This ’90s Gore Fest Is a Throwback to ’50s Sci-Fi Monster Movies

Who doesn’t love a big killer bug movie? Unlike many other subgenres, this particular brand of science-fiction horror hybrid took a good while to come along. Any time a giant monster movie was released in the first half of the 20th century, it was a big deal. The Lost World, King Kong, and Mighty Joe Young stunned and inspired audiences with their groundbreaking special effects. For years, these types of movies were considered too demanding to make on a regular basis. Then, along with the nuclear 1950s, came a complete and utter fascination with turning everyday animals into gargantuan killers! The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was the first of this age, released in 1953. Hollywood began to churn these movies out left and right, innovating these special effects and making them easier to pull off, and making the gap between these films much shorter. From there, classics like Them!, Tarantula, and Attack of the Giant Leeches terrorized moviegoers for the rest of the decade. As the 1960s rolled along, this subgenre became old hat. The world quickly overcame their fear of radioactive creatures and slowly found themselves spooked by supernatural threats that mirrored world events — Night of the Living Dead and Rosemary’s Baby being the chief among them.

From there, killer bugs and giant monsters were far less prevalent. The rare filmmakers to come along and bring them back have often been fans of the golden age of sci-fi horror movies. So, while this subgenre doesn’t always churn out great films, they’re still typically a lot of fun. One of the very best is 1994’s Mosquito. The ’90s were dominated by B-rate schlock fests like this, perfectly suited for late-night cable purgatory and devoured by horror buffs at every opportunity. This cult favorite takes a tongue-in-cheek jab at the previously mentioned classics, gives it a vile heart, and blows its guts out all over the screen. Top its gory goods off with a stacked cast of genre favorites, including Gunnar Hansen of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame, and you’ve got a banger that can’t be missed.

Mosquito (1994)

Giant mosquitoes, mutated by alien DNA from a crashed spacecraft, begin terrorizing a swampy region, creating a nightmarish scenario for locals and campers. As these oversized predators attack, a diverse group of individuals, including campers and a scientist, scramble to survive and find a way to eliminate the growing threat.

Release Date

November 21, 1994

Director

Gary Jones

Cast

Gunnar Hansen , Ron Asheton , Steve Dixon , Rachel Loiselle , Tim Lovelace , Mike Hard , Kenny Mugwump , John Reneaud

Runtime

92 minutes

Writers

Tom Chaney , Steve Hodge , Gary Jones

Studio(s)

Acme Films Ltd. , Antibes Inc. , Excalibur Motion Pictures

‘Mosquito’ Fits in Perfectly With Other ’90s Horror Comedies

The mid-90s were an interesting time for horror movies. After the genre ran through its best eras back to back, the ’70s and ’80s, the end of the 20th century seemed to be a time when no one knew how they should scare audiences anymore. You had serious, thought-provoking entries like Candyman, sequels to iconic slasher series, groundbreaking found footage releases, humorous genre deconstructions, and more. Despite all that, compared to the two decades that came before it, there were far fewer great horror movies that came out in the ’90s. Most of the best had one thing in common — they had a great sense of humor. Think of pictures like Scream, Army of Darkness, and From Dusk Till Dawn. These horror comedies took jabs at masked killer films, the works of Ray Harryhausen, and the vampire subgenre.

Related

The 10 Campiest Movies of the 1990s, Ranked

“I’m not a crook, I’m ambitious.”

To round out your ’90s horror funny bone, all you need now is Mosquito. This film was directed by Gary Jones and released in 1994, 40-odd years after the giant monster subgenre truly took off. It follows a group of survivors in the wake of a campground massacre, who are left to fight a horde of killer, human-sized mosquitoes. This is a schlock-fest if there’s ever been one, but Jones and co. embrace that fact.

‘Mosquito’ Is a Gory Love Letter to ’50s Sci-Fi Horror Monster Movies

First things first, the way these titular beasts come about is perfectly in line with the film’s ’50s inspiration. The movie opens with an alien spaceship crashing into a U.S. national park. We then cut to some glossy stock footage of a mosquito being born, flying over to the spaceship, and sucking the blood of its extraterrestrial pilot. You can’t have a ’50s homage without a wink at aliens, otherwise, what are we all doing here? From there, they suck the guts out of everyone in sight. These suckers multiply quickly and take over the surrounding park. They don’t play around, either. We get to watch a campsite massacre where people get skewered and gouged with mosquitoes’ proboscis, and witness massive hordes of these nasty creatures flying around as they search for their next target. Depending on the scene or the stunt, they’re brought to life with rubbery puppets, stop-motion animation, or cel-shaded animation. Any way you roll it, these big guys look gloriously disgusting and continue to kill in the most gobsmacking death scenes that you can imagine.

‘Mosquito’ Isn’t Scary, but It Is a Ton of Fun

Are the mosquitoes actually scary in Mosquito? The answer is “no,” but they’re clearly not meant to be. Things do get intense, that’s for sure, but Jones brings a wonderful sense of humor to the table that never leaves us guessing what his intentions are. The music is completely over the top, some of the kills border on Looney Tunes-level gags, and the camera occasionally goes Sam Raimi-mode with some zany whips and zooms. On top of that, the film has such a fast pace that none of the scares or deaths are ever meant to linger. Mosquito operates like an arcade shoot-em-up. As soon as one of them is shot down, another pops up in its place. The main ensemble is armed with guns, chainsaws, and mosquito repellent, giving the story a pretty sick action tone at times.

These giant mosquitoes might not be scary, but they are intense. Despite being incredibly annoying, mosquitoes are some of the lamest bugs on the planet. Props to Gary Jones for finding a way to make these little guys into the savage, murderous titular villains of a horror movie. You’ll feel a bit uneasy at every closeup of their dripping, jagged probosci, or while you watch them tackle and terrorize someone. Mosquito won’t haunt your dreams, but it will make you laugh and say “Thank God this isn’t real.” Giant bug movies don’t have to give you nightmares, but they should make your skin crawl.

Mosquito is fun for genre movie fans for more than just its absurd B-movie premise. The film’s ensemble is made up of plenty of familiar faces. Gunnar Hansen, who played Leatherface in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, plays the most fun of the survivors — Earl, a gruff, chainsaw-wielding, camo-wearing redneck. There’s also Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges, who plays the wimpy comedic presence, Hendricks. Even Josh Becker, an underrated genre movie director and collaborator of Sam Raimi, appears briefly. Otherwise, the cast is made up of tons of “that guy,” cable movie faces. Tim Lovelace and Rachel Loiselle are fine in their leading roles as Ray and Megan, the couple who first come into contact with any of these creatures, but Steve Dixon steals the show as Parks, a USAF meteor chaser. He’s a wisecracking badass who talks trash to the mosquitoes, takes no nonsense from anyone around him, and has a great flannel at the beginning. If anyone should have walked away from Mosquito as a B-movie star, it’s Dixon.

Will Mosquito change your life? No. That doesn’t mean that horror and ’50s science fiction monster movie fans shouldn’t check it out, though. This nasty, gore-filled ride is a must for genre heads everywhere. You’ll laugh, you’ll squirm, and you’ll slap your arm harder than ever any time one of these little menaces lands on you.

Mosquito is available to stream on Shudder in the U.S.

Watch on Shudder