Exclusive Interviews from the Set of Parasites

It was a hot sunny day in August in smoggy downtown Los Angeles when we visited the set of indie filmmaker Chad Ferrin’s Parasites. That day’s scene was being shot in a derelict cemetery, dry dead grass barely covering the graves of those poor souls buried six feet below us.

The production was also utilizing the chapel, already a shambles but made even more so thanks to eerie production design. Below the pews was the crematorium, which bore some truly creepy artifacts including a coffin-sized cast iron oven with a window offering an inner view.

Parasites is about a group of young friends who get lost in the seedy streets of L.A.’s Skid Row, where they encounter a crazed gang of vagrants that seizes them one by one and horrifically kills all but one man. The survivor escapes on foot, naked and unarmed, with a pack of depraved transients in pursuit. Robert “Corpsy” Rhine is an executive producer of Parasites, which was produced in association with Girls and Corpses.  He also appears in the film as “Spade.”

We talked with Ferrin and two of the film’s producer-actors, Robert Miano (Donnie Brasco) and Silvia Spross (Dario Argento’s Giallo), and here’s what they had to say.

Dread Central: The last film you did, The Chair, had such a great cast. So can you tell us a little bit about who’s in this one?

Chad Ferrin: Well, we’ve got Robert Miano from Donnie Brasco and Joseph Pilato from Pulp Fiction. We’ve got lots of fresh faces, kids, because I wanted young blood. I didn’t want some jaded asshole who’s going to be like, “I’m downtown, there’s no bathrooms, there’s a bum taking a shit next to me, I’m afraid for my life.” I wanted kids who have not been on a set really and are like, “This is great, this is exciting.” Every one of them was just so happy to be there and it had that energy. Everyone was infectious and everyone was having such a great time. It has been the greatest filming experience of my life. Best time on set, ever.

DC: That’s saying something because you’ve done a lot of work.

CF: On paper, it looked like the most grueling experience: all night shoots, downtown Los Angeles, dangerous areas and what not; [yet], it was the most pleasurable time in my life.

DC: Did you write this script?

CF: I did write the script a couple years ago; Noah Segan and I at the time [were going to work together] because we just finished Someone’s Knocking at the Door, and we were going to make it for a higher budget. We tried to get the money and nothing really clicked. Then I got hired to do The Chair with the great Roddy Piper. He just passed away and that’s just really heartbreaking. He was not only the nicest guy but he was a good actor. He had everything: looks, talent, sharp, strong. He had it all and was a nice guy to be around.

DC: Thank goodness you got one of his last performances on film.

CF: And he is great. There is a Deliverance-style prison rape scene, and we were setting it up and Rod was like, “You know what, I’m really uncomfortable doing this.” And I’m like, “Roddy, don’t worry about it; you could just step back and supervise the other guards, don’t worry about it,” because I’m like, “Take what comes to you as a low budget thing, and don’t be sticky about it.” So I’m like, “Whatever you need to do Roddy, it’s fine.” Then I gave the other guys a pep talk and I’m like, “Look, we’re in competition with Straw Dogs, Deliverance, and Irreversible, so this rape scene has to be gut-churning and something that you remember,” and I was trying to be as passionate as possible because I’m willing to die for what I do, because it’s all I’ve got in my life, and I’m trying to explain that to them and Roddy is listening, and he comes up to me after and said, “Chad, I want to rape them but I’ve got to kill them after.” And he did it and it was jaw-dropping. So it was really unbelievable and then I heard that he passed away. We were shooting [this] and it was really sad. But we’ll meet again; there’s another world out there.

DC: Where does the title come into the premise of Parasites?

CF: Well, to me the homeless people are kind of parasites. Everyone in a way is a parasite; the boyfriend, the girlfriend that’s sucking the energy in life and love. It centers around living on the streets and this is their home. They live off other people’s wealth and success and everything like that, so they’re a kind of parasite. The dual thing is that the kid is just sucked into this world, and he is just a college-going kid, and he has to fight for his life after he escapes and he puts on the clothes of a homeless person. So now he’s out there and everyone treats him like shit, so he sees the side through the eyes of the homeless people that are trying to kill him throughout the movie. It’s basically a remake of The Naked Prey. Also check out Apocalypto, which is a remake of The Naked Prey.

DC: Your makeups here on set are awfully gory. Who’s doing the practical effects?

CF: Melanie DuBarr and Crystal Nardico, referred to me by Gary Tunnicliffe, who I’d worked with before. I was like, “Gary, look I’m doing this low budget movie and we’re making it for like 20 thousand dollars, 10 days straight in downtown Los Angeles, can you help me out and find me someone that’s really good with make-up and really wants to get their fingers bloody?” and he’s like, “I’ve got a couple of girls who might be able to help you out.” He was really protective over them because he’s worried and fearful of their lives in downtown and then he was like, “Just let me know if anything’s gone bad, and then they’ve got to walk.” And I was like, “If anything does go bad, they should walk” and everything has been so smooth and so great and pleasant.

DC: So what are some of the more gory make-ups? I know that there is a slashed throat coming up? And I see someone here who looks like she’s been shot.

CF: Yeah, [Silvia] was shot with a shotgun. We’ve got a foot being blown off with the shotgun next, and we’ve got Joe Pilato getting a Scatman Crothers style death from The Shining with a shovel in the chest. The gang banger, Peter Mendoza, gets a chop to the side of the neck, kind of a Don’t Look Now style slash where the axe comes… so there is always a little reference there, but to me a lot of it comes on the fly. This has been really great. Working on The Chair was like being a gun for hire, and I tried to do as much as I could but it’s one of those things where I want to go back to being my own boss, do my own thing and just being 100% in control, and not having to say, “Hey, you like this cut, do you like this shot?” It got me so frustrated that I took my entire fee from The Chair and funded this movie with it. The minute I got the money, I found out they’re about to tear down the Sixth Street Bridge, which is the major focal point. Not only is it the most filmed bridge in all of the movies… but I needed it for Parasites.

DC: Yeah, why are they tearing it down? Is it dangerous?

CF: It’s crumbling supposedly, but all the other bridges that were built around the same time don’t seem to have that trouble. So I found out they’re going to tear it down in August. It’s rush, rush, rush.

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Next we caught up with Robert Miano, who plays the main homeless villain in the film.

DC: Are the Parasites actual or metaphorical?

Robert Miano: The parasites are people preying on other people that are weaker than themselves. What are parasites? Someone that is sucking the blood out of another creature. They could be [metaphorical] because the film is about a homeless society that’s here on Skid Row and the situation is dire for them; they’re being pushed into a corner and most of the people on the streets are mentally ill, suffering from all kinds of mental problems like schizophrenia, paranoia, whatever you want to call it. A lot of them are ex-drug addicts, crystal meth addicts, and rather than incarcerating them, they use that area in Skid Row. The Mission; it’s like an institution that’s outdoors. People are walking around that have serious mental problems so the character that I’m playing, Wilco, is an ex-Vietnam vet who’s kind of a broken guy who is doing his best to survive on the streets and he feels that he’s really being pushed into a corner. I don’t think he can take it anymore so it’s like he’s going to strike back, he’s going to push. So he decides with his group of homeless guys that they’re going to jump the next group of people that comes down in the car; they’re going to jump them, and it turns out that these three college students are driving one of them home downtown, and they got lost. The bums put a board with nails in it on the road and the car runs over the board, and they get a flat so they had to get out of the car to fix it and when they look up there is this group of homeless guys looking down on them. My character asks them if they need help and they say, “Yeah, we have a flat,” and we attack them.

DC: And is it pretty gory?

RM: I would say it’s pretty hardcore; there are several people getting murdered in the film and so it’s nasty but there is dark humor in it. There’s a real story to be told.

DC: So what typically attracts you to certain roles, even when it’s low budget?

RM: I look at the character, I read it and see if it’s something that I’m interested in doing and in this, the character of Wilco is a very complex character, a very conflicted character, more like an anti-hero when he realizes we’re the last of the Mohicans. He feels that he is a warrior and he’s standing up for his nation. So that’s one of the reasons why I decided to do the film, along with working with Chad. I haven’t worked with Chad before, but my wife, Silvia, did a film with him, and she spoke very highly of him.

DC: Are you also producing this one?

RM: Yes, I am producing it, executive producing it, put my own money in it. I believe in it. It’s a risk because you never know; who knows? But this being the last day, I look back now and I keep running the film over in my head and I say, “My God, for the money that we spent Chad has done an amazing job” in putting this thing together. We shot this in 9-10 days, shooting 10-11 pages a day, so I can’t tell you how happy I am or how pleased I am with the people I worked with on the film, the special effects by Crystal; I mean, you can’t get a better special effects girl than her. She created animals and people and bodies, I mean, she’s spectacular. I know that she works with one of the best special effects houses in the business on some other projects but she is one of the best [on her own]. She can work with any of the studio people.

DC: I was looking at her work and it’s impressive.

RM: It’s very impressive. So I can’t say enough about what Chad has put together and I’m looking forward to seeing the first rough cut.

DC: So what’s being filmed today?

RM: Today is the climax of the film where I’m chasing the college student that gets away. So the film is about these bums chasing him and how he survives, or he doesn’t survive… his last refuge here is the church, so ironic, and I track him down and the police show up. I’m not going to tell you how it ends, but the end is quite a twist.

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Lastly, we spoke with Silvia Spross – and the gaping bullet wound in her chest.

DC: Whom do you play in the film?

Silvia Spross: My role is Mona. She’s a prostitute and drug addict.

DC: Sounds lovely.

SS: I have a heart.

DC: You did at one point… looks like it’s missing now.

SS: But I care. I have a very messed up relationship. My partner is Eddie and I’m actually going out to get some drugs for him in this scene. I first do a few tricks and then he sets me up with a drug dealer and they try to rob me and rape me, so I’m coming back without anything and we kind of have a fight.

DC: And then even worse things happen?

SS: Yeah, it’s not a good night.

DC: We know you’ve worked with Chad before. How’s this particular experience been, especially since you’re also a producer this time?

SS: It was so weird because a long time ago he sent out a fundraiser for another project of his called Horse, a western, and I donated money saying I wish I could do more but I could only do like 20 bucks or 10 bucks. Then we kind of got back in touch again. My husband, Robert Miano, was like, “Maybe we could help him produce,” and they started connecting and then the Horse thing didn’t work out for whatever reason; couldn’t find the financing. And all of a sudden this came about, Parasites, and Robert was very eager trying to help him and doing it together, and it fell apart. People would say, “Yes we want to invest” and then they don’t and [some time later] I saw it on Actor’s Access and I said, “Robert, he’s doing it!” We start calling him and said, “Let’s do it together.” So that’s how I ended up being back in the project with him.

DC: Do you have scenes with Robert?

SS: Yes, there is one scene, but he’s chasing me; he’s playing the main homeless villain.

DC: Is this your last day of filming?

SS: Yes, it is the last day. We’ve been going for nine days straight. Every day and night in downtown L.A. There is something strange about it; very peaceful and very calm. It almost feels like, for me, when we went to the Sixth Street Bridge, I was nervous but once you’re there and it’s like 3 o’clock in the morning, it’s almost feeling like a weight has been taken off of you. It feels like a primal thing. You can’t lose anything, it feels very real, and the people down there are lovely.

DC: Did you encounter any actual homeless people?

SS: Yes, but they’re the most kind homeless people, much kinder than the ones I have experienced. I live in Santa Monica, [but] if I was homeless, I would live probably there. I would want to go live by the L.A. River. I mean, it’s weird and I hope I never have to but I can understand why. There was one guy who even had a YouTube video and I watched it, it’s amazing, he’s an amazing singer and some person recorded him and I gave him a bag of clothes and gave him a little money, gave him food and stuff.

DC: One of the great things about making films is that you’re not just making a movie, you’re living your life too at the same time and gaining experiences and wisdom. What do you think you’ll take away from having made this movie?

SS: While filming under the Sixth Street Bridge I learned that people are people and some of the nicest ones are homeless and live downtown near the LA River, a place I would have expected to be frightened but instead I found a rawness that was of comfort and primal nature. I loved it.