‘You are what it eats’
Parasitic is a 2012 American sci-fi horror film about a group of young people who become trapped inside a nightclub with an alien terror. Unable to escape, one at a time they fall victim to the ravenous, bloodthirsty beast. Worse still, the undead return as zombies.
Written, produced, directed and edited by Timothy Martin [as Tim Martin].
The Still Night Monster Movies production stars Camille Balsamo, Amanda Beck, Carrie Carnes, Miguel de la Rosa, Isle Gallagher, James Garcia, Dan Gill, Bianca Holland, Bjorn Jiskoot Jr, Marcus Jordan, James Dean Lucé, Stephanie Mir and Margarita Neusheva.
Plot:
After a strange meteor destroys a communications satellite and crashes into Tampa Bay, a sickly-looking fish becomes the sushi meal for a beautiful nightclub bartender named Val (Bianca Holland).
Moments later as the bar is closed and locked tight, the infected Val quickly becomes ill and all hell breaks loose. Hidden from the others, the parasite she unknowingly ate rapidly grows and violently bursts from her throat and becomes the puppet master for the chaos ahead. With no possible way to reach help or escape, the trapped club workers must fight to destroy the creature before it is let loose into the world…
Reviews:
“The monster looks only slightly more unrealistic than the actresses’ breast implants. I mean seriously, when did perfectly spherical, immobile, watermelon-sized breasts become something somebody would pay thousands for? I love boobs, all kinds of boobs, but these just aren’t boobs – they’re crudely drawn cartoons.” Depressed Press
“Parasitic might have made a passable short film of about 10-20 minutes in length, but as a 78-minute feature-length motion picture it feels like it has at least an hour of padding. Not even Martin’s effects work could save his film from being an absolute chore to sit through.” ★ Dread Central
“Some of the worst lighting of all time, lame kill scenes, torturous pacing, stupid explanations, acting that doesn’t even qualify as acting. The only thing Parasitic delivers is suffering. Skip it and never look back.” Happyotter
“The creature effects here are so good they even made me take my eyes off of Val’s bosom every so often. Too bad the god-awful cinematography obscured a lot of it. But it’s a plodding, senseless movie that will bore you to tears in between scenes of carnage.” Horror News
“The acting is so embarrassingly bad that it’s painful to watch it, the dialogue is ridiculous and there are several characters that are so unlikable and annoying that I sat and wished that they would disappear quickly and hopefully die in a gruesomely graphic fashion. The camerawork and editing is mediocre. Parasitic isn´t remotely scary instead it’s boring and tedious.” Independent Flicks
“Martin delivers some passable cheap creature and gore effects. Beyond that, there is not huge amount to the film.” ½ out of ★★★★★ Moria
” …plentiful badly lit scenes of our cast stumbling around in the dark before being attacked and becoming creatures themselves, a groanable running joke about fish, and a moment where one of our trapped victims decides to give a big heroic “we can’t let it get out of here!” speech (ugh!). By the time the finale rolls around, you just won’t give a sh*t and probably be sporting a huge headache.” The Video Graveyard
YouTube reviews:
Trailer:
Film facts:
Director Timothy Martin learnt his special effects skills while working at Stan Winston Studio and Amalgamated Dynamics. He also worked on The Thing (2011), It (2017), Harbinger Down, The Predator, Goosebumps 2, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Avengers: Endgame and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Cast and characters:
Camille Balsamo … Grace Gillis
Amanda Beck … Renee
Carrie Carnes … Tiffany
Miguel de la Rosa … Tim
Isle Gallagher … Amber
James Garcia … The Kid
Dan Gill Dan Gill … Chris
Bianca Holland … Val
Bjorn Jiskoot Jr. … Jared
Marcus Jordan … Jimmy
Phil LoCicero … Pool Player
James Dean Lucé … Eddie
Timothy Martin … DJ
Stephanie Mir … Amanda
Margarita Neusheva … Steph
Julie Anne Prescott … Go go
James Edgar Sellers … Bar Guy
Kristen Sellers … Bar Girl
Technical specs:
1 hour 19 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.78: 1
