Earlier this week we ran an extremely high-level overview discussing what we know about the much anticipated sequel to Eric England’s CONTRACTED. Since that time, we’ve been able to exchange words with the director tasked with taking CONTRACTED to a whole new level. His name is Josh Forbes.

While Forbes’ name might not jump out to you as a someone you recognize, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve seen his work. He’s shot several extremely popular music videos such as “You Found Me” by The Fray, “Shake It” by Metro Station, and “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles. I might be a horror nerd, but I’ve gotten down to all three of those songs on more than one occasion. And that’s just a few highlights. Even though CONTRACTED: PHASE II marks Forbes’ feature film debut; he has been active in the TV/Film Industry for quite some time. If you’re interested in seeing more of his work you can check out joshforbes.com.

Enough history, though. Let’s take a look a Forbes’ future and learn a bit more about what he has in store for CONTRACTED fans around the globe. Some minor spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the original CONTRACTED film.

What Can You Tell Us About the Plot?
CONTRACTED: PHASE II is the sequel to Eric England’s sexual body horror film, CONTRACTED (2013). In the first film, a young woman contracts a sexually transmitted disease of the…let’s say…undead variety.

CONTRACTED: PHASE II picks up right where England’s first film leaves off. It involves a lot of the same characters from the first film, and a few new ones. Simon Barret’s mysterious role in the film has been replaced by actor/producer/generally-awesome-guy Morgan Peter Brown.

People may know Morgan as a producer on films Absentia (2011) and Ouija (2014). He also starred in Absentia and has done a ton of TV work. In our film, he plays Brent Jaffe, patient zero from the first film and we dive deeper into his sinister intentions.

For people who have seen the first film, it’s no secret that Najarra Townsend’s character Samantha infects Riley, played by Matt Mercer (Joe Begos’ Mind’s Eye,  Airplane VS Volcano). Our film centers around Riley, and his quest to stop the virus and save his friends, family, and the world.

What Was Your Goal with the Film?
My goal with the film was to take the audience on a ride. To take the body horror from the first film and double-down. To do something bigger, grosser, and scarier. To put Riley through hell and take the audience with him.

Stephen King once said about horror: “If I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud. ” I’m hoping that we have all three, but I can damn well guarantee some glorious gross-outs.

There’s much more humor in this film, and it’s a lot more kinetic and exciting. Eric’s film is totally different. It’s much more brooding and understated and emotional. C2 is more unhinged and insane. This is just a difference in personality. I’m sure some people will be bummed that it’s not the same movie, and some people will be thrilled. But guess what, you can always watch Contracted 1 again if that’s what you want to see. It’s a fun game of exquisite corpse. Eric did his thing, I come along and do my spin on the material, and hopefully they’ll make a third and that team will put their take on it. It’s a movie about a virus, it should mutate, right?

Who Else is Associated wiith the Film?
The film’s music was composed by Jonathan Snipes, who did the music for (Room 237, Starry Eyes and The Nightmare) {an aside: seriously, his music is so great in this movie. He’s so freaking good.}

CONTRACTED: PHASE II was written by Craig Walendziak. Produced by Raphael Margules and J.D. Lifshitz. The cinematography is by Mike Testin who recently directed his first feature “Dementia” for Boulderlight Pictures.

Also, there are a bunch of fun horror cameos to watch out for. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the directors of RESOLUTION and SPRING make an appearance as does Jeffery Reddick, the creator of the Final Destination franchise. If you look really close, there’s a SWAT officer played by director of “The Taking of Deborah Logan”, Adam Robitel.

When Can Everyone Watch It!?
It is being released by IFC Midnight and XYZ Films on September 4th. It’s also set to play in a lot of midnight/ultra/extreme movie slots, and that’s really thrilling for me. This movie needs to be seen with a group of people. I want them to have the same experience I had when I got to see Evil Dead 2 with an audience. The jump scares are jumpier. The squeamish parts are squeamier. So far, it’s played for a buyer’s market in Cannes in France and at the Neufchatel Film Festival in Switzerland, and so far people are really reacting to it.

As far as festivals, it’s currently playing

Neuchatel Film Fest in Switzerland

FrightFest in London

Sitges in Barcelona

Bruce Campbell’s Horror Festival in Chicago: http://www.wizardworld.com/brcahofifere.html

Hopefully more!!!

So there you have it. Now that we have a much clearer picture of what to expect from CONTRACTED: PHASE II, it’s time to sit back and wait for trailers and images to begin trickling out. And when that happens – you know your buddies here at Modern Horrors have you covered.

Stay tuned.