Dark Parasite

Stumbling upon the 2023 movie "Dark Parasite" and seeing it was a horror movie that I neither seen or heard about, of course I opted to sit down and watch it, given my love and admiration of the horror genre. And I have to admit that I had zero expectations to writers and directors Luca Boni and Marco Ristori, as I didn't know what I was in for here.

The storyline in "Dark Parasite" was not particularly interesting, and it was a rather monotonously paced and slow paced narrative, which didn't exactly help to make the movie a great viewing experience.

While i wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, I will say that the acting performances in "Dark Parasite" were actually surprisingly good. Just a shame that the movie had such a terrible script and storyline.

Visually then "Dark Parasite" was okay. It was not an impressive display of CGI and special effects, but they were indeed sufficient enough for what the directors were trying to show on the screen.

"Dark Parasite" is a movie that can be watched a single time, if you are armed with an abundance of patience for slow paced narratives. But it was by no means an outstanding or memorable viewing experience.

Truth be told, then the movie's cover/poster was actually the most interesting thing about the movie, and it oversold the movie a dozen times over, making it look way more interesting than it turned out to be.

My rating of "Dark Parasite" lands on a very generous two out of ten stars.

The acting and CGI were actually fairly good, but storyline was mediocre at best, and the script left a lot to be desired. Someone obviously forgot to tell the writer they were supposed to be writing a sci-fi horror, not a drama.

As for the pace... molasses run down the walls in the dead of an Alaskan winter would be faster, and probably more interesting.

If you like your horror creepy, and your sci-fi to have some action, then this is definitely not the movie for you. Find something else, or throw a jar of molasses at the wall and settle down for the night with a bowl of popcorn. Either way, chances are pretty good it will be more interesting.

Plot

After a Robbery at a jewellery story, a group of robbers takes refuge with a host in a shabby apartment building in the suburbs. But they don't know that in the basement hides an obscure alien creature with telepathic powers.

Cast

No idea, but made by the same folks who made the marginally above average Apocalypse Z (2013)

Verdict

Italian made the budget issues become apparent early on but are disguised remarkably well, in fact it all looked quite polished (Initially). Sure the effects looked like they were made in Adobe After Effects but that was okay.

Focusing around simply 3 characters it started interesting but descended into mediocrity as it became apparent the writers really didn't have any new ideas and were just recycling from dozens of better movies that have come before.

Of our three one couldn't act to save his life and one was not only a poor actress but played the screaming damsel in distress a tad too strong (Despite the character being described as having more balls than the others combined).

Building up to a lacklustre, predictable and lifeless finale it felt like they had something there but simply couldn't deliver on the underwhelming writing.

Rants

At time of writing this is the first review and the movie doesn't even have 5 votes in order for IMDB to build an average. I think this is a bad film don't get me wrong, but I hope it doesn't get absolutely slaughtered. The filmmakers aren't bad, they're just making something out of nothing. The cast however, that was unforgivable and it's a shame you can't rate peoples performances separate from the film.

Breakdown

Some decent effects Some poor effects 2/3 of the cast are awful The leading lady was written to be far too weak Side plots went nowhere.

Yep, sadly it's all true. I don't like it one bit when I'm harsh to a horror production, especially if it made with a small budget but Dark Parasite has nothing to show for. It has a run time of 85 minutes, and for 60 of them, it's just mondane.

The other 25 minutes are slightly better, but from like a 2 to a 3. The problems here are multiple, first they show their monster right away. Second they go for CGI instead of something practical, because in low budgets, practical effects look good and grow old even better while CGI does exactly the opposite. Continuing with the bad, the plot is paper thin, not one likeable character, and the longest dialogues I have ever witness. Tarantino would get mad bored watching this, trust me. All the extra lines are because of the lack of plot, action and to stretch the run time for as much as possible.

Dark Paraside is a complete flop for me. No reedeming factors, no pleasure from watching it, not even so bad it's good.

No way to recommend this.

Cheers!