I don't care if Luigi Cozzi's Contamination is an obvious Alien (1979) rip-off. It manages to be a decent film in its own right with some absolutely fantastic special effects. Long story short: when a shipment of exploding alien eggs from Mars (yes, really) are found in a derelict boat heading for New York City, a team of astronauts and military personnel travel to Colombia where they discover a sinister conspiracy to use the eggs to destroy humanity. The agents of this underground invasion are being mind-controlled by a massive alien cyclops. The animatronic alien cyclops is quite honestly of Star Wars level caliber, even if director Cozzi had to use clever editing tricks to mask the fact that the damn thing could barely move. The other two effects concern the alien eggs and their effect on humans. The greenish, football-shaped eggs quiver, vibrate, moan, and violently erupt whenever they are heated up. If a living organism is touched by its exploding contents, then they too violently erupt in a geyser of gore, guts, and body parts. The explosions were graphic enough for the film to be labeled a video nasty. But seeing this as a blood and gore schlock-fest does an injustice to the film and Cozzi's competent direction. Cozzi does a wonderful job creating suspense, particularly in the early scenes when scientists investigate the seemingly abandoned ship in New York City. Contamination may be a rip-off, but it certainly is a good one.
6/10
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