From retrospective reviews, Kim Newman ("Monthly Film Bulletin") stated that the films combination of "splattery violence", "James Bond spy thriller", and "monster-filled s-f" was "at times uneasy, but Cozzi carries it off with sufficient bravura to paper over the cracks" and that "If the film relies on familiar images...it at least has a class, very loud score by Dario Argento's usual collaborators, The Goblins, to punch up the frissons." Mike Long (DVD Talk) stated that "Contamination" "makes good use of the ideas that it's stolen, at heart it is simply another boring Euro-horror film."