Okay, rewind your minds with me. Picture this: it's the early 80s, the video store shelves are a glorious mess of possibility, and tucked somewhere between the mainstream hits is a box that promises something... different. Maybe it boasts about being IN 3-D! Maybe it just looks gritty and weird. That’s the vibe you get stumbling across Charles Band’s 1982 sci-fi horror flick, Parasite. This wasn't playing at the multiplex alongside E.T. – this was the kind of raw, pulpy genre fare that thrived under the flickering neon glow of the "Rent Me" sign.
### Welcome to the Wasteland (In 3-D!)
Forget polished futures; Parasite drops us straight into a grimy, post-apocalyptic America where society has crumbled (a familiar, budget-friendly 80s trope!). Our guide is Dr. Paul Dean (Robert Glaudini), a scientist haunted by his work for a shadowy corporate entity known only as the Merchants. He's on the run, harboring not just secrets, but something far worse: a deadly, experimental parasite growing inside him. Seeking refuge in a desolate desert town, he crosses paths with a young lemon-grower, Patricia Welles (played by a very young Demi Moore in one of her earliest roles), and a local gang led by the menacing Ricus (Luca Bercovici, who genre fans might recognize from Ghoulies or his own directorial work like Rockula). Naturally, things go spectacularly wrong.
One of the big selling points back in '82 was the 3-D. Parasite rode the wave of the early 80s 3-D revival, filmed in Stereovision. Let’s be honest, watching it flat on VHS (or even streaming today) loses that intended gimmick, which often involved things like pipes, knives, and eventually, parasitic goo, lunging out at the audience. While the effect might seem quaint or even headache-inducing now, it was a key part of the theatrical draw, helping this low-budget shocker achieve surprising box office success, grossing around $7 million against a sub-$1 million budget. Not bad for a gritty little creature feature!
### Gooey, Glorious Practicality
Where Parasite truly earns its stripes in the VHS Heaven hall of fame is its commitment to practical creature effects. When that titular parasite inevitably bursts forth – first from Dr. Dean, then finding new hosts – the results are pure, slimy 80s magic. This isn't slick CGI; it’s latex, Karo syrup blood, and puppetry designed to make you squirm. And there’s a good reason it looks effectively gruesome: the creature effects creator credited? None other than the legendary Stan Winston, the practical effects wizard who would shortly thereafter solidify his icon status with The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986). Knowing Winston had a hand in the visceral, toothy design of this film’s monster adds a layer of cool retro credibility. Remember how that stomach-bursting scene felt so shocking back then? Pure, tangible nastiness, delivered with conviction.
Charles Band, even early in his career before founding Empire Pictures and later Full Moon Features (home of Puppet Master and Trancers), shows his knack for delivering genre thrills on a shoestring. The direction is functional, focused on building tension in the dusty, isolated locations (filmed primarily around California) and delivering the promised monster mayhem. The film doesn't shy away from gore, pushing the R-rating with some surprisingly graphic moments that likely wouldn't fly in a mainstream picture today without digital cleanup.
### A Relic Worth Revisiting?
Robert Glaudini carries the film with a suitable world-weariness, even if his character makes some questionable scientific decisions. Seeing Demi Moore here, fresh-faced and years before St. Elmo's Fire or Ghost, is a fascinating bit of cinematic history. Luca Bercovici chews the scenery effectively as the requisite post-apocalyptic punk leader. It’s not sophisticated stuff; the plot is simple, the dialogue functional, and the pacing occasionally uneven. But it possesses a certain grubby charm.
Parasite is undeniably a product of its time – a low-budget exploitation film designed to lure audiences in with the promise of 3-D shocks and creature feature horror. It riffs heavily on Alien (1979), particularly the body horror elements, but translates them into a dusty, earthbound wasteland setting. It might not be high art, but it represents a specific, beloved flavour of early 80s genre filmmaking – gritty, imaginative within its limits, and reliant on good old-fashioned practical effects to deliver the goods.
VHS Heaven Rating: 6/10
Why this score? It's a solid B-movie experience elevated by Stan Winston's gnarly creature work and its status as an early Demi Moore appearance and Charles Band effort. The 3-D gimmick adds historical interest, and the practical gore still has a certain visceral appeal. It's rough around the edges, and the plot is thin, but for fans of gritty 80s sci-fi horror and practical effects showcases, it delivers enough pulpy fun to justify digging it out of the archives.
Final Thought: Forget polished pixels; Parasite is a gloriously grimy reminder of an era when movie monsters felt satisfyingly real and ready to leap right off the screen (or out of your guts). A true slice of early 80s drive-in delight.