Skeeter (1993)

Really Surprised!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Blistering performances.

At the opening of the film we see a crew storing waste canisters in an old mining compound. We later find that it stores some sort of polluted, toxic substance that increases the size of mosquitoes who frequented it and will threaten the remaining citizens of a sleepy desert community of Clear Sky(I'm guessing in Arizona or New Mexico). Besides the threat of mosquitoes is a land developer named Drake(Jay Robinson)who is paving the way for a future suburbia settlement. Drake wishes for farmers around him to give up their lands, one of those being Clay Crosby(John Goff)whose wife has recently passed and livestock are mysteriously dying off. His daughter, Sarah(Tracy Griffith)returns for the funeral and strikes up a past relationship with Deputy Roy Boone(Jim Youngs, all mullet and muscle..but little real acting skill other than standing tall and stiff)who sees that something's not right in Clear Sky. He calls in geologist Gordon(William Sanderson)to check the water around the area and he soon discovers that what is killing not only the livestock but citizens as well is polluted water. Yet, when he informs his findings to his superior it falls on deaf ears..his superior is in Drake's hip pocket so reporting such an environmental disaster will seemingly prove difficult. What's even worse is Roy's superior, Sheriff Ernie Buckle(Charles Napier)is aware of Drake's crooked ways but turns a blind eye to all his underhanded activities. The polluted water that is killing the livestock and poisoning the citizens was carefully hidden only to Drake and Ernie and somehow Roy must find a way to make things right. Roy will have trouble on his hands as Drake has hired goons who will attempt to take his life.A lot of plot does convolute what is essentially a B-movie creature feature. Some characters are kind of left hanging such as Michael J Pollard's weirdo Hopper, a collector who has this make-shift museum and feeds blood to his pet mutant mosquito. What we kind of forget about is that he has a live one that ISN'T dead. Then we never really get a resolution to villainous Drake, though it is quite clear he might face ruin if those who stand in his way such as Roy and Sarah aren't silenced. Thankfully, Roy has a loyal partner, a Native American named Hank(the reliable Eloy Casados)who sticks by him. The bugs themselves are a bit of a let-down, but expected as such with the low-budget I'm sure the filmmakers were saddled with. The story, though, plays the silly premise almost completely straight and the story about the citizens losing their community slowly to death and change is really sad. The location of the desert around the plot assists the film in my opinion. I'm a fan of "mutant bug" films so I cut this exercise some slack. If you like these sci-fi/horror creature features which came out in the early 90's during the made-for-video boom then this should be a treat. George "Buck" Flower has an amusing cameo as a mosquito victim.

"Skeeter" is a passing fair critter-condundrum movie. I like it. It is merely another basic entry in the long-lived monster genre originating in the 1950's; and I'm a fan. You cannot go into one of these films with expectations of high drama, magnificent special effects, and flawless plot lines. You go to see the monsters run amok and the films' characters, in more ways than one, attempt to stem the tide of nature on a rampage. As to the special effects, if you are a fan, after the initial shock and laughter, your brain accommodates; and the mosquitoes, or squids, or bats, or whatever, take on a surrealistic and entertaining quality.One improvement we do get with these newer entries is generally better acting than in the past. The directing hasn't changed much over the years; it is still marginal at best. But more good actors are available now. They are eager for work and generally do an excellent job with marginal scripts, formula plots, and overwhelmed directors. The cast of "Skeeter" is quite compelling and the characters are believable for the most part. The plot drags a little as the director attempts to create some reason to watch the film other than to see giant mosquitoes run rampant. These new directors have forgotten that there is no other reason. But I think "Skeeter" is fun and, worth some good escapism time. Be sure, in the early part of the film, to try and figure out what the "dead cow" really is. I personally think it's an army surplus blanket. My recommendation is to see "Skeeter" with a friend, have a crossword handy, and then you'll have three interesting things to do. One of them should work out. It just might be "Skeeter"!

When first told that we would be watching "Skeeter" for our nightly movie-fest, my first reaction was "Oh great, Not another lame low budget horror flick that stars some no name actor and some other leading lady with big breasts and well you know how it goes". Sorry not going to happen with this film my friend! Skeeter had me on the edge of my seat. I was horrified to think that this could really happen. Our government is hauling things up and down our highways every day that could easily morph your average mosquito or scorpion into a huge, human devouring beast. I think Skeeter should be used as an example and shown throughout the world, that if we dont start to take care of our environment, were going to have huge skeeters flying about sucking our life force. Bottom line, if you want to be scared to death, watch this movie.

This was such a bad movie... I mean, bad. It's two redeeming qualities are: 1) Now when someone asks me "What's the worse movie you have ever seen?" I will have a suitable reply. 2) It was mildly entertaining to see a movie that uses the kind of giant plastic bugs that you can buy at dollar stores... how often do you see that? It looks like it might have been trying to be "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" meets "Arachnophobia," but it unfortunately only managed to be "my 10 year old son meets cam-corder..." and, come to think of it, he would have done a better job. I mean... gargle afterward.Yech.