Death if touched
When touching death (original title Contaminated Man or The Touch ) is a British - German thriller by Anthony Hickox from the year 2000 . In addition to William Hurt and Peter Weller, the main roles are cast with Natascha McElhone and Katja Woywood .
action
When researcher and immunologist David R. Whitman, who heads a team of investigators in the laboratory of the international chemical company Amertec that investigates industrial contamination, came home to his wife and child in 1986, he was unaware that he was dealing with a fatal Virus came into contact. Shortly after he hugged his wife and kissed his little daughter goodnight, she died in agony.
Ten years have passed; Whitman is now in the Eastern Bloc countries as head of a UN task force responsible for the removal of highly toxic substances. The fact that he switched sides is due to his personal trauma. When an explosion occurred in the laboratory of the US-managed chemical plant “Clarion” in the Hungarian capital Budapest , the local authorities asked him for assistance. Whitman and his people take on the case that has cost the lives of many people. Whitman's investigation reveals that the disaster was caused by the recently released Joseph Müller, who has not been found since the accident. Also involved in the case is Holly Anderson, a young agent in a special counter-terrorism unit . Holly feels drawn to David from the start, but David is so busy with his research that he doesn't even notice. Whitman, who discovered that the chemical plant was illegally developing substances for highly toxic biological warfare agents, disagrees with Holly Anderson, who believes Muller is a political terrorist. When Whitman finds out that the factory belongs to the Amertec Group, he has a painful suspicion. Has his family fallen victim to a virus that was produced here in Hungary?
It turns out that Müller, an East German laboratory worker, has lived and worked in Hungary since the Cold War years . When he is laid off by his long-term employer, he threatens his project manager Holland in the laboratory. He is afraid that his divorced wife will take away his son if he can no longer pay his child support. In the event of a scramble, test tubes break. Müller, who has no inkling of the dangerous experiments, escapes the laboratory just before an explosion bursts everything, something that the guards who are shooting around cannot change anything. He does not know that he is already infected with Trinoxin 3, a life-threatening virus. With the poisonous substance in his luggage, he sets off to visit his son. The toxin is not immediately lethal in the first infected carrier and could be stopped by an appropriate vaccination if this is done quickly enough. For people with whom the wearer comes in contact, however, this has a devastating effect. Her death occurs dramatically within minutes. It is the same virus that killed Whitman's wife and child. Whitman, his team and Anderson are now doing everything possible to track down Müller, as any direct contact with him is life-threatening. The fact that Derrick Wyles, an intelligence agent, is also looking for Müller because illegal biological weapons were produced in the factory on behalf of the NSA does not make the search easier. Joseph Müller is not only a danger, he is also the only living witness of the catastrophe.
Wyles believes that Mueller is a member of a communist terrorist organization and operated as such, targeting the toxin with malicious intent. For David Whitman, Josef Müller is not the threat, but Trinoxin 3 is the real opponent - subtle and sophisticated, very different from the clumsy East German who just wanted a secure job and a family. When Müller is cornered, however, he fills drops of his infected blood into a Coca-Cola bottle, places them in a toy submarine and steers them into Budapest's water reservoir. He threatens to explode the bottle if he is not allowed to be with his family. After Wyles succeeded in eliminating Müller against Whitman's will, he is shocked to discover that Holly has sustained an injury in a fight. She suffers a cardiac arrest, but with the help of the doctor Karin Schiffer, she can be brought back after a desperate fight for her life. Since Whitman still has a bill to settle with Wyles because of his family, he infects him with the deadly virus when he says goodbye in the airport building.
production
Production notes
The film was produced by UFA International GmbH in cooperation with Promark Entertainment as well as Videal GmbH and Contaminated Man Films Limited and Rough Diamond Productions.
The film was shot in Budapest , in Eger and at Lake Balaton in Hungary .
Film music
- Anne's Bossa by Steve Sidwell
- Six Pack by Steve Sidwell
- Rhythm of Love by Liam Cooke
- Allegretto from the quintet in a minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , lecture: Škampa Quartet
publication
On August 30, 2000 the film was released on video in Argentina, in the United States it had its television premiere on December 17, 2000, in Germany it was shown from September 7, 2001 under the title Death in the cinema and was also on the transmitter VOX shown. It was released on video in Norway and the United States in 2002, and in Bulgaria in 2003. It was first seen on television in Hungary on June 26, 2006. The film was also released in Brazil, Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the Ukraine.
criticism
The film critic and former blogger Christopher Null wrote on the page he founded filmcritic.com that he could not believe that William Hurt had participated in this film. The portrayal of Peter Weller is the worst of his career. The action seems "forced" and "far-fetched".
Rod Lott asked at flick attack how “poor William Hurt” could have participated in a “below average virus thriller” called Contaminated Man . Anthony Hickox's film is a bleak sight, which is made all the more gloomy by the location in Budapest. The actors deserved better. The only good thing about this film is the title.
The Moria Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review thought the script was okay with a number of nifty twists and turns. Anthony Hickox himself is the problem, as he must have tried to leave his past behind in horror films and gone too far in the opposite direction. Although William Hurt must be the most boring actor in the world here, Peter Weller shows an outstanding performance and is almost unrecognizable after he subsumes his personality and immersed himself in the figure of a middle-aged man whom he embodies with absolute conviction.
On the Danish side Philm.DK there is talk of a rather dramatic film, which unfortunately remains without redemption. Otherwise all ingredients are included, even if the thin manuscript is characterized by the ambitious but unfortunately not artistic style of Anthony Hickox, which ultimately leads to an unbalanced and frustrating half-hearted film.
TV Today gave the film two out of three possible points for action and suspense and said: "Solid action and threatening atmosphere give the crude story the right thrill." Conclusion: "Despite inconsistencies: The tension rises ..."
Filmdienst spoke of an "epidemic catastrophe scenario based on familiar predecessors" that was "interestingly cast" in the main roles. Due to the “weak book and the erratic direction”, however, the actors “could not have capitalized on their roles”. "An attached love story rounds off the clichés of the genre."
Web links
- After contact death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- After contact death at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- If touched, death in the German dubbing file
- If touched, death see the official UFA website
- "Death if touched". Virus Thrillers, Bioterrorism and the Logic of the Global by Ruth Mayer PDF document
Individual evidence
- ↑ Contaminated Man - filming locations in the IMDb. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- ^ When touching death (2000) see moviejones.de
- ↑ a b Death on contact see filmdienst.de. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- ↑ Contaminated Man ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. see filmcritic.com. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
- ↑ Contaminated Man (2000) see flickattack.com (English). Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- ↑ Contaminated Man (2000) see moriareviews.com (English). Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- ↑ Contaminated Man (2000) see philm.dk (Danish). Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- ↑ Death if touched see tvtoday.de. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
