Contagion (1988)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Great Film overall

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill horror film. It's a gem of subtle camerawork and slow-building tension heightened with some genuinely extreme and horrifying moments.The first director I thought this Aussie was paying homage or crafting his film after was Kubrick--with his menacing use of camera movement and perpetual, unforgiving environment, Kubrick was a master. This director and film don't achieve that level of craft, but it was a surprise and reward to see an unknown weaving together advanced camera and editing techniques to build some scary moments.The opening shot is something out of the helicopter shot following the car in The Shining. Not as long or nearly as technical, but with the added voiceover, the same tension of dropping down into this dark world is there.Many of the shot selections are subtly creepy and right on the mark. When the hitchhiking girl gets into the cab of the flatbed truck, we get a subjective shot from the driver's POV and never see the driver. This creates undeniable, yet subtle tension. And a few minutes later we learn why with an unreal payoff that made me question if Tom Ford watched this movie when writing Nocturnal Animals to have crafted the horror in his kidnapping scene.The eccentric soundtrack always seems to come in at the right moment, with the compositional themes of a nightmare opera. The composer plays on the minor keys, creating a subtly 'off' sound to match the story and camerawork.When the two women in the countryside come into the story I realized what type of film, tone-wise, I was finally watching. It's something like Scorsese's After Hours, but as horror. (or I suppose you could just call this early Peter Jackson.) The protagonist gets himself into these unreal, sometimes darkly funny situations, and we watch, gripping our armrest more and more tightly, seeing how far it will go.Sure, there are some messy plot-points: it's a bit convenient the hitchhiker is dropped off right where she is; and the nature behind the protagonist's condition isn't explored very well. But these are somewhat forgivable. As a whole, though, the story development--the ways the main character could've gone, to challenge his condition and be challenged-- is the weakest element, especially in the third act, and takes away from the film's greater potential, keeping it from achieving the completeness of the films I mentioned above. For the most part, the last thirty minutes aren't patiently built up with slow-rising tension, or leveled with the same amount of detail as the first hour. Though there are moments there, and it does end on a high note that lives up to the rest of the film, making it a gem worth checking out.

John Doyle (Hg and Roy) pretty sure he plays Roy, pops up, in yet another video fizzer from the CBS Fox video collection. Undoubtedly one of the worst Aussie horrors, this one I've come to view, recently again, and asking myself that same question, what's the whole thing about, and what the hell is the three fold path. And what the hell is Ray Barrett doing, acting in this. The film starts off interestingly enough, with a roll of razor wire being strung across a lone country highway, the next unfortunate soul, a bikie buys it, in a scene too reminiscent to that fateful one in Stone. From here we follow Doyle, a real estate agent, who does a night call out in the sticks, in his trusty station wagon. The survivor of a bad accident, where the female occupant wasn't so lucky, he's aided by a beautiful blonde girl, Helen, who takes him back to this palace like house, that doesn't fit into the ordinary of houses out here in the bush. You can easily tell too they're two different shots. Here in this house of luxury, Doyle meets Helen's bitchy twin sister, Cleo, and a mysterious older guy Ronny (Barrett) completely wasted of his talent, the much better, if professional of performances. What the hell is this grumpy old sod, doing out here with these fine two lovelies. Are they somehow related? How did they meet? Barrett's a very successful money magnate, follows the money market, into trading. He is, what you could say, made of the right stuff, something this movie definitely isn't. Pity all these three characters are ghosts. At least Doyle gets to have some nice serves of sex later on in the flick. Doyle becomes so intrigued by this Ronny, brainwashed if you will. He stumbles back to his beat up station wagon, out there on the lonely road. He collapses, ends up in hospital, his girlfriend, a boutique owner, her head full of questions. They eventuate into more serious ones, as she notices changes in him. Yes our Mark (Doyle) has become a changed man, a stronger man, a better man. Obsessed, he returns to his lovelies and Ronny, where to complete this three fold path, whatever, or whatever the hell that is, he's asked to kill certain people, so their place and operation is kept top secret. Really, not much of this movie makes sense, nor does it's existence. It has some nasty, sick bits of violence here and there, minus a finger or two, and sometimes it appears, Doyle isn't even acting, that of a standard to an ANZ ad he did, mid 80's. Really Contagion is just a horribly horrible horror, some scenes pointless, as they are pathetic, as in other Karl Zwicky films. If you're a horror buff, and you actually think this movie's good, get a head check, seriously.

Mark is driving late at night through a desolate wooded area when suddenly his headlights shine on a young female hitch hiker being assaulted by an unknown assailant.Stopping to help,Mark finds himself being abducted and chased by a group of backwoods rednecks.Mark believes he has found escape when he stumbles upon an old mansion which is inhabited by a strange old man and 2 mysterious women.They promise him great wealth.. for a price.Soon Mark is caught in a web of madness and murder,but is everything as it really seems?Is Mark going insane or was this chain of events already planned out for him?"Contagion" is an overlooked Australian supernatural slasher full of surprising plot twists.There is also a bit of nasty violence and graphic nudity thrown in.The film is incredibly rare and very hard to find,which is a shame.8 out of 10.

A surprisingly good movie!It begins with an aerial shot over a road with a growling voice-over that seems to be quoting from some revelatory text. A wire is strung across the road, and a motorcyclist garroted.A female hitchhiker is picked up by a trucker, and a man is sent on a business trip. He meets her on the road in the dark after the trucker kicks her out, and she's dragged into the woods. After debating the matter, he decides to go after her, and is himself attacked and raped by strange bums living in the scrub. He escapes and is found by a well-dressed blonde who leads him to a mansion inhabited by another fancy blonde, and a wealthy old man. They make him promise to return.The man, Mark, grows increasingly obsessed with the people and the house, and the possibilities for sex and wealth. He decides to follow their three-fold path.While the movie could be called a slasher, it is more than that. It's a strange, overlooked movie that deserves to find some new viewers.