unbrokenmetal I had the DVD lying around for a year or two and didn't watch it yet, because those many bad reviews made me think it would be a waste of time - but now that I finally watched it, I realize I strongly disagree with most reviews and actually think this is a good example you can make a passable little genre movie with limited budget and unknown actors. The story of "Parasite" revolves around Doctor Hansen who wants to use an abandoned oil rig as a testing ground for an enzyme intended to help clean anything polluted with oil. Although that sounds like a good idea, environmental activists led by her ex-boyfriend Mickey appear on the rig. They suspect the company wants to sink it. Jacob Rasmussen, Hansen's right hand man, ruins the enzyme experiment with an overdose of the biological substance. Little worms grow to gigantic size, start eating the crew members, and there is nowhere to run on the oil rig...Surely "Parasite" holds some of the clichés and stereotypes of the monster genre, but it has original ideas as well. Mickey looks like a terrorist with his black mask, but he'll be more useful to Hansen than Jacob who ought to be the hero, but fails miserably, trying to save only his own life. The two women are the most skilled crew members on the whole rig, though.*** spoiler *** I waited for the typical monster movie ending, you know, "one beast survived in the left corner, now wait for the sequel", instead Hansen has her revenge on the evil company which is a much more enjoyable solution. Bravo! *** end of spoiler *** Some cheap special effects, especially the explosions painted with a computer program, are below average TV quality, but it was a really good idea to have the activists film their actions with a hand-held video camera and use the footage for a certain "Blair Witch" documentary style effect, dark, poorly focused, but it's pretty much like you were on the rig yourself: whoosh, what was that? A lot of action towards the end with an increasing number of worms, and finally it was 90 enjoyable minutes for me, of course nowhere near a masterpiece such as "Alien", but considering what you can do with a low budget, a nice effort.

slayrrr666 "Parasite" is one of the weaker Sci-Fi channel films.**SPOILERS**A small group of extreme activists break into an oil company's head office and steal incriminating information about the company's future plans. The company enlists Dr. Christine Hansen, (Saskia Gould) to coordinate a team to clean up an abandoned oil rig to test their newest chemical creation before being exposed to the world. The team, including leader Jacob, (G.W. Stevens) engineer Nils, (Gary Condes) and grease monkey Kim (Margaret Thompson) and others, arrive on the oil rig and begin their assignment. When Dr. Hansen arrives on the rig to begin the experiment, the team of activists also arrives to sabotage the affair. Unknowingly, the team accidentally sprays the chemical on a small parasitic worm and mutates it into a larger parasite, attacking one of the cleanup crew. The rig begins to break down in certain areas, making the team get a little antsy. When the cleanup crew is taken hostage by the activists, the parasites follow them and attack the group. Convinced of the threat to them, the two teams' band together to survive the creatures, which are now growing bigger and threatening to envelop the entire rig.The Good News: The beginning of the film isn't the most action-packed, but with most Sci-Fi films, the film heats up in the second half. Once the discovery of the creatures has been revealed, the film kicks it up a notch and becomes a bit more entertaining. Granted, the beginning isn't exactly all that action-packed, so the last half of the film is it's major saving grace. The ending is the best, as the rig explodes in a giant explosion as the survivors try to kill off the last few parasites. With explosions going off in every location and the fire coming in closer, it adds to the suspense of the scene. Even the designs of the parasites are pretty creepy, based on a general worm look but with a few modifications to the head and a minor design change on the body make the creatures look a bit terrifying at first viewing. Their jaw-lined mouths were perfect for scaring the workers on the rig.The Bad News: The beginning of the movie is extremely weird. Shot through night-vision lens, we see a group of men enter a building under the pretenses of a bomb threat. They then steal information about the company's drilling activities and leave the sight, leaving you to wonder what was really going on: is it a heist film, is it an espionage film, why is this classified as a killer creature film? All these questions come in to play in the beginning. Also pretty annoying is the constant whining between the two sets of protagonists. Because they all have similar backgrounds but just play for different sides, we get a lot of bickering about what is morally ethical or not about what the project is doing to the environment. I could care less about this type of film, but I can't stand all the conversations being about the same thing. It gets boring after a while. Even with all these problems, the worst of all is the unbelievably bad CGI used. When a routine shot of a helicopter flying in a storm is done with CGI, you know the film isn't a high budget film. Even worse, the entire exploding oil factory is done in CGI, as the whole affair simply loses any sense of realism or believability. This is a major offense as the high action finale is ruined by the inclusion of something that ruins the movie. Even for those that don't mind CGI, it is so obviously bad and distracting it destroys the mood of the ending.The Final Verdict: Based on the major flaws involved, I can only recommend this to those who love getting drunk and bashing a film to shreds. This is the only way to enjoy this movie. Watching this one sober is like getting castrated and then watching the video minutes later.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Adult Language, and Brief Nudity

lynxfeld I watched this movie a few hours ago and WHEW!!! It stank! The female lead spends the first 1/3 of the movie yelling at everyone, apparently thinking that if she's louder than everyone else, that makes her the person in charge. One male character has the annoying habit of screaming like a little girl every time someone touches him. As for my spoiler, I'll just say this: after the only two likable characters get offed, you find yourself wishing for the parasite to kill off the rest of the cast as quickly as possible so as to put them out of their misery... and put us out of ours for watching this dog to begin with.Two...thumbs...down...Way down!

willywants 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.