Run-of-the-mill post-apocalyptic mayhem in desolate SoCal distinguished by the female cast
A doctor/scientist in post-nuclear America (Robert Glaudini) heads to a remote desert town north of Los Angeles to find a way to eliminate a new strain of parasitoid. He runs into a gang of desperate delinquents (led by Luca Bercovici) and teams-up with a young woman (Demi Moore). But a government-linked “merchant” is on his trail (James Davidson).
“Parasite” (1982) is a ‘B’ flick by Charles Band that only cost $800,000, which would be $3 million today (factoring inflation). It takes the chestburster scene from “Alien” and mixes it with the milieu of the TV flick “Where Have All the People Gone,” as well as “Mad Max,” along with the gang thugs of “The Warriors” and bits of “Gargoyles.” While it lacks the bigger budget artistry of “Alien” and “Mad Max,” it’s more thrilling than the mundane “Where Have All the People Gone,” albeit more comic booky. Still, I’d watch it any day over Roddenberry’s lousy “Genesis II.”
This was Demi’s second movie, which she called the worst film she’s ever done in a 2019 interview. It was likewise Cherie Currie’s second movie, after “Foxes,” although she didn’t go on to cinematic success like Moore. (For those not in the know, Cherie was the lead singer of The Runaways from 1975-77). I shouldn’t fail to mention Natalie May, who’s notable as the petite early-teens girl, Shell. She appeared in three movies at the time before dropping out of acting, except for giving it another stab a decade later in three episodes of a UK TV series.
“The Hidden” came out five years later and was obviously influenced by this. It’s obviously the better film but, then, its budget was five times greater.
The flick runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in the dry hills northeast of Los Angeles at Piru and Agua Dulce (Vasquez Rocks) with a 40-minutes drive between the two.
GRADE: B-
