CONTRACTED: PHASE 2 (2015) (Blu-ray Review)

CONTRACTED: PHASE 2 (2015) 

Label: Scream Factory I IFC Midnight 
Region Code: A
Duration: 78 Minutes
Rating: Unrated 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Josh Forbes
Cast: Najarra Townsend, Marianna Palka, Matt Mercer, Anna Lore, John Ennis, Laurel Vail, Morgan Peter Brown, Peter Cilella, Richard Riehle, Suzanne Voss

Contracted: Phase 2 picks up at the very moment that Contracted (2013) left off two years ago with the infected Samantha (Najarra Townsend) taking a frightful bite out her own mother's neck before being gunned down by police. Now the focus shifts to her to her hanger-on friend Riley (Matt Mercer, Contracted) who you might remember slipped her the white worm only to find she was full of worms already, in a spectacularly horrendous moment. The difference this time around is that Riley actually knows what might be happening to him as opposed to Samantha, who was unknowing infected in the last movie by BJ (Morgan Peter Brown, Absentia), who again appears this time around as the diabolic patient zero who is helping to spread some apocalyptic plague. 

At the top of the movie we find Riley at the doctor's office, the doctor happens to be the husband of his sister, the doc is someone he can trust, and who it runs out fucks over everyone by not reporting his brother-in-laws condition to the proper authorities. This is something that will come back to haunt him later on. Anyway, Riley's initial blood tests come back clean, which is a relief at first, but true relief is in short supply in Contracted: Phase 2.

Despite his initial clean bill of health from the doc it does turn out that Riley is infected. despite his best intentions his actions threaten both family and loved ones, be it through intimacy and through casual contact he becomes one of the horsemen of the apocalypse in his own sort of way. As a sequel this one doesn't really push the story forward a whole heck of a lot, it does feel like a middle movie, and judging by the stingers at the end of this one we can probably expect a sequel in the next year or two, which I wouldn't mind.

What it does push forward only slightly is the recognition by the public health authorities that a plague is beginning to spread and it needs to be contained. To that end we have Detective Crystal Young (Marianna Palka) interviewing Matt about what happened to Samantha. He denies having any sexual contact with her, and the Detective is also on the trail of doomsday plaguer BJ, which gives certain parts of the movie a police procedural feel, and to a certain degree a medical drama. At the heart of the story though we just have more body-horror, and to that end they do a pretty great job.  Following the same progression as Samantha we have Riley noticing sores on his body, beginning on his back where Samantha viciously clawed him in the last film. At one point he pulls one of her infected fingernails out of the wound, and if the thought of that tests the strength of your stomach, you might not want to watch this movie, because that is only the beginning of the body-horror, it gets much ickier after that.

The first movie was a slow-burning character study of Samantha as she rotted from the inside out, the sequel is less concerned with the character study and is more concerned with making you uncomfortable. There's nothing quite on the level of seeing maggots fall from Samantha's vagina, but there are copious amounts of sick stuff, including eye trauma, the mandatory pissing of blood, and a scene that felt like a nod to Peter Jackson's Dead Alive wherein Riley inadvertently drips blood into the cheese dip at a party, which his pregnant sister consumes soon afterward, and that comes with the expected payoff

Audio/Video: Scream Factory presents Contracted: Phase 2 is 1080p HD widescreen (2.35:1) and the image looks solid as you would expect of a brand new digital image, the blacks are deep and colors are appropriately vivid. The icky body horror effects are very effective in HD with some nice crisp fine detail. The English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround audio is solid, dialogue and score come through crisp and clean, with some decent use of the discreet surrounds, but is mostly relegated to score, which is an unfortunately anemic electronic score. The disc is nearly barebobnes with only a small selection of trailers, bereft of interviews or a commentary. We do get a sleeve of reversible artwork with a slight variation, and a standard definition DVD featuring the movie and mirroring the slim extras. 

Special Features: 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 Mins) 
- Extended Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) 
- IFC Midnight Trailers 

What I would hope for with any sequel would be a slightly larger scope of the growing infection. The first movie was thoughtful and gross, this one was more visceral and disgusting, and while I am doubtful we will be seeing a large scale sequel. I do hope they build upon the movies in a way that is natural but also progresses the story without turning into something different altogether. Writer Craig Walendziak and director Josh Forbes did a decent job following up Eric England's movie, staying true to the vision he set-up, with loads of cringe worthy body horror and slightly progressing the story. Fans of the first movie will most likely enjoy the sequel, here's hoping that the third entry expands on it. 3/5

DVD Review: Dawning (2009)

DAWNING (2009)

Label: Vicious Circle Films

Region: 1 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 81 mins
Video: 1.85:1 Widescreen 16x9
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo
Director: Gregg Holtegrewe
Cast: David Coral, Jonas Goslow, Christine Kellog-Darrin, Daniel Jay Salmen, Najarra Townsend

Film: Director Gregg Holtegrewe's indie psychological horror film Dawning begins as sibling Chris (Jonas Goslow) and Aurora (Najarra Townsend) drive out to a cabin in the woods. Mmm Hmm. Now we all know that in genre cinema there's no such thing as just a cabin in the woods that doesn't involve dark forces, zombies, banshees, demons, torture and/or rape. The purpose of the trip is to spend time with their father Richard (David Coral) and stepmother Laura (Christine Kellog-Darrin). They're a dysfunctional bunch and it's a pretty tense gathering all around. There are all manner of emotional issues at play here, it's your typical post-divorce nightmare scenario.

The night the family are gathered at a campfire roasting marshmallows and going through the motions of  small talk when the family dog Brandy disappears into the forest. Already uneasy Aurora becomes frantic about the missing pet. The siblings set out in search of the dog and discover it laying injured, having sustained a deep wound. The family attempt to administer some first aide but it's apparent the dogs injuries will prove fatal. Perhaps a little too quickly Dad takes it upon himself to put the pooch down Old Yeller style. With the dogs death the mood turns from strained to mournful but the somber air is broken when  a crazed stranger (Daniel Jay Salmen) covered in blood stumbles into the cabin mumbling about something sinister in the woods and then things get strange. There's a dark presence outside the cabin that creaks and groans and the strangeness has infiltrated the cabin, too. It's occupants indulge in paranoia, insecurities and weaknesses are exposed and frayed relationships are strained to the breaking point. As sanity crumbles a dark force threatens to consume them all.

This is a taut psychological thriller with some nice supernatural overtones that while not rewriting the cabin-in-the-woods trope offers an interesting twist on the genre. It's a tight script contained within a brisk 81 minute run time and Holtegrewer takes care not to overstep his means. There are a ton of indie features that aim for stars on a budget that wouldn't get the to the $1 theatre on a Tuesday and it's refreshing to see a tightly knit film working within it's confines.  A point of contention for some may be the ambiguous  finale that arguably does not deliver on the tense film'sbuild-up but I didn't find it ruinous to the film's overall intense creepiness.

DVD: For review purposes I was sent a pre-release screener of the DVD from Vicious Circle Films that was not of the proper quality to adequately address video presentation but the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio was quite good, there's a nice sound design to the film that enhances the eerie setting, it's creepy stuff and I think it would have greatly benefited from a 5.1 surround mix but for a stereo track it's more than adequate. No comment on the special features as the screener contained none.

Special Features:
- Write/Director Audio Commentary
- Cast Audio Commentary
- One-hour Behind-the-Scenes Featurette with Exclusive Interviews
- Deleted Scenes and more


Verdict: Hotlegrewe hasn't created a completely original concept here, there are definite shades of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining throughout, but it's that rarest of scary films; a tense character driven slow-burn that relies on that darkest of places, your imagination. Dawning comes to DVD, Blu-ray and Video-On-Demand on June 28th, definitely a recommend. Pencil-in in Holtegrewe as a director to watch cuz I think we're gonna see bigger and better things ahead. 3.5 outta 5 

http://dawningthemovie.com/