Is there some meaning to unary * that I don't know about (and couldn't find in perlop) that makes this parse this way? Or do unprototyped functions just gobble up anything that vaguely looks like a term?

I tend to use parens zealously and have avoided learning about this kind of thing in the past, I guess it's time to head to the docs and read up.

Edit: Good point Fletch, totally forgot about that. Thanks!