contamination of the film class

In our cinema history class, we started a month of Alien ripoffs. That is, movies that were churned out to cash in on the success of the 1979 blockbuster. Last night, we started off with Contamination, an Italian-made film from 1980, starring Ian McCulloch.

The bottom line? Contamination is a better movie than it has any right to be. It rips off Alien, and it rips off Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Psycho, and it rips off a dozen other sources. But it's suspenseful and fun. There are some scenes with truly great camera work, and the music (by either "Goblin" or "The Goblin," depending on what you think is correct) was the perfect complement. Interestingly, while it was a ripoff, I can think of several later bits of popculture that may have been influenced by it. Scarface and Little Shop of Horrors (the 1980s version) come to mind. And Kand and Kodos (the aliens from The Simpsons) look like they may have been  influenced by the design of the Alien Cyclops (yes, you read that right). Assuming, of course, that the producers of The Simpsons saw this and it's not just a coincidence.

As far as these classes go, this four-week session is a bit of an anomaly. We have generally focused on fare from the 1950s and 1960s, though we have gone back to the 1920s. Keith, who runs the show, tends not to be interested in material from the 1980s and later. But as this session covers ripoffs of Alien, we're kind of forced into material from 1980 and later.

I think I gave it a 7.2. Which is about 6.2 higher than I expected I would.