Cheekily borrowing
the title from George Romero's third Living Dead film in an attempt to pass this off as a supposed sequel/prequel
to that instalment, "Contagium" starts off in the late 1960's, where the US army are busy sealing off a
hospital in a small town, where a deadly virus has broken out. Turning patients and hospital staff into flesh
eating zombies.
Flashing forward to the present day, a group of patients on day release from a nearby mental health clinic are clearing some waste ground close to the site of the old hospital, when one of them unearths a metallic sample container. Returning to the clinic, one of them decides to crack it open and see what's inside, unleashing the deadly virus within.
Noticing what looks like a virus outbreak, the facility goes under quarantine, but as the transformations become even more hideous and the patients begin to attack one another, a group of survivors attempt to hide up and see if a cure can be found in the clinic's lab before the ensuing carnage spills into the surrounding town.
Obviously this film owes nothing to George Romero's zombie movies, other than ripping-off one of the titles. Whilst this isn't the worst zombie film I've seen, it certainly isn't the best either, which proves to be typical direct-to-video fair. The special effects are somewhat cheap, the acting is hammy and the plot formulaic and predictable. Perhaps the most disappointing part was the films ending, in which the film didn't actually come to a conclusion it merely came to a stop.
The film isn't a complete waste of time, but it's one that can only be recommended to lovers of B-movies or die-hard zombie fans. Would be better if they simply titled it "Contagium" and marketed it as the standalone film it really is, as no-one is going to be fooled into thinking this rip-off has anything to do with Romero.
