Mosquito |
  • USA • 1995 • 92m •    • Directed by: Gary Jones. • Starring: Gunnar Hansen, Ron Asheton, Steve Dixon, Rachel Loiselle, Tim Lovelace, Mike Hard, Kenny Mugwump, Josh Becker, Margaret Gomoll, John Reneaud, Joel Hale, Guy Sanville, Patrick Butler. • Music by: Allen Lynch, Randall Lynch.      An alien starship crashes in a swamp in a U.S. National Park. Some mosquitos begin to feed from the alien's corpses, causing them to grow to the size of a vulture. These mutant insects became very agressive, killing every human being they find. Will the few survivors fight successfully against this nightmare...?
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Review:
Co-written & directed by Gary Jones this appears to be a throwback &or homage to the giant bug flicks from the 50's & 60's & while it's no masterpiece it's not a bad little film at all. The script by Jones, cinematographer Tom Chaney & Steve Hodge doesn't take itself too seriously & if you take it as intended can be quite a fun ride at times. The pace is pretty good, it doesn't lag too badly & there's plenty of on screen action. The character's are OK if not particularly memorable although some of the dialogue is stiff & awkward at times, I suppose my biggest problem with Mosquito is that it's rather predictable & it's a bit repetitive. The main group of character's are attacked by hordes of giant mutated Mosquitos in a state park & that's basically the entire film until the end, I'd have liked a bit more variety & less running around doing nothing in particular. Still, it's a fairly entertaining way to pass 90 odd minutes, for what it sets out to do & be it works fine, most creature feature fans should enjoy it & it's definitely better than 99% of those Sci-Fi Channel made creature feature type films like Python (2000) if nothing else. One more thing, when they set the timer at the end for three minutes to blow the gas lines a hell of a lot longer than three minutes actually elapse before the flame ignites!
Director Jones does alright here on a minuscule budget & he also went on to direct a couple more giant creature feature films with the rather fun Spiders (2000) & the distinctly less impressive Crocodile 2: Death Swamp (2002). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) fans will be pleased with an amusing reference to that film as Gunnar Hansen who played Leatherface in it plays a bank-robber here who at the end fights off the giant Mosquitos with a huge chainsaw which he quips 'I haven't held one of these in over twenty years'! The special effects are a mixed bag really, some of them are extremely impressive while at other times they are pretty poor & unfortunately as audiences we generally remember the poor ones rather than the good ones. The opening shots in space of the alien ship are brilliant & look great, the Mosquitos themselves look cool as well but it's just some of the effects when they have to fly & move that either the budget or expertise wasn't there. There's not much gore here, there are a few dead bodies sucked dry of blood, someones eyes poke out on stalks & then explode, there are a few close-up shots of the Mosquitos proboscis entering flesh & that's about it. There's only one scene with any nudity in it as well.
It's amazing to think Mosquito had a budget of about $200,000 because some of the special effects as I've already mentioned are very impressive especially the opening spaceship sequence & there's a great scene of a farmhouse being blown to bits at the end that would rival any Hollywood action blockbuster. Shot on location in some woods in Detroit in Michigan. The acting isn't that great, in fact it's pretty poor at times.
Mosquito is a fun little creature feature, I was very impressed with some of the special effects while other's left a lot to be desired. I liked it, it wasn't a masterpiece, it's not deep or meaningful & it certainly won't change your life but it will probably entertain you for 90 odd minutes & that's all you can really ask for.
Review by Paul Andrews from the Internet Movie Database.
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