Contracted (2013) - Surprisingly excellent

I had no idea what to expect when I sat down to watch this and, for the first fifteen minutes or so, I was debating whether I was going to sit through the whole film.  I'm so glad I did.  It turned out that there are still some ways of using the tropes of an old horror genre in new and creative ways.  I ended up being completed engrossed in the film right up until the final scene (which, effectively, is the final pay-off).

It's about a woman who gets a bit too tipsy at a party and ends up having a one night stand in the back of a car.  However, the morning after she finds she's been left with more than just a few regrets and embarrassing photos on social media.  She thinks she has a s3xually transmitted disease, but, as the film progresses, it turns out to be something so much worse.

I'd rather not say too much about the plot, as you'll only get to see this the once without knowing where it's going, but I will say that it's nice to see characters who are actually 'human.' There are no 'modern characters' who don't have any faults and always make the right decision.  Here we go along for the ride with characters who are believable and make mistakes.  With all the perfect characters in today's movies it was like a breath of fresh air to see a film like this - almost like looking into another dimension where good, lot budget, creative little movies were allowed to be made that weren't already based on a past IP.

I guess you could definitely call 'Contracted' 'body horror,' but there is another horror genre it fits into, however, letting you know that would be a major clue to the ending.  As I watched it I had a shrewd idea of where it was going, but, as I said, it's not until the final scene do they actually confirm it.  Give it a go - it's actually a lot of fun, plus it's a nice, tight hour and a half - another relic of past movie-making, seeing as every film today has to be at least two hours.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one