Why So Blu?

Mosquito – Special Edition (Blu-ray Review)

vA chilling blend of sci-fi, humor and old-school horror, MOSQUITO is a tour de force of terror.  Starring genre icon Gunnar Hansen (the original “Leatherface” from THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE) and the late, great Ron Asheton (founding member of the punk rock band, The Stooges), MOSQUITO is a gore-drenched tale made with traditional stop-motion and practical effects!  Those who are fans of Saturday afternoon cheese on some of your favorite genre cable networks will be in heaven with this grandaddy classic of them all.  This release also boasts a feature length retrospective documentary with most all the main players back to discuss the history of the film.

Film 

Science-fiction becomes horrifyingly real for a park full of innocent campers, as a hideous horde of mutated mosquitos viciously attack without warning! A band of survivors flees the bloodthirsty swarm in a death-defying attempt to warn the world of the mosquito menace. Led by a brave young couple and a resourceful government agent, the group realizes their only hope is to take on the blood­thirsty bugs in an explosive final showdown! A chilling blend of sci-fi, humor and old-school horror, MOSQUITO is a tour de force of terror.

While watching the film, I kept thinking that that this was the grand daddy of what would come to be known as those SyFy original films.  You know, the trashy, cheap 50’s esque monster films that have some D-List celebrity in the cast that try hard to be campy and cheesy?  Then I come to find that this film was a USA staple and then SyFy (then appropriately the Sci-Fi Channel) did actually pick the film up.

From the opening frame of a space ship dropping a pod to Earth and this film is called Mosquito, you just know you’re in for some silliness.  What’s awesome about this film is that they go all in and go hard with the practical creature effects.  Mosquitos blow up, they splash goop and people get killed and they also can blow up and goop up in gross ways.  There is plenty of camp action here to go with this stupid story to make it work.  And to give it some credit, there are some solid action sequences hidden within this trashy little film.

The big name in the film is Gunnar Hansen.  He’s the guy best known for playing Leatherface in the original Tobe Hooper Texas Chain Saw Massacre film.  His performance is lesser here, but its fun to see him.  And…OF COURSE they have to have him pick up a chainsaw in the movie and spout out the line “I haven’t used one of these in 20 years”.  Yok yok yok, guys.  We get it, he was Leatherface.

If you’re into those SyFy or Asylum films that I was referring to, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.  Its silly, gross and action packed.  The movie doesn’t take itself the least bit seriously and neither should you.  I had not seen the film until this viewing for the review, but I definitely will be recommending or showing it to some people I know can appreciate the fine art of this kind of movie.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail: (From the insert) MOSQUITO was scanned in 3K resolution utilizing double-flash HDR on an ARRISCAN film scanner, then down-sampled to 2K for output to a DPX file sequence, using the director’s personal archival 35mm Internegative element. The majority of the film was originally photographed in 16mm and blown up to 35mm for theatrical exhibition. Many of the optical effects shots were photographed natively in 35mm and inserted into the final edit.  You may notice a number of out focus shots in the film.  This issue is inherent in the original photography, and is not a fault of the new scan or transfer.  Additional digital cleanup was performed on the original DPX film scan files, and thousands of instances of dirt, scratches and film imperfections were removed for optimal picture presentation.

Depth:  Due to the 16mm sourcing, its rather flat.  Movements are cinematic.  The space scenes 3 dimensional look is still pretty impressive in appearance.

Black Levels:  Blacks are deep and bring a grainier appearance.  Detail does get lost in it, but no crushing happens in this transfer.

Color Reproduction:  Greens stand out, maybe because we’re in a forest for a lot of it and the goop the mosquitos ooze out is that color.  Its a nicer vibrant look with color able to shine through in the heavier grain.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are a little washed out and consistent throughout the film.  Detail is decent in close-up shots, but not too impressive.

Noise/Artifacts:  Due to this being 16mm in its original source, there is plenty of grain.  The dirt and specs is a very minimal level.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, German

Dynamics:  (From the insert) The audio used for this release was taken from a set of archived TASCAM DA-88 digital audio tapes.  The original 35mm magnetic audio reels could not be located. Extensive re-synching, equalization and remastering of the audio was performed for both the 2.0 stereo mix, as well as our new 7.1 surround remix.

Low Frequency Extension:  The LFE is in effect with mosquito explosions, spacecraft roaring, shotgun blasts and car crashes among other things.

Surround Sound Presentation:  While the 7.1 seems excessive for this, it all sounds pretty natural.  Don’t count out the side and rear speakers, they get some love for more than just ambiance.  I heard a door creak open from the side speaker and honestly thought it was someone entering my house.  The front speakers give a fun and accurate depiction of action moving across the screen and its distance volume placement.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Dialogue is clear and audible, if not a tad muffled soudning (likely source related.

Extras 

Mosquito – Special Edition comes with reversible cover art featuring an alternate poster design.

Audio Commentary

• With Director and Crew

“Bugging Out!” The Making of Mosquito (HD, 1:15:56) – A feature length documentary featuring interviews with Director & Co-Writer Gary Jones, Stars Gunnar Hansen, Tim Lovelace, Rachel Loiselle, Mike Hard, and Josh Becker, Director of Photography & Co-Writer Tom Chaney, Producer David Thiry and others.

Deleted & Extended Scenes (HD, 7:20) – Available with optional director commentary

Behind-the-Scenes Footage (HD, 40:22) – Available with optional director commentary.  This raw footage show stuff in the effects warehouse, table reads, set building, on location footage and watching live shoots.

Still Gallery (HD, 4:30) – Behind the scenes photos, promotional stills and effects testing pictures.

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 3:03) 

Summary 

Cheese and goop.  This movie is full of both.  While it may just be about 15 minutes too long, its still fun and super silly.  Synapse Films brings this dumpy classic to Blu-ray with fine looking picture and auido.  But where they shine is the bonus material with plenty of content that leaves you with no questions or desires for more afterward (As in, they got everything covered).  For those picking it up, its a terrific release that should be more than satisfactory.  If you’re going in blind, know that the documentary will probably warm you up to the film even more if you weren’ too big on it to begin with.