Parasite (1982) **1/2

I'm not sure Parasite (1982) would be all that much better in 3D, but in plain ol' 2D it's an entertaining enough little dystopian, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi monster flick, I suppose. Other than seeing Demi Moore in her second role, Cherie Currie (of The Runaways fame) getting parasitic, a few fun gore gags (the best of which involves Vivian Blaine (of Guys And Dolls (1955) (review) fame; thanks Stan Winston), and a government stooge driving around in a Lambo, blasting people with lasers, this slow-paced B movie doesn't offer a whole lot. All of that probably sounds really cool but there's not enough "oomph" here to push this into any kind of cult classic status.

Parasite was Charles Band's third directorial effort (of many, many cheapies) and it's the first of his directed features that I've seen. Band has served as producer on close to 400 (!) features—11 of which I've seen, most of which are also...entertaining enough (many of, which I haven't seen, appear to be softcore sleaze and/or endless sequels), and one of which my first band, Sector Nine Eight, even derived its name from!). Even his brother Richard, who has contributed a few memorable scores to Charles' more well-known productions, is given short shrift in this one, which is largely absent of music.