Contracted

I fucked up. I spent several years avoiding Contracted. Its summary sounded disturbing and unpleasant. Then, I got into a streak of watching horror films that didn’t deliver on the horror their summary promised. So, I thought I could probably handle Contracted. It probably wasn’t as gross as the version I had in my head. Nope! Contracted is a nasty, disturbing horrifying movie that I regret watching. So now I’m left with the question: Is it a fair to criticize a horror film over the fact that it did indeed horrify me?

What’s initially impressive about Contracted is that its characters aren’t sitting around waiting for a horror movie to happen to them. When the film begins, we’re dropped mid-way through a new chapter in lead character, Samantha’s life. Without the horror element, the film would still have a backing in character drama relating to Samantha’s past and present. But instead, Samantha goes to a party and encounters a guy who roofies her. After this, she develops rapid and gross symptoms. Basically, Samantha’s got a zombie STI.

I spent much of the first two acts of Contracted experiencing it as an audio drama. I couldn’t look directly at it. There’s so many classic gross-out body horror moments. Loss of teeth, decaying skin plus a lot of genital-based symptoms. Even when it’s not showing you the gross stuff, it’s still hard to watch. The brief set-up made me care about Samantha and inject a sense of dread to the proceedings. You just know it’s going to get worse for her. The timeline of her disease is also random enough that you don’t know when she’s going to suddenly pull off a fingernail. Also, there’s maggots in her vagina. I can’t stop thinking about that. How did they get there? The human vagina is not a conducive environment for fly larvae! Maybe zombie pussy is capable of spontaneous generation? That’s a new addition to zombie lore.

Things level out by the third act and I could actually watch the film. That’s probably a negative. Your horror film ideally shouldn’t get less horrifying in its third act. By then, Samantha’s physical symptoms have stabilized. What’s more manifested is psychological symptoms that cause her to be around people despite being contagious and a desire to have sex and kill. But at least when she’s seducing and killing, she’s taking an active role. Obviously, the disease affects her choices and actions. But it’s still easier to watch her actively inflict stuff onto others than passively experience her body decaying in real time.

We can write off Samantha’s idiocy around spreading the virus as a symptom of said virus. But everyone else in the movie is a damn idiot. Samantha goes to a doctor a few times in the film. He’s surprised by her symptoms. Yet he doesn’t rush tests nor seem that intrigued by this gross medical mystery. Samantha also gets called into work at a restaurant. She claims her blood-red eyes are because she has pink eye. Even if it was just pink eye, that’s bad restaurant management. Don’t let the woman with a contagion around food. And don’t have her act as a server when she looks like an actual corpse! Worst of all is that Samantha successfully seduces two people. Even with her gross infected face, blood-red eyes and all of that, two people are totally ready to kiss and have sex with her. Choices, people.

Contracted tries to add a layer of depth to its gross-out horror. Part of Samantha’s refusal to get help and tell the truth is based in a culture of slut-shaming. Samantha’s sexual history and current girlfriend also allow the film to touch on homophobia and biphobia. The film show people won’t stop flirting with Samantha and her girlfriend, for example. An annoyance, sure. But Contracted doesn’t really dig any deeper. In the moments when it tries to add depth to its queer female lead’s experience, it becomes the most clear this wasn’t written by a queer woman. There’s a desire for sympathy but not enough first-hand experience to drag it across the line. This lack of first-hand experience is also true of some of the stuff involving Samantha’s genital symptoms. This movie was not written by someone with a vagina and there’s moments you can tell.

Contracted featured a lot of my worst fears as a person and specifically as a gay woman. It also added some new fears to my list. The idea of being assaulted and dealing with a zombie STI complete with vagina maggots is something I don’t want to dwell on. While the third act is a bit of a let down, this is still a deeply gross and disturbing movie. Personally, I did not enjoy watching Contracted whatsoever. But for people who are out looking for nasty body horror with at least an attempt at social commentary, you could do worse. I can’t give this film a positive review because I personally had a very negative reaction to watching it. But I also can’t criticize it too much for being exactly as horrifying as the premise promised. There’s an audience for this film. It’s just not me.

Overall rating: 6/10

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