-Overview-

Parasite, produced by Irwin Yablans (Halloween), directed by
Charles Band (founder of Full Moon) and with special effects
by Stan Winston (Aliens), features the acting debut of Demi
Moore. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic near-future
where a parasitic creature preys upon the surviving
inhabitants.

This movie obvously borrows its central concept- that of a
monstrous creature gestating within the human body and
bursting out of the torso- from Alien, which appeared just a
couple of years before. The gory effects, despite being
provided by the masterful Stan Winston, are rather clunky.
Sure, this was 1982, but Winston also did The Thing and
Aliens around this time, and the effects in those movies put
Parasite to shame.

Why this story takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting is
anyone's guess- it doesn't have much relevance to the plot,
and as far as post-apocalyptic settings go, it's very unconvincing- it's a small desert town, that's all.

The acting in this movie is terrible, and Demi Moore herself is no exception- she appears awkward and confused in every
scene. Star Robert Glaudini is as stiff as death, occasionally flashing a hideous, quivering smile that seems false and absurd- he would be more at home in a 1950's Ed Wood film.

The movie was originally filmed in 3-D, which enjoyed a brief
resurgence in theatres during this time- the scenes meant to
exploit the 3-D technology are obvious and distracting. In
fact, I found the overall direction of the movie by Charles
Band to be somewhat inept- but then what else can be expected from the founder of Full Moon, where ineptitude is the norm.

The story itself is weak and occasionally laughable. One
example of this would be when Glaudini's character suddenly
arrives at a solution near the end that comes out of nowhere:
"Sound frequency! We can kill it with sound frequency!" How
does he arrive at this all-important discovery, you ask? Who
knows- the movie doesn't bother to tell us.

Except for a bit of gore and a few unintentional laughs, this
is one to steer clear of.

-Sound-

Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Surround 2.0

-Picture-

Widescreen (2.00:1) Enhanced for 16X9 TV's.

-Special Features-

Theatrical trailer.

-Packaging-