MOSQUITO (aka BLOOD FEVER, 1995)

Streaming on Shudder!
Directed by Gary Jones
Written by Tom Chaney, Steve Hodge, 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, Patricia Kay Jones, Howard Brusseau Jr.

Through and through, MOSQUITO is pretty much the definition of a guilty pleasure movie. It’s so shittily made, horribly acted, and ineptly put together that there really is no reason it should get a 20 year anniversary edition Blu-Ray rerelease except for the fact that there are a few things that make this film something you can just watch, laugh at, and basically have a brainless good time with.

Derivative of too many movies to count, MOSQUITO begins with one of those pesky meteorites crashing to earth and landing smack dab into the middle of a swamp where a nest of mosquitoes happen to hang out. They get meteor juiced and grow to the size of German shepherds and attack anyone who crosses their path including camping hicks, hunting hicks, and fishing hicks. With almost everyone sucked dry by the flying menaces, it’s up to a plucky forest ranger, her boyfriend, a biologist with a jeep, and Leatherface to kill as many of the blood-sucking insects as they can.

The film basically begins with a rip-off of THE BLOB and then, halfway through, turns into an Earthbound version of ALIENS as the few survivors happen upon the Mother Mosquito and its nest and must destroy the monsters with a countdown ticking bomb made with things you can find in your average log cabin kitchen. What plot this film has is lifted from better horror films, and the way it all unfolds, it’s reliant on the backs of the non-actors to ham-fistedly attempt to push it along. From a technical point in terms of filmmaking and storytelling, this one is shit.

That said, the little effort put into acting and originality is instead placed in the strength of the effects on display. This film was made just before CG came to be the go-to place for effects, so there are tons of bulging eyes, dried out corpses, stinger stab wounds, and tons of giant practical mosquito creatures being swung around by invisible strings. Those who subscribed to FANGORIA as a kid will find this movie to be absolutely titillating.

And to add to the flavor, not only is this an effects masterpiece, but it is smart enough to throw Gunnar Hansen a chainsaw and have him go nuts on the mosquitoes in the final act. The effects and Hansen’s return to power tools are the reasons why MOSQUITO is worth checking out. The film plays to the gorehounds, and is at least smart enough to give them what they want, so it has that going for it despite its amateur setbacks.