Parasite

An abandoned oil rig in the middle of the North Sea. Dr. Christine Hansen (Saskia Gould) is charged with the task of testing an experimental cleaning fluid which could revolutionize the oil industry. Hired to carry out the tests is Jacob Rasmussen (GW Stevens) and his rough and ready crew of deconstruction engineers. But within hours one of them is missing under suspicious circumstances. Things go from bad to worse when environmental activist Mickey Hennessey (Conrad Whitaker) and his hard-bitten associates seize control of the rig, taking everybody on board hostage. But very soon oil workers and environmentalists will be compelled to join forces in an evolutionary battle for survival. For a savage new life-form has made its home on the rig. And it is hungry. Not an especially bad movie, but far from being a great one. A dumb script (courtesy of 5 screenwriters) and weak acting destroy the tension. Special effects weren't great but that's to be expected. It's an OK time waster, but it's very familiar and highly unsatisfying. 3/10.

I was expecting the lowest of the low, but it turns out that this movie has several things to recomment about it. Its atmosphere is effectively dark, the cast is adequate, it taps on some timely issues, and the creature in this movie is unique. People who like movies like this, hate it when the film makers muck it up, but these people do the genre justice.

This Sci-Fi creature feature could easily be flushed. The story line is just too familiar to be that interesting. An out of commission oil rig in the North Sea is being given an enzyme clean with some highly hazardous chemicals. The oil company sends Dr. Christine Hansen(Saskia Gould)to the site to see what the delay in completion is. No sooner than she arrives and realizes the cleaning agent has not been mixed properly renegade environmental activists try to commandeer the abandoned rig. Too soon it is discovered that the bio-hazard chemicals have helped spawn a big ass eel-like parasite with intentions to have all occupants for lunch, dinner and a snack. The enemies put aside their differences to work together in hopes of surviving the attacks of the savage new life form. Other cast members: Conrad Whitaker, Michelle Acunda, Gary Condes, Luke Spenser and G.W. Stevens.

This movie was awful. I mean, let me add up all the bad things: bad acting, bad special effects, bad script, the clichéd 'girls losing all their clothes', improbable events, dumb characters. There was not one single redeeming quality about Parasite. Not one. I think my favorite part though were the explosions that were obviously fireworks. That has to be a new low. There's also the 'Let me rip off a piece of my already-very-short shirt to help hold off the monster!'. Apparently the director feels that women should be chosen for their roles based on how they look in tiny shirts rather than actual acting ability. Well, for that matter, the men couldn't act either. No one could act in this overly-processed joke of a movie. Avoid at all costs!!!!

Right, well it is obviously clear that director Andrew Prendergast is a fan of the original "Alien" movie, as most of the things shown in "Parasite" (aka "Hell's Mouth") is either a homage to "Alien" or a blatant rip off.

The story takes place on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean, thus leaving all people isolated and cut off from any immediate help. Where a new and alien life form has made its nest and is preying on the humans that inhabit the oil rig.

A monster or alien movie needs to have proper special effects, that either blow you away, dazzle you or make the creature and the atmosphere work well. "Parasite" didn't have that, and as such the movie was just another B-movie creature feature. The idea and concept of the creature was good, but it wasn't executed to a satisfactory end result.

The acting in "Parasite" was as to be expected. I can't really claim to remember a single actor or actress standing out from the rest of the bunch. But then again, such a movie is not going to be a Shakespearian thespian experience.

"Parasite" is definitely among the top ten of bad monster movies that I have had to sit through in my track record of watching movies. I didn't even manage to watch it to the end, as I had to give up about halfway through out of sheer boredom and a lack of entertainment.

As such, then I am rating "Parasite" a meager one out of ten stars. I am sure that there is an audience out there somewhere for a movie such as this. I just wasn't in that particular target audience.