Skeeter (1993)

I almost want to sue the producers of “Skeeter” for false advertising, but then, what’s the use? And why bother? “Skeeter” really is better off being a very obscure and god awful horror film. Why even name a movie “Skeeter” if you’re only going to include four very short attacks by giant mosquitoes, most of whom seem anxious to take off before we really get in to the chaos?

“Skeeter” is a goofy and silly horror picture that desperately wants to be taken seriously, so we have to wade through about twenty minutes of character focus, and endless sub-plots to get to the giant bug menaces. An evil land developer is turning the desert in to his own construction project, all the while dumping toxic waste in to the caves. Making deals with the crooked authorities, the toxic waste has turned a swarm of mosquitoes in to oversized monsters. Meanwhile the obligatory Native American character who happens to be the deputy, opposes the criminal activities, as the mosquitoes begin attacking and eating locals.

All the while, locals begin turning up dead, as an environmentalist begins investigating the water noticing its radioactive and deadly. Just then an old towner comes back in to the scene to reunite with an older lover Sarah, both of whom catch on to the attacks and try to figure out how to stop them once and for all. Are you still with me? Man, that is a ton of sub-plots for what is a ninety minute flick with rubber mosquitoes. Charles Napier seems to be the only one in the cast who gets what kind of films he’s in, thus he plays his character about as over the top as the director allows.

While the script attempts to paint the characters in shades of gray, he and Jay Robinson play their villains for all their goofy glory. Especially Robinson who seems to be trying to imitate Angus Scrimm, for some reason. “Skeeter” either has no idea how to implement its title monsters, or just doesn’t want to, thus we’re given about an sixty five minutes of tedious and monotonous sub-plots about romance, torrid affairs and political corruption, and about fifteen minutes of mosquito attacks, all of which pull away from the carnage immensely. “Skeeter” is about as disappointing a giant killer bug movie you’d expect. It’s also nearly unwatchable.