Indie Horror film Contracted stars Najarra Townsend and was released November 22, 2013. Contracted was written and Directed by Eric England who also wrote and directed the horror film Madison County.
This film revolves around a young girl named Samantha. Samantha is a lesbian who has recently moved out of the apartment she shared with her girlfriend Nikki. Based on Sam’s attitude it doesn’t seem it was her choice. Sam attends her friend, Alice’s party to which Nikki never shows up. At some point in the evening, Sam ends up in a car having sex with a mysterious man (Ed Note: She’s not a very good lesbian) named BJ (good one whoever named this guy) . We are never really sure whether this encounter is consensual or whether BJ date rapes Sam. During the encounter, Sam is saying no and that she wants to stop and later in the film it is revealed BJ may have roofied her.
Sam wakes up the next morning in a pile of what one would assume is menstrual blood with a rash and a stomachache (Ed Note: Haven’t we all). And let me tell you this is one really bad period Sam is having! Sam suspects that she has perhaps contracted a venereal disease from her encounter with BJ and visits the doctor. What is not clear to Sam but is to the viewers is that she is decaying from the inside out! Who is BJ? Why is he picking up ladies and passing whatever this is on purposely? Why doesn’t he seem affected by the virus? Unfortunately we don’t really get any answers about BJ but the film works anyway. Perhaps we will get a sequel that will be BJ’s story.
This film is a slow burn. If you are expecting tons of zombie action — this is not the film for you. I’m not even 100 % certain this is a zombie film. It could very well be a commentary on AIDS or sexual violence. Maybe it is some sort of super AIDS that advances at light speed. If you lived through the 80s and you saw what happened to those AIDS victims you can probably imagine this not being that far off. I felt sorry for Sam. Her life was over before it even started and simply because she was penetrated by the wrong guy. Based on the amount of vaginal bleeding Sam experienced, I expected this to be written by a woman. I pleasantly surprised when I saw it was a man! He is obviously not squeamish about bleeding vaginas but if you are, I do not recommend this film. You will be disgusted.
One notable scene involved Sam and a man who had been crushing on her. She had been blowing him off all the way up until the night of the party but three days into her ordeal looking like death warmed over she invited him over. And then, SHOCKER he agrees to have sex with her WITHOUT a condom (Ed Note: Again, I question her being a lesbian, but of course he did — he’s a dude)! And then has the nerve to get upset with her when maggots fall out of her vagina while they are fucking. Boys really are stupid. (Ed Note: Um…..condom or not, I think this is a legit complaint)
I really enjoyed this film. The acting wasn’t great with the exception of Najarra Townsend but the story was engaging enough that I didn’t mind. There was plenty of gore, a few murders, and little to no nudity. Sorry boys no boobs! I’m looking to seeing the beautiful Najarra in future films. This film is currently available on Netflix Streaming.
