Mosquito

I am torn on this movie but mostly leaning towards the side of loving it. The problem is the main reasons I love it are completely subjective, so I feel that I must still give an accurate technical rating of the movie.

I love this movie mainly because I remember seeing it many many times as a kid. In fact there was a time when my family and I would visit my grandma's house for a weekend at least once or twice a month and I would always sleep on the couch out in the main room, which meant I could watch tv until late. And for about a year, it seemed that every time we went, this movie was on cable as the late night movie, so I saw it probably about 15 times. I was young and so I wasn't really familiar with a lot of similar horror b films. At the time I remember thinking this was actually a serious scary film and not a campy b horror.

Years later now, I remembered the movie and wanted to see if I could find a copy of it. So I researched and got one and rewatched it. At first I thought this had to be a different film. The campiness of some of the park rangers reminded me of Wes Craven's "I Spit On Your Grave". But then quickly came in some of the really bad special effects and I knew this was the film I remembered.

So what does the film have going for it? Well it is definitely in the realm of those so bad its funny films. Although the movie does actually appear to attempt some humor which fails miserably. I think for me the best parts are the special effects, because they are so over the top and fake, yet also somewhat terrifying. I would say that all in all, the film feels like a homage to early zombie films both in its plot and special effects. Its definitely a film that anyone can sit down and enjoy for an evening if they just want something laugh at and be entertained by for an hour or two.

This is a film for people who, like me, have seen the art in really poor film-making. Some films really do make an art form of the tacky storyline and cheesy script....this is a classic of the genre. It is full of humorous references for the true horror junkie and doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. A film like this could go two ways...it could either try to take itself seriously and unless masterfully achieved it'll fall flat on its face, or it can step back and take a good, long, honest look at what its really got going for it and try to pull it off with its tongue firmly in its cheek. With a little more audacity some of the deaths could have achieved cult status (one certainly springs to mind)...but hey, with such a vast array of acting talent (Gunnar Hansen of Texas Chainsaw fame being the shining light, and Steve Dixon as Parks also doing an admirable job) and plenty of hillbilly gags, the obligatory pervert-cum-hero this is a must watch for the truly awful film fan...if you liked this watch mutator; awful film, great deaths.

I didn't think you could make a career out of crap, but sadly I've been proven wrong. Mosquito's director, Gary Jones, has made two more of these oversized animal movies! Incidentally, the flick was written by the "legendary" Gunnar Hansen, who is also one of the main characters. I could dog Mosquito pretty hard, but for the straight-to-video huge animal/insect sub-genre, it's probably the best (with Ticks coming in as a close second). It's just so funny. I can't tell if the laughs are intentional or not. There are some things that are so absolutely hilarious that you have to believe they wrote it that way to get a laugh, but you're never quite sure. Here's the best dialogue shared between our characters: "If I wasn't having such a sh*tty day, I'd kill you right now." "Men a lot better than you have said that to me before, many times." Who has said that to you??? I really want to know. Another favorite line is when Gunnar picks up the chainsaw. "I haven't handled one of these babies in twenty years." That is, of course, a reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I have to believe that it's the only line Gunnar actually wrote. And Steve Dixon is Chef from South Park. Period. If you want to have a fun night, catch Mosquito. Hell, I own it.

Here's a note to half of the other reviewers: Can you not tell the difference between a bathtub and a fridge??????

I consider myself fortunate to have caught "Mosquito" on a Sunday matinee. The opening scene depicts a huge mosquito smashing against a car windshield and the acting only gets worse from there. We get to see the "deputy" with a full beard in one scene lose the beard when the camera cuts back to him (stellar editing). We also get to see the main character who is the human incarnation of South Park's "Chef." My sides split when Gunnar Hansen (a.k.a. Letherface) picks up a chainsaw and says: "I haven't handled one of these things in 20 years....feels good." A commonly-used, extremely cheesy line is also: "..if I wasn't having such a bad day, I'd kill you." Anyway, go rent this, but you might have some trouble finding it (try a mom 'n pop video store).

What a tremendous achievement in American cinema! Did any of y'all know that you can hammer boards over windows without nails? Did you know that facial hair can disappear and reappear at random moments? Did you realize the safe haven that can be had in a bathtub? A perfect way to spend the day.