by Lizzy’s Take:
✨ I went into Parasite expecting cheesy 3D slugs and got… laser guns, leech explosions, and Demi Moore in leather underwear during a zombie attack. This movie is like a fever dream where someone watched Mad Max, Alien, and Blade Runner in a blender and forgot to unplug the blender. Totally bizarre—but occasionally brilliant. ✨
After a mid-’60s atomic fallout, Parasite drops a parasitic horror in a world plagued by gas prices and coffee shortages—plus an inexplicably futuristic laser-sporting merchant in a black Lamborghini. It’s like someone said, “Let’s make apocalypse sexy, violent, and weird.” Mission accomplished.
👉 Recommended if: You’re down for neon blood, rubber leeches, and too-early sci-fi laser guns with all the B-movie splatter.
🚫 Skip it if: You hate incoherent ADR, you hate Demi Moore’s early film career, or you just want, I don’t know, something normal.
A Weekend’s Worth of Gore Gets to Your Head
The film opens with an explicitly surreal and gruesome montage—think blood, organs, and neon lighting. Right from the start, you know you’re in not your grandma’s apocalypse territory.
Then, boom: laser guns. I did not see that coming. Turns out a corporate Merchant (in a Countach—because of course) is hunting Paul Dean, the doctor who accidentally gave himself a life-sucking parasite. He wants to weaponize it, natch. There’s a bounty, a chase, a chase in the crazy Black Lamborghini (fun sound effects included).
Gore & FX Highlights That Still Work
- Leech FX: Practical effects by Stan Winston make them feel slimy and alive—an impressive sleaze upgrade for its era. A parasite burbling in someone’s gut is odd… until it bursts from their head (gruesome punch followed by incredible splatter).
- Laser pointer weapon: Budget Star Wars energy saber vibes… and they lean into it. It’s playful exploitation, not deadly serious.
- Leech-burst effects: Made me say “Uuuuhhhh” out loud. Practical body horror is still potent—even if the creature looked like a zesty watermelon coming to life.
The World is Not Just a Set, It’s a Mood
Gas prices: wild.
Coffee shortages: dire.
World-building via ambiance: chef’s kiss.
This isn’t just post-apocalypse—it’s economic crisis apocalypse.
The film drops tiny details in signage and props that paint a believable dystopia: empty gas stations, dusty diners, and that sleek-but-weird Lamborghini hero/villain. The synergy gives the world texture, even when the dialogue lags behind it.
Demi Moore’s debut is charming: not Shakespeare, but strangely grounded. For a role with poor ADR—radio drama levels of dialogue delivery—she still holds attention. Hard to explain.
The Horny Monster Moments
True to Charles Band style, we get sexy underwear shots even while someone’s being attacked by a giant leech.
That’s the special exploitation ingredient: titillation + terror = cinematic oddity.
It doesn’t make sense—but I can’t say I didn’t watch. (Answer: I watched.)
Final Verdict
Parasite isn’t deep.
It’s loud, tacky, messy, weirdly colorful—and oddly entertaining.
world-building and effects are the stars here, not the performance
If your brain can flex with neon gore and stock explosions, this one delivers a small cult triumph.
Otherwise? You might call BS and binge something easier.
