Hooptober 9 from Outer Space
#1: 2 insect-centered films (1)
Shudder

I'm kicking off Hooptober 9 with MOSQUITO because it has a summery vibe, and it's not quite fall yet.

MOSQUITO is a 90s film that's going for that 50s schlocky monster movie vibe. Gary Jones uses stock mosquito footage, claymation, practical effects and what looks like animation to show these mutant bugs. While there are some standout goopy effects of people getting their insides sucked out, it's very uneven and ultimately forgettable.

MOSQUITO tries a lot of humor that doesn't quite land. I do like the little nod to THE WAR OF THE WORLDS when it opens with a dying alien reaching its 3-fingered hand out of its spaceship. I also enjoyed Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface) picking up a chainsaw and saying "Look what I found!"

The lead couple might as well be made out of cardboard; their entire characters can be summarized as "girl who likes science" and "guy who says 'babe' a lot." Gunnar Hansen's lines sound like they've all be dubbed. Steve Dixon, on the other hand, feels like he's in a much better movie than the rest of the cast. He gives a strong performance as an Air Force meteor chaser and really sells the fact that he's running around a swamp with some kind of geiger counter wand.

Ron Asheton from Iggy and the Stooges is in this, so if I want I could count this as an insect film AND a film with a real musician in it. I'm going to try and watch 1 film for each requirement, though.

If this film were made more recently, the mosquitos would've been entirely cheap-o CGI and they would've looked like dogshit. While I wouldn't call this film a success by any means, I appreciate that the effort on many of the effects.

My gut says this is a 2-star movie but I may soften on that and throw another half-star. It's watchable and not terrible, but mostly forgettable.