Body horror is a gruesome, primal, and petrifying genre of terror. There is certain inescapability and hideousness that comes with the slow and painstaking degradation of one's body. No two modern films illustrate this concept better than Contracted and Starry Eyes. Today we will compare and contrast both movies, ultimately arguing which is better (spoilers abound).

. Contracted 2013 JUMP SCARY GORE vs. . Starry Eyes 2014 JUMP SCARY GORE Contracted follows a woman who is raped at a party, and slowly succumbs to a disease that debilitates and rots her body until she eventually becomes a zombie. I believe that this movie is better than Starry Eyes. Starry Eyes is the story of an aspiring actress who is lured into the hands of a Satanic cult with promises of a starring role in a major film. After being coerced into some very uncomfortable sexual activity with the cult's leader, she becomes infected with some kind of demonic disease that deteriorates her body and causes her to become hyper-violent and evil. I believe that this is a better film than Contracted.

Toby Qualls: How do you respond to evidence that Starry Eyes is a rip of Contracted (e.g.. both protagonists work in a restaurant, both protagonists' nails fall out in gruesome scenes, both protagonists eventually transform into something radically different at the end)?

response: While the two films definitely share some conventions, I think that Starry Eyes is unrelated. Body horror has it's own set of standard moves and gross outs that are tried and true and while there are some striking similarities between these two films (the protagonists even look pretty similar), they're both very much of their genre. The fingernail scenes are great examples of this. So many horror films (The Ring, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Descent) get you with the old ripped off fingernail, and I cringe every time. It's very effective! I also think that the two women in these films' characters are archetypal in modern horror. Our generation kind of has that "Bartender/waitress just getting by while waiting for the dream to come true" vibe in a lot of things. Hell, the show Girls is steeped in that tradition. We identify with those kind of characters, so film makers keep using them.



Short answer: Does Starry Eyes share a lot of similarities with Contracted? Yes. But not because Contracted did it. Because they are both films of their time and genre.

Kellen M: Do you find Samantha's transition more believable than Sarah's? If so, what about her character and disease makes her decline into insanity/zombie work?

response: I believe Samantha’s decline is entirely more believable than Sarah’s. Sam is experiencing a zombie virus and is beginning to develop all the telltale signs and general rot. Where is Sarah’s transformation coming from? Is she experiencing a demonic disease (a bit far fetched), is she starving herself to death, is she undergoing some type of occultic curse? The audience never finds out, so the events don’t play out to be believable. Even more frustrating is the transformation at the end whereby, after undergoing such hideous bodily horrors, Sarah magically becomes more attractive than ever. What disease does this?

TQ: Samantha's general degradation throughout Contracted is involuntary throughout the movie, yet Sarah seemingly chooses to put herself through torture and even death. Why, in your opinion, does she do this?

I think that the obvious answer is that she's doing it for fame and fortune. However, one of the things that I really like about Starry Eyes is that there's a lot to it and quite a bit is left to interpretation. Did The Producer infect her with some Satanic seed or was it just degradation and death? Did the Astraes cult unleash something that was already inside her or did they place it there? The transition in Starry Eyes is very cool to me and I think that the opposing forces (her human conscience and the cult/monster inside her) that eventually convalesce and lead her into total carnage are really what makes the film so great. The moment she says "yes" to the Producer in his home, the wheels start turning and she's already a goner.

KM: Both films rely on sex as a very important plot point. Do you think that Contracted uses it more effectively than Starry Eyes? And, if so, why?

I believe Contracted uses sex more effectively in the sense that it is addressing a wider social problem. In both movies there are instances where sex is being exploited from those of lesser power. Yet Contracted is very deftly combating rape culture; a problem that is prolific in this day and age. Contracted explicitly details manners by which men (and all types of people) will seduce and rape women - sometimes transmitting diseases. Gained from these scenes is the warning to be extremely caution in party situations. This is a good moral in and of itself, but Contracted takes it a step further. Sam has sex again with a boy that likes her, and the zombie virus is all but rife to become a pandemic. This mirrors true horrors within our own lives. It is all too easy to contract something nasty, and the consequences can be life altering not only for oneself, but also to any future loved ones.

TQ: While the degradation of Samantha's body in Contracted can easily be explained via a zombie virus, what exactly accounts for Sarah's nails falling out, teeth coming loose, and other bodily degradation throughout Starry Eyes?

After becoming infected, Sarah's body deteriorates in a rapid and disgusting way until she is almost unable to move at all. Only when she succumbs to her feelings of ambition, jealousy and rage in a very violent way does she find the strength to stand, walk, plot, stab and destroy. I believe Sarah's disease is representative of one of the iconic ideas of the film: talkers die and are forgotten, but doers find fame and glory and are remembered. When she's passive and confused, the disease is debilitating. When she's active and self-assured, the disease actually aides her in her goals. The Sarah we met at the beginning of the film would not have bashed someone's brains out with a dumbbell. The Sarah we get to know by the end most definitely would. Her disease and the "plague" that the Producer mentions in their first meeting are one and the same. Unoriginality and talking, rather than doing, would have left Sarah dead on her apartment floor.

KM: While I enjoyed both films, there was just so much about Starry Eyes that I loved. The acting was spot on, the synth soaked ominous soundtrack was killer, the violence was disturbing and believable and I found Sarah to be a much more likable character than Contracted's Samantha. I was rooting for her while she was stabbing her friends, you know? What do you think made Contracted the better film? Did you identify with any characters?

I think an often-overlooked element within Contracted is that Samantha could be experiencing physical, as well as mental, degradation. Samantha is an unlikable character because she is often rude, ignorant, and downright stupid. But could these character traits be emerging from the zombie virus itself? For instance, Samantha is often very disrespectful to her mother. Could this be the first signs of the zombie-like rage that will ultimately consume Samantha? Samantha only goes to the hospital once, even as each new, gruesome symptom would necessitate that trip. Instead, Samantha opts to go to work. Such a horrible choice may be reflective of the zombie virus impairing Samantha’s decision making skills. Worse even, Samantha has sex with a boy that likes her, even when she knows the devastating consequences. But yet, Sam is nearly a zombie at this point, and spreading the disease may be a top priority for her in a near-primal state. Nearly all of the character traits despised within Sam can be attributed to her disease, and I think this is an extremely horrific concept to try to identify with.