20 Exploitation Films You Must See Before You Die

Having previously helmed Star Wars knock-off Starcrash, which featured David Hasselhoff wielding a lightsabre, Luigi Cozzi pitched Contamination, a story that brought Alien to Earth.

When a freighter arrives in New York with its crew dead, police find a number of glowing, pulsating eggs (actually painted balloons) in the hold that suddenly erupt, spraying them with a substance that inexplicably causes their bodies to explode. Are these the same eggs seen on an expedition to Mars led by Commander Hubbard (Zombie Holocaust’s Ian McCulloch)? Pulled out of retirement and teamed with a lady Colonel and a bumbling NYC cop, McCulloch travels to Columbia, where he uncovers a world domination plot led by a former colleague, who is of course being manipulated by a rubbery cyclopean octopus.

Referencing everything from Them! and Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the James Bond films, the Italian maestro orchestrates another entertaining schlockfest that allows nothing – including the awkward dialogue and illogical plotting – to stand in its way. Those who enjoy Spaghetti Schlock don’t enjoy it for its nuanced characters and richly textured narratives but for its sheer joy as escapism, and when it comes to monstrously entertaining b-grade fare, Cozzi’s one of the best.