of sorts. I really wish they had done something different, but I wont pan an otherwise good film for the final 5 minutes. All in all, this is worth a view, I'd definitely recommend renting this one, but I won't be adding it to my collection any time soon.

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