Contracted (2013)

After being drugged and raped at a party, a young woman contracts what she thinks is an STD; but, it's actually something much worse.

Director:

Eric England

Writer:

Eric England

Stars:

Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Alice Macdonald

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Najarra Townsend	...	Samantha
Caroline Williams	...	Sam's Mom
Alice Macdonald	...	Alice
Matt Mercer	...	Riley
Katie Stegeman	...	Nikki
Charley Koontz	...	Zain
Simon Barrett	...	BJ
Ruben Pla	...	The Doctor
E-Kan Soong	...	George
Dave Holmes	...	The Therapist
Kaela Crawford	...	The Waitress
Andre Boyer	...	The Sign-In Guy
Celia Finkelstein	...	Nice Customer #1
Laura Baggett	...	Nice Customer #2
Chris Candy	...	Random Guy

Storyline

During a rough period in her life, beautiful Samantha reluctantly decides to attend her best friend's party, and even though she still struggles with a previous addiction, she unwisely accepts a drink from a complete stranger. As a result, shortly after, hapless Samantha considerably inebriated, she will end up raped in the backseat of the malicious predator's car, however, from that point on, the terrible incident will be the least of her problems. Straight away and rather inexplicably, poor Samantha will begin noticing rapid and drastic organic changes in her body, and being unable to pinpoint the origin of the dramatic transformation, within the next 72 hours, she will embrace her gruesome and pitiless fate as well as the certainty that she is falling apart. Literally.

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian kiss | rape | looking at oneself in a mirror | party | lgbt horror | 

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Taglines:

Not your average one night stand.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zaraza

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,328, 22 November 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,105

Company Credits

Production Co:

BoulderLight Pictures,Southern Fried Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is part one of two movies. As in this is part one the first movie out of two since there is a second movie (Contracted 2).

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Goofs

Samantha keeps referring to her orchids as dendrobiums, but she is only ever seen with phalaenopsis orchids.

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Connections

Followed by Contracted: Phase II (2015)

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Soundtracks

Boring
Performed by Fur Coats for Sportsmen
Written by Michael Mehlan & Justin M. Misch

User Reviews

Gives low-budget horror a bad name.

As a big horror fan, particularly the body horror subgenre, I was excited to see this movie at Chicago International Film Festival. Unfortunately, it's so utterly, astonishingly preposterous that enjoyment was impossible. "The Toxic Avenger" is more plausible and well-reasoned than this.

The main character almost immediately suffers a horrible symptom that would have any sensible woman dialing 911, but she opts to work a shift at a restaurant instead. I'll grant the filmmakers that maybe her disease is dialing up her stupidity, but 30 minutes in, her outward appearance is horrifying - the makeup effects are the sole redeeming element - and none of the other characters seem to notice, despite the fact that these same characters made a point to tell her how horrible she looked 10 minutes earlier, when she had no outwardly visible symptoms. Then again, a trip to the ER, rather than to a doctor whose STD exam doesn't require the patient to remove her jeans, would have ended the movie 15 minutes in.

Worst of all, the director is too cowardly to really go for the gross- out, other than the opening shot and one well-executed shot near the midpoint. Every other opportunity to make the movie truly horrifying is fumbled. For example, the medical exam could've been a terrifying "Dead Ringers"-esque nightmare, but instead it was just stultifying nonsense.

I would like to say that it's so bad it's good, but it is most decidedly not. The ability to elicit laughter might have made it passable, but instead it only elicits groans. I'm happy that the filmmakers were able to sell this dreck to some apparently rohypnol-addled exec at IFC, but they've already been paid. There's no reason to feel obligated to spend money on this mess. It'll be streaming soon enough. Skip it, unless you want to spend an evening going, "Seriously?!?" and "Really?!?" for 85 minutes. If it's low-budget gynecological horror you want, rent "Teeth" instead. It's disgusting AND clever.