Parasite (3D) - Charles Band - (1982) DVD

Set in the year 1992, ten years after a limited nuclear war as destroyed most of the USA, scientist Paul Dean has developed a new form of leach-like parasite which can grow to large portions every time it eats. Then, evil government agents storm his lab and he's forced to flee deep in the nearby desert and persued by a "merchant" (government agent) intent on reclaiming the last two parasites Paul has. The first is in a silver container, the other is in Paul's abdomen. Paul seeks shelter in a small desert town populated by scavengers which threaten his work, while one local girl, Patrica Wells, forms an alliance with Paul to help him find a way to kill the parasite within him without killing himself, as well as find a way to kill the other one which gets loose and will soon multiply into many thousands unless killed soon.

Every hardcore film buff worth his weight in celluloid has a certain special favorite film which struck a peculiarly responsive chord in him . The fan's deep-seated affection for this picture defies a logical, rational explanation, but holds strong throughout the years nonetheless. "Parasite," an admittedly cheesy low budget sci-fi/horror blending of "ALIEN," "They Came from Within," and "Mad Max" which tells the bleak futuristic story of a man with a dangerous scientifically created killer slug growing in his belly, is that type of movie for me.

Sure, there are numerous concrete bits and pieces of "Parasite" which can be singled out as key attractive attributes. Scrawny, swarthy, long-faced and bug-eyed longtime unsung favorite Robert Glaudini portrays the sweaty, frazzle-nerved protagonist with his customary enthralling humorless solemnity. The adorable Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, looking like a scraggly, haggard, totally strung-out heroin junkie (all dingy frizzy hair, indecipherable feral grumbling and sneering facial expressions) does a welcome, albeit fleeting topless cameo as a deranged "sickie." Al Fann contributes a wonderfully warm and engaging performance as a nice guy diner proprietor. Luca Bercovici as a brutish punk gang leader makes for a perfectly hateful villain. Cherie Currie, the former lead singer of the seminal all-girl punk-rock group the Runaways, isn't given much to do, but still catches the eye with her sweetly pretty tall drink of dirty blonde water looks all the same. Mac Ahlberg's grainy, washed-out cinematography somehow manages to be oddly apropos. Richard Band's redundantly rattling score likewise weirdly works.

The lead pipe firmly embedded in a guy's abdomen profusely leaking blood gag is a genuine pip. The scene where the parasite attacks and kills Vivian Blaine by dropping from the ceiling is a corker; the moment when foul thing reduces Blaine to a desiccated, prune-faced husk before gorily bursting out of her shriveled head really hits the splatter spot. The sporadic use of strained, drawn-out and over-amplified slow motion provides a few solid belly laughs. The lethargic pace slogs along at a hypnotically gradual clip. Watching Demi Moore in her first starring role have her lip split open will forever remain a sadistically satisfying sight to behold. Stan Winston's black, slimy, and truly revolting monster design is deliciously disgusting. While all these cited specifics are credible reasons for liking -- no, scratch that, seriously loving -- "Parasite," the film ultimately gets to me and bowls me over in a way that I simply can't describe, but inevitably feel quite profoundly whenever I watch it. I guess you can say that for me "Parasite" has that inexplicable, yet undeniable and unmistakable mondo schlock flick zing.

3D Movie Type : Field Sequential 3D
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