Costello is a virus in his community. He latches on as a parasite and suck a healthy host, in this case honest citizens, dry.
He walks into this delicatessen and is black. He’s the only shadow figure in the establishment. He takes from the owner, insults then seduces his young daughter, and then lures a young boy into his web with snacks, comic books, and some change.
I’ve seen this movie many times. I always thought it was just him in the shadows. I saw this watch thru that there are scenes where that doesn’t add up. He’s blackened. He’s without light. He’s a sickness.
Later in the film Queenan says that Costello father used to call him “the tumor.”
by CarniferousDog