The premise definitely sounds like something Roger Corman might have made at any point in the past several decades. Seeing as how this is actually a Full Moon Features production, all I can say is, "close enough." With the names of Charles Band and especially Corman well in mind, I can appreciate the low-budget, "make do with what you have," "make it artsy and people will think it was all on purpose" ethos with which this is obviously made. In fairness, as the minutes tick away this really does come across in significant measure as "Full Moon does arthouse horror" - eat your heart out A24, am I right? It's maybe even a little daring to bring a shoestring film-making approach of the 50s and 60s into the twenty-first century. Why, there's some admirable imagination and hard work that went into this, and even if the "sets" are best described as "bare-bones" and I don't think every choice made here was a good one, I appreciate what writer-director Chris Alexander, and co-producers Band and Ali Chappell, aimed to do. The vision is laudable, including very particular use of lighting.
A considerable list of issues places layers of upper limits on one's enjoyment of 'Parasite lady,' however. The production values are glaringly bare-faced, so crisp and loud yet unpolished that the fundamental image all but hurts one's eyes. The hair, makeup, and costume design, of all things, feel bizarrely heavy-handed - and for lack of more eventful proceedings or discretely disturbing imagery, so do the soundscapes of Alexander and Aaron R. Moore's original music that might otherwise serve more purpose. The fundamental work of the editing is well done yet feels self-indulgent, as do too many shots generally. There is a narrative here, but to be frank it feels weak and is less than fully convincing, or engaging. Some ideas we've seen before yet are worth exploring anew; some ideas just raise a skeptical, somewhat perplexed eyebrow. All this is not helped by deliberate, slow pacing that is meant to accentuate the arthouse vibes but which under the collective circumstances just feels laborious, especially as it deadens the acting.
There's a part of me that actually really likes this. I see what Alexander, his cast, and his crew sought to create, and I see its potential. Despite the deeply inelegant, desperate lack of refinement, there is genuine value in this movie - both on its own merits, and in how it recalls other titles of a like-minded slant. The construction is greatly troubled, like a wound that will not close, but the concept is absolutely one that I can get behind. There's also a part of me that almost completely hates this, for the totality of its weaknesses and shortcomings is an immense burden for any viewer to bear. If the worst impulses were reined in, if the screenplay were developed a little more, if the various elements of the picture's craft were cultivated more thoughtfully and carefully, the words I'm writing would be ones of less abject criticism and more abject praise. Still: this is at once "par for the course" where Full Moon is concerned, and at the same time, a bit inventive and forward-thinking. It's not reinventing the wheel by any measure, and for all its problems it's hard to truly extend one's favor, but I must commend the effort.
Make no mistake, this is something that only the patient and open-minded audience will take to, something for those who like the more artistic side of genre fare and look for the value in even the most tawdry of flicks. This isn't great, but it's not bad, either - but I can also understand how it will come off even more unfavorably in others' eyes, and I fully recognize how generous I tend to be in watching films. One way or another, don't go out of your way for 'Parasite lady,' but if you do come across it and are receptive to fare of this nature, it's worth taking a little look.
