Film Review: CONTAMINATION.7 (aka THE CRAWLERS/aka CREEPERS) (1993)

People are disappearing and being killed in the film Contamination.7 (1993).  It’s not long before the local townspeople realize that people in the government have been illegally dumping toxic waste into the forest which have had the unexpected side effect of contaminating the plant life creating killer plants willing to kill anything that they come into contact with.  

 

Rossella Drudi is credited with the script (but it is also written by Fabrizio Laurenti and Albert Lawrence and Daniele Stroppa) and directed by Joe D’Amato and Fabrizio Laurenti.  The film lacks any real suspense or thriller aspects and the special effects are very dated but if you’re a D’Amato fan then the film holds some charm.  It’s definitely a product of its time and a film that’s more remembered for being a D’Amato film than for anything else.

Film Review: WITCHERY (1988)

Fabrizio Laurenti (as Martin Newlin) directs Witchery (1988) which was released in Italy as La Casa 4.  For those of you that didn’t know, The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 were released in Italy as La Casa and La Casa 2, respectfully.  This film was released as an unofficial sequel to those hit films to capitalize on their popularity.  Ghost House (1988) was released in Italy as La Casa 3 and this film was the next in line for the series.  Neither of these films have anything to do with the popular Sam Raimi films or each other. 

A rich family venture off to an island in   There is also a photography couple looking to discover the truth about the witches and the history of the hotel and they all get stranded on the island during a storm.  Now, waiting for the day to break them each come face to face with the nightmares of the building that begins to take them one by one.

Massachusetts to buy an abandoned hotel only to discover that the former resident is still living their but as a witch who wants to see them all dead.

The film has its moments including starring turns from Linda Blair and David Hasselhoff and despite it being a very predictable horror film the witch elements make it more interesting.  The film is not so much a slow burn but the decaying of each of the ensemble of characters as you watch them become distanced from one another as they die one by one.

The film will satisfy fans of ‘80s Italian productions but audiences who don’t realize the genre (and country) of the film won’t be able to appreciate the film for what it is.