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Parasites
USA 2016
produced by Robert Miano, Silvia Spross, John Santos, Chad Ferrin, Robert Rhine (executive) for Crappy World Films, Girls and Corpses Magazine
directed by Chad Ferrin
starring Robert Miano, Sean Samuels, Sebastian Fernandez, Jeffrey Decker, Rich Lee, Silvia Spross, Tim Halpin, Robert Rhine, Burt Culver, Elli Rahn, Scott Vogel, Francisco Ovalle, Suzanne Sumner Ferry, Kurt Bonzell, Art Roberts, Carson Nicely, Wolfie Trausch, Casey Powell, Paul Louis Harrell, Abraham Martinez, Peter Mendoza, Shaun T. Benjamin, Eddie Kehler, Joseph Pilato, David Z. Stamp, Slava Yakubovich
written by Chad Ferrin, music by Matthew Olivo, special makeup effects by Crystal Nardico
review by Mike Haberfelner
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On their way to a party, three clean-cut college boys (Sean Samuels,
Sebastian Fernandez, Jeffrey Decker) lose their way, land in the derelict
part of town, run over some deliberately placed nails and thus end up with
a flat tyre ... and suddenly, they face a rag tag group of homeless people
led by charismatic Wilco (Robert Miano), who want to get their hands on
their possessions. But what starts as a regular hold-up gets ugly when
Wilco kills two of the college boys, and only Marshal (Sean Samuels) gets
away, all naked as Wilco's bunch strip him taking him for dead - but he
overcomes them. Ultimately, he kills one of his followers and steals his
clothes, and now he tries to make it to the next police station, seriously
injured, with no sense of direction, and in a bum's clothes, so everyone's
taking him for one. His pursuers are relentless and cunning though, and
whatever he, a quarterback at his college's football team, has on them in
speed, strength and cunning, they more than make up in numbers, and thus
many a person who tries to help Marshal like homeless Wilde (Joseph
Pilato) or Mona (Silvia Spross), the prostitute with a heart made of
something other than gold, get killed in the crossfire. Sure, there's
dissent in Wilco's group because he's just a psycho who uses those who
follow him to just serve his violent ends, but he even kills his
second-in-command Charlie (Rich Lee) when he tries to second-guess his
boss's motives. So ultimately it will be Marshal vs Wilco, but has Marshal
even the iota of a chance? Parasites is a very
interesting film indeed, as it on one hand seems to perfectly follow
grindhouse cinema formulas, and one is quickly tempted to call the film an
urban The Hills Have Eyes -
but on the other hand, it's a film that really makes you think, especially
since it at the beginning (mis-)leads one to believe this is just another
movie about the war between the haves and have-nots, and sides with the
haves (the clean-cut kids, the middle class) ... but then the movie starts
to ask questions, especially when its lead characters ends up being
mistaken for a bum purely by outwards appearance and feels the injustice
and indignity towards homeless people on his own body, and he is also
indirectly responsible for the death of quite a few "have-nots"
who were the only ones decent enough to lend a helping hand. On the other
side, there's the charismatic leader who has put the injustice and
indignity exerted against his own kind to his own advantage and only
gradually reveals himself to not be a skid row Robin Hood but a total
psychopath. But that this works as powerfully as it does is thanks to a
strong script and directorial effort that put an emphasis on action and
tension rather than hammering the message home, and thus making this one
great (if violent) entertainment - that indeed gets one thinking!
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