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Parasite (1982)
Kino Lorber
Blu-ray Disc Released: 10/22/2019
All Ratings out of
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
1/2
Extras:
Review by Mike Long, Posted on 11/8/2019
If you were to ask most people what the 1950s and the 1980s had in common, their
only answer would probably be Ronald Reagan.
But, the 80s saw a resurgence in the kind of hokey movie promotions which
were the norm in the 50s. With the
rise of television in the 1950s, movie producers rolled out all sorts of crazy
gimmicks to get viewers into theaters, but one of the most enduring was the
abundance of 3D movies. 3D made a
comeback in the 80s with titles like Jaws 3D and Friday the 13th
Part III in 3D. However, the
first US production to use 3D in the 80s was 1982’s Parasite.
Does being first make it the best?
The year is 1992 and the world is in ruins.
(It’s implied that there had been a nuclear war.)
Dr. Paul Dean (Robert Glaudini) is on the run, driving an ambulance
through the desert, desperately protecting a metal cannister.
Dean arrives in a small town and takes a room in a boarding house.
Once there, he begins doing experiments.
Meanwhile, Dean has gotten the attention of local tough Ricus (Luca
Bercovici) and his gang, who assume that Dean’s equipment must be valuable.
However, little do they know that amongst Dean’s cargo is a parasitic
monster. Meanwhile, Wolf (James
Davidson) is in hot pursuit of Dean.
Parasite
comes from Director Charles Band, yes, the same Charles Band who is behind Full
Moon Entertainment. Before he
created a company which focuses on movies about killer bongs and gingerbread men
(I’m not making that up. I’ll give
you a minute to research it.), he did try to make legitimate movies.
However, Band has always dwelled in a world of low, low-budget
productions (He’s basically the modern-day Roger Corman) and Parasite
shows that even in the beginning, Band was about zero-budget thrills and
misleading advertisements.
Parasite
was marketed as “The First Futuristic Monster Movie in 3-D!”.
Let’s break down that statement, starting at the end.
Yes, this is a movie which is in 3-D.
So far, so good. As noted
above, the film is set in the future.
All right, batting 1000.
Now, it’s the “Monster” part where things get dicey.
Is there a monster in Parasite?
Yes. Is that what the
movie’s about? No.
As with so many low-budget movies from the 80s, Parasite is
actually about a whole lot of nothing.
The monster doesn’t appear until the second half of the movie, and it’s
very clearly a puppet. And that
puppet doesn’t do very much. No,
instead, we get a lot of scenes of Dean going from building-to-building and then
some driving scenes as well. The
powers-that-be behind Parasite have wisely chosen to portray their
“future” as a desolate place, which means that a few buildings and some desert
can suffice as scenery. Wolf drives
a Lamborghini and I can only imagine that renting this luxury car took up a
great deal of the budget. (Watch
how gingerly the car is driven over bumps in the road.)
Parasite
is one of those films on the short list of movies which I can remember seeing in
every video store in the 80s, but simply having no urge to rent.
Looking back, I’m now glad that I didn’t waste my precious movie rental
money. The film is tedious and
boring, and while it fulfills most of its advertising promises, overall, it’s a
low-budget mess. Those who are
curious to see Demi Moore in her first film role will see that she’s aged well,
but besides that, you should only watch Parasite if you are going to
watch it in 3D. (More on that
below.)
Parasite
makes the future seem awful, yet mundane on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Kino
Lorber. The film has been
letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc offers both the 3D and the 2D version of the
movie. The 3D version offers a
1080p MVC transfer which runs at an average of 20/10 Mbps.
We have become very accustomed to the digital 3D of today’s blockbuster
films making it very easy to forget how shot-on-film 3D looked and Parasite
is a great reminder of this. The 3D
here offers incredible depth and a true layering of the image, as the foreground
and background are distinctly separate.
The image also offers objects which emerge from the screen.
The picture isn’t perfect though, as there is very distinct doubling of
objects in some scenes. The colors
look OK, but slightly washed-out (which I’ve noted in other 3D films from the
era). There is a mild amount of
grain here and no defects from the source materials.
The 2D version offers an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average
of 20 Mbps. The image is sharp and
clear, showing only a mild amount of grain. Overall,
the 2D version looks fine, but it comes across as a bit blurry and (ironically)
somewhat flat. Again, the colors
look a tad dull here, but the image is never overly dark.
For both versions, the Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which
runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.7 Mbps.
The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects.
There are notable stereo effects here, but as with a lot of re-mixed
stereo tracks, the surround and subwoofer effects are very sublte.
The Parasite Blu-ray Disc contains several extra features.
We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Screenwriter Alan J. Adler.
Adler returns in “From The Inside Out: Writing Parasite” (11
minutes) where he and Co-Writer Michael Shoob talk about the creation of the
script and how it grew out of a writing class.
“Three Dimensions of Terror: Filming Parasite” (15 minutes) brings
in Director Charles Brand to talk about how the production came together, with a
focus on the challenge of shooting in 3D.
The piece also looks at the locations and the cast, as well as props and
the “futuristic” look of the movie.
“Symphony for Slimy Slugs” Composing Parasite” (9 minutes) is an
interview with Composer Richard Band, who discusses the film’s music.
“Parasitic: Creating and Designing Parasite” (6 minutes) has Lance
Anderson discussing the film’s special effects makeup and monsters.
“Restoring Parasite in 3-D” (2 minutes) offers an explanation of
how the original negative was found and how the image was improved. The extras
are rounded out by an IMAGE GALLERY, TV SPOTS, RADIO SPOTS, and the THEATRICAL
TRAILER.