I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill horror film. It's a gem of subtle camerawork and slow-building tension heightened with some genuinely extreme and horrifying moments.The first director I thought this Aussie was paying homage or crafting his film after was Kubrick--with his menacing use of camera movement and perpetual, unforgiving environment, Kubrick was a master. This director and film don't achieve that level of craft, but it was a surprise and reward to see an unknown weaving together advanced camera and editing techniques to build some scary moments.The opening shot is something out of the helicopter shot following the car in The Shining. Not as long or nearly as technical, but with the added voiceover, the same tension of dropping down into this dark world is there.Many of the shot selections are subtly creepy and right on the mark. When the hitchhiking girl gets into the cab of the flatbed truck, we get a subjective shot from the driver's POV and never see the driver. This creates undeniable, yet subtle tension. And a few minutes later we learn why with an unreal payoff that made me question if Tom Ford watched this movie when writing Nocturnal Animals to have crafted the horror in his kidnapping scene.The eccentric soundtrack always seems to come in at the right moment, with the compositional themes of a nightmare opera. The composer plays on the minor keys, creating a subtly 'off' sound to match the story and camerawork.When the two women in the countryside come into the story I realized what type of film, tone-wise, I was finally watching. It's something like Scorsese's After Hours, but as horror. (or I suppose you could just call this early Peter Jackson.) The protagonist gets himself into these unreal, sometimes darkly funny situations, and we watch, gripping our armrest more and more tightly, seeing how far it will go.Sure, there are some messy plot-points: it's a bit convenient the hitchhiker is dropped off right where she is; and the nature behind the protagonist's condition isn't explored very well. But these are somewhat forgivable. As a whole, though, the story development--the ways the main character could've gone, to challenge his condition and be challenged-- is the weakest element, especially in the third act, and takes away from the film's greater potential, keeping it from achieving the completeness of the films I mentioned above. For the most part, the last thirty minutes aren't patiently built up with slow-rising tension, or leveled with the same amount of detail as the first hour. Though there are moments there, and it does end on a high note that lives up to the rest of the film, making it a gem worth checking out.

Offbeat Aussie horror oddity Contagion stars John Doyle as real estate agent Mark, who is driving to a business deal at night when he spots a female hitch-hiker being attacked in the woods by a man. Stopping the car and getting out to investigate, Mark finds himself falling victim to a trio of hicks, one of whom rapes him before tying him up. Luckily, Mark is able to escape, and stumbles upon a mansion occupied by financier Roderick Bael (Ray Barrett), and two attractive young women, Helen (Pamela Hawkesford) and Cleo (Nathalie Gaffney), who tempt him with the promise of sex and great wealth. All Mark needs to do is to prove himself worthy by displaying courage, determination and ruthlessness… by killing those who stand in his way! Meanwhile, Mark's girlfriend Cheryl (Nicola Bartlett) is understandably curious about her boyfriend's behaviour and decides to investigate.As with Kubrick's The Shining, I'm in two minds about the true nature of Contagion: are Roderick, Helen and Cleo malevolent ghosts or simply figments of Mark imagination, the guy having completely lost the plot after his harrowing assault? It's never made absolutely clear either way, but that doesn't prevent the film from being an effective little chiller, made all the more entertaining by a smattering of nudity from Hawkesford and Gaffney, and, towards the end, a spot of gore, including a severed finger and a pitchfork through the neck. Some may be put off by the film's off-kilter atmosphere, but those who enjoy their horror a little off the beaten path should find enough to enjoy about this obscure '80s flick to make it worth seeking out.

A surprisingly good movie!It begins with an aerial shot over a road with a growling voice-over that seems to be quoting from some revelatory text. A wire is strung across the road, and a motorcyclist garroted.A female hitchhiker is picked up by a trucker, and a man is sent on a business trip. He meets her on the road in the dark after the trucker kicks her out, and she's dragged into the woods. After debating the matter, he decides to go after her, and is himself attacked and raped by strange bums living in the scrub. He escapes and is found by a well-dressed blonde who leads him to a mansion inhabited by another fancy blonde, and a wealthy old man. They make him promise to return.The man, Mark, grows increasingly obsessed with the people and the house, and the possibilities for sex and wealth. He decides to follow their three-fold path.While the movie could be called a slasher, it is more than that. It's a strange, overlooked movie that deserves to find some new viewers.

Well I bought the Image laserdisc edition of this movie recently. To start with disc: the video transfer is fairly good with a little noise here and there, but the colors a good and the picture quality is very nice. The Sounds is in glorious mono, very clear. Over all very nice pressing. This movie had me fooled a little, I bought assuming it was a haunted house movie. This is not the case, it is about a traveling salesman who one night on the road witness a young girl getting attacked by some madmen and he decides to stop and help her out. In the process he get beaten up and as a resolute he starts to hallucinate, thinking he sees a beautiful mansion, here the residents are two beautiful girls and a strange man. To begin with they are more than friendly to him, but the movie soon it takes on a very nasty murdering plot switch. The story is a little thin, but the cinemaphotography is interesting, so it is worth a watch. This is not my kind of movie, but if you like slasher films and you might what to have a look at Constagion.