Mosquito Review from The Massie Twins
Drenched in blood, guts, and giant bugs, Gary Jones's Mosquito is so close to being a great horror movie that it's truly depressing the film didn't take itself more seriously and the actors didn't take more lessons. The film opts for a high level of camp, but never drifts far enough into the clever comedy realm of Arachnophobia or Tremors to attain a more prestigious cult classic status.

When regular mosquitos begin drinking the blood of dead aliens from a downed spaceship they grow to gargantuan proportions and all hell breaks loose for the vacationers relaxing in the nearby campgrounds. Ray (Tim Lovelace) and his Park Ranger girlfriend Megan (Rachel Loiselle) band together with meteorologist Parks (Steve Dixon) and the nerdy Ranger Hendricks (Ron Asheton) to fend off both the mutated bugs and cantankerous criminals Junior (Mike Hard) and Earl (Gunnar Hansen in fine goofy form mocking his own Texas Chainsaw Massacre performance).

Mosquito wastes no time setting up an elaborate explanation for why giant mosquitos roam the grounds (although the reason chosen is likely better than the typical government chemical testing) and gets right into the action and carnage. Borrowing a few cues from Aliens and other imitable horror staples, Mosquito showcases enough impressive action sequences that it's a shame the movie didn't try a little harder to be serious. The threat of the monstrous mutant skeeters, coupled with their bloodthirsty method of feeding creates a tense mood by itself, but much of the hokey dialogue quickly substitutes suspense for eye-rolling laughs. The potential for amazing is there, but the direction the creators insist upon keeps Mosquito squarely in the territory of cheese.

Director Gary Jones got his start in makeup and special effects - and it shows. Impressively grotesque practical effects comprise the majority of the monster mosquitos and they look as real as ten-foot insects can. The gore has a classic early 90's feel and scenes of razor sharp proboscises to the chest and eyes provide some cringe-worthy moments. With such a fast introduction to the mayhem only a few bystander deaths are shown, but Jones makes good use of them, most notably in a tent ambush sequence that ably displays the film's overall tone. As his wife is being assaulted by a killer insect, a doltish camper continues to take swigs from his beer as he runs to her aid.

With such effort on practical mosquito effects throughout, it's disappointing to see poorly done green screen and a spattering of subpar stop-motion mixed in, but such shortcomings can be forgiven once the bloodsucking bugs return to their brand of fluid-draining in all their puppetry glory. The less-than-admirable acting (and the difficulty in obtaining a DVD of the film) will likely keep this forgotten killer insect classic from the casual horror enthusiast, but few of its genre came so close to cheesy perfection as Mosquito.

- Joel Massie

One of my all time favorite movies!!
Wow, what can I say? This has been my favorite movie since it came out back in '95. Before it was released I had a copy because I was doing dialogue transcription and I got to watch it over and over and over, to my delight. Speaking of dialogue, the first time I saw this movie, I could guess what they were going to say before they said it, just think of the cheesiest dialogue for any movie, and there you have it! I have to admit, the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" reference was always one of my favorites. The giant 6 foot mosquitos have always held a special place in my heart and I can't believe how much the DVD's are going for these days. I have a VHS and DVD version of this movie and whip it out whenver I get a chance. This movie is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to anyone. Don't expect high dollar special effects though. I wish I had a giant mosquito to hang in my home as a decoration.

I give this movie 5 stars for the entertainment factor alone. No other movie makes me laugh as much as this one does, there's action, green gooey mosquito blood, eye popping special effects (hee, hee), goofy dialogue and of course dialogue's nothing without the acting. What can add that has not already been said but "Bravo!". If you want to forget about how the economy is or how "scary" the election is, then take a little camping trip to Michigan, via Mosquito, kick back, enjoy and don't forget the repellent!

"The late show doesn't get any better than this!"
What is your personal criteria for determining what constitutes a "good" horror movie? Is it one that has a big budget? Sensational special effects? A cast made up of big name Hollywood stars or a really well-written, intelligent script that's brilliantly acted and meticuously directed? Yeah, all of that would be nice, but I live in the real world and ultimately all I really ask from any movie is that I enjoy it. Now there are many people who would label movies that lacked those sterling qualities but which they still found enjoyable as "guilty pleasures." Not me, no guilt here. If I enjoyed them, I enjoyed them and all that that entails. So here it goes. I will stand up straight and tall and look everyone right in the general direction of their eyes and declare firmly: I really like MOSQUITO, and, yes, I think its a good movie! There. Its out in the open.

Its acting, script, direction, etc. are all adequate for a movie of this type, but even if they weren't--so what? It still meets MY basic criteria. I enjoyed it! MOSQUITO is a genial and likeable film that succeeds as no big bug film has before or since because its just good natured fun with some nice special effects thrown in on the side. Filmed in the mid 1990's deep in the heart of Michigan (probably for inspiration of the insectoid variety) this little flick is helped along by a cast the includes Gunnar Hansen and Ron Asheton,who I'm told is famous as a proto-punk musician with The Stooges although I know him from his role in FROSTBITER, LEGEND OF WENDIGO, an indie that was released by Troma. For being a low budget production it opens with an effective display of special effects as an orbiting spaceship dispatches a smaller vehicle towards planet earth. This smaller craft crashes and an alien with a physiognomy reminiscent of those in Gene Barry's WAR OF THE WORLDS emerges from the ship only to die before we can see more than an appendage. Unfortunately a mosquito also spots the alien arm and zooms in for an exotic snack. Thus our movie begins.

Our victims du jour include Meg and her boyfriend Ray who are on their way to the State Park where Meg will start her new summer job as a ranger, Parks who was sent by the army to investigate what they believe to be a meteor crash the night before (in actuality, the alien ship), Hendricks the bumbling comic relief ranger (played by Ron Asheton), and a gang of bank robbers who are quickly whittled down to just one, Earl, played by Gunnar Hansen. In true horror film tradition all these characters squabble amongst themselves and try good naturedly to kill each other before FINALLY joining forces against the real threat--those lousy skeeters! Before the film ends our heroes pull a Romero in an old farm house, Gunnar Hanson has a touching reunion with a chainsaw,and we learn that a refrigerator can be your friend.


This is one of those films where even the evil-doers aren't all that bad, and half the fun is trying to guess who, if anyone is going to make it out alive. If you're one of those people who watches horror films, especially comedies, expecting them to make sense then you have my sympathies for you are missing out on all the fun in life. I've done my share of griping--see my review of I AM LEGEND, but that was a completely different kind of film made for a completely different purpose and should thus be held to a different standard than a film such as this. This is just plain fun.

Oh, don't let the dvd price put you off. If you have access to a VHS you can still get a tape for under $5.

There's also some cute stop motion bugs in addition to full size puppets.

MOSQUITO

Directed by Gary Jones
Original story by Gary Jones
Screenplay by Steve Hodge, Tom Chaney, and Gary Jones
Visual Effects Supervisor: Richard Jake Jacobson
Stop-Motion Animation: Animasaur Productions

CAST: Gunnar Hansen, Ron Asheton, Tim Lovelace, Rachel Loiselle, Steve
Dixon

~Mosquito~
Although I gave this movie a rating of two stars, do not let that fool you. I found this horror movie enjoyable and hillarious at times and a good movie to watch with my friends and family. Especially during Halloween parties. We decorated our home with the theme of this movie {tents, camping equipment and mosquitoes of course} and had a fanastic time. Hands down, this movie should be in the hall of fame for great movies! I am disappointed about the price of this movie, however, I have not been able to find it for sale, but $74.00 on Amazon is way too much for the movie itself. When you are ready to wipe the dust off, and come down on your price, I imagine you would not be able to keep this movie in stock. :)

Blast from my past.
This was a movie I used to watch every time I saw it on T.V. when I was a kid, of about 12 or 13. I enjoyed it, as it was probably the first horror movie I watched that was COMPLETELY UNFRIGHTENING TO ME. I was a notorious wuss when it came to horror films, and that's what my friends were into. So, I was always having nightmares. However, this was a movie I could watch that wasn't scary at all! And still look cool to my friends. This sloppily put together, cheap looking movie also helped fuel my love affair for awful horror movies. So for that, it has immense sentimental value. For that alone, it gets 5 stars.

But I must balance this rating with the fact that this isn't a good movie. It's awful! It's not really very watchable, for the most part. I'm watching it on T.V. as I write this, and it gives me a warm feeling inside, but I'm not exactly "loving" it. My girlfriend is doing homework rather than watch it! On a realistic scale, the movie gets 2 stars.

However, for two truly bizarre people staring in it, it gains an extra star. Though it might not mean a lot to people to some people, the fat, whiny park Ranger Parks (groan) is actually the GUITARIST FOR INFAMOUS PROTO PUNK BAND THE STOOGES!!!!! This might not mean a lot of people, but it's a truly mind bogglingly strange thing for me to deal with, ten years after the fact. This man could make the claim, quite legitimately, that he created punk rock. And here he is, running away from mosquito's and mincing his way through a role he has no right staring in; he even WROTE A SONG FOR THE SOUNDTRACK. For rock fans, this gives the movie an extra star.

However, for horror movie fans, an even odder casting was the choice of Gunner Hansen as the big fat redneck. Though this name won't ring bells to many people, this is the man who was Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre! Here is a man who could lay claim, quite legitmately, to starting the "slasher" horror film fad. Seeing him here is surreal; I keep expecting him to grunt and stick his toungue out. At the end, he even wields a chainsaw, saying "I haven't used one of these in 20 years." Heh, heh. This is worth an extra star for horror film fans.

So, for most people this movie is a two star deal. For rock or horror, it's three stars affair. For rock AND horror fans it's four stars. But for ME seeing as it has the "sentimental" value, it gets five stars. I will buy this on DVD as soon as I can find it.