Contracted: Phase II

Contracted: Phase II is a 2015 zombie body horror film and the sequel to the 2013 film Contracted. The movie was directed by Josh Forbes, based on a script written by Craig Walendziak.

Contracted: Phase II
Directed byJosh Forbes
Produced by
Written byCraig Walendziak
StarringMatt Mercer
Marianna Palka
Morgan Peter Brown
CinematographyMike Testin
Edited byRuben Sebban
Production
company
BoulderLight Pictures
Distributed byIFC Midnight
Release date
  • July 5, 2015 (2015-07-05) (Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival)
  • September 4, 2015 (2015-09-04) (United States)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Phase II follows the character of Riley (Matt Mercer) as he tries to find the man behind the zombie virus.[1] The film had its world premiere on July 5, 2015 at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.

Plot

After the events in the previous film, Riley (Matt Mercer) has begun showing symptoms of the same illness that caused Samantha (Najarra Townsend) to turn into a zombie. Panicking, Riley decides that he needs to track down the person who first infected Samantha, BJ (Morgan Peter Brown), in the hopes of gaining a cure. Besides showing the same symptoms as Samantha, most of the people Riley loved the most were infected by his virus, especially his grandmother, Margie, Harper and finally his pregnant sister, Brenda (at the credits scene).

BJ has his own agenda, he is more than willing to continue to spread the disease to other victims. He is immune to the virus and continues to spread it to other victims like Samantha and four other missing women whom he randomly selected in the street. After having sexual intercourse with them, he injects the pathogen virus into their bodies before sending them home. Eventually, he sends threat tapes to the special agent to orchestrate the end of the world with a zombie apocalypse.

As Riley decides to cooperate with Detective Crystal Young (Marianna Palka), he succumbs to the disease and is killed by BJ, who was at the hospital where Harper died of a seizure while trying to detonate a bomb to create a massive apocalypse by releasing other victims hospitalized there. As Riley is fully transformed into a zombie, he attacks BJ before Detective Young shoots him in the head.

In the mid-credits scene, BJ is shown to be alive, but hospitalized, while a doctor with an Abaddon tattoo tells BJ, "Very soon, my friend, very soon".

Cast
  • Matt Mercer as Riley McCormick
  • Marianna Palka as Detective Crystal Young
  • Morgan Peter Brown as BJ
  • Anna Lore as Harper
  • Laurel Vail as Brenda
  • Peter Cilella as James
  • John Ennis as Special Agent Dalton
  • Najarra Townsend as Samantha Williams
  • Richard Riehle as Deuge Gelman
  • Suzanne Voss as Margie
  • Charley Koontz as Zain
  • Alice Macdonald as Alice Patrick (archive footage)
  • Ruben Pla as Doctor
  • Caroline Williams as Sam's Mom (archive footage)
  • Joanna Sotomura as Debbie

Production

In April 2014, director Eric England had completed a draft of the script, titled Contracted: Phase II.[2] In December 2014, the sequel was officially announced following the first film's success on VOD. England was not able to return due to his commitments to Get the Girl. Josh Forbes was brought in to direct the film, working from a new script by Craig Walendziak. [3]

Release

After debuting at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in July 2015, the film was released in select theaters and on demand on September 4, 2015 by IFC Midnight.[4]

Reception

Critical reception for Phase II has been negative and the film holds a rating of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews.[5] Metacritic reports a score of 35 out of 100 based on 7 critic reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]

Variety criticized the film, stating "Despite a couple of brief closing-credit epilogues suggesting future narrative directions, "Contracted: Phase II" feels too hurriedly conceived to expand on the original's premise in more than perfunctory fashion."[7] Rogerebert.com panned Phase II and compared it unfavorably to its predecessor, writing that "Pointless body horror sequel "Contracted: Phase II" doesn't develop its predecessor's concepts so much as it resolves all of the questions you never needed answered."[8] In contrast The Hollywood Reporter and The New York Times were more positive,[9] and the Times praised Forbe's direction and visual effects.[10]

References
  1. Collis, Clark. "Contracted: Phase II director talks about his horror sequel -- and 'surreal' VMAs experience". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  2. Dickson, Evan (April 17, 2014). "Hold Your Horses, Contracted 2 Still Incubating…". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  3. Yemato, Jen (December 3, 2014). "Horror Sequel 'Contracted: Phase II' Infects IFC Midnight". Deadline. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  4. Miska, Brad (July 9, 2015). "Contracted: Phase II Release Date Gets Infected". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  5. "CONTRACTED: PHASE II (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  6. "Contracted: Phase II (2015)". Metacritic. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  7. Harvey, Dennis. "Film Review: 'Contracted: Phase II'". Variety. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  8. Abrams, Simon. "CONTRACTED: PHASE II". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  9. Scheck, Frank. "'Contracted: Phase II': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  10. Webster, Andy. "Review: In 'Contracted: Phase II' Misfortune Multiples an Encounter at a Time". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
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