Review of The Parasite Murders (1975)

Moving picture, 87 minutes

David Cronenberg (writer-director).

An old critic of civilization kills himself before his creation, spun off from an attempt to create symbiotic organ replacements, orgiastically takes over a luxury apartment complex in present-day Canada.

Cronenberg’s brand of morbid sexualization at its most gloriously nihilistic. One thread running through this Canadian’s work is a sort of visceral antidote to Plato and Descartes. You can’t escape your body, because it is you. I love that. Compare Matango (1963) where the threat likewise induces pleasure. The Parasite Murders suffers mainly from the poor quality of some special effects and creature design.

References here: “Salmonella Men on Planet Porno” (1977), Rabid (1977).

moving picture fiction