MOSQUITO (1995) - 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

MOSQUITO (1995) 
20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 

Label: Synapse Films
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 92 Minutes
Release Date: October 13, 2015
Audio: English DTS-HD MA English 7.1 Surround, DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Gary Jones
Cast: Gunnar Hansen, Ron Asheton, Steve Dixon, Rachel Loiselle, Tim Lovelace

Synopsis: 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. 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!

Mosquito is a title I have known of for many years but had never watched, I just never caught it on TV and the out-of-print DVD has been so damn expensive for quite awhile so I just skipped it. Maybe if I had known what an awesome science-fiction giant bug movie I was missing out on I would have splurged, because this is a pretty awesome bug movie!

An alien ship in Earth's orbit drops a shuttle into our atmosphere, the alien-craft crashes into a swamp a short time later. In a sweet nods to War of the Worlds the arm of the dead alien-pilot spills from an opening in the craft, a mosquito sucks some of the alien blood causing the mosquitos in the area to grow to six-feet in length, which is what our protagonists are up against here. Young couple Megan (Rachelle Loiselle) and Ray (Tim Lovelace) are driving through the area o the way to her new job, working for the National Parks.En route they splatter an over sized skeeters with their car, it's proboscis piercing the radiator of their car, its mangled carcass lays in the the road. Megan thinks it might be a bug, but she's not sure, she knows animals, not bugs. Park Ranger Hendricks (Ron Asheton of proto-punkers The Stooges!) is seen spaying mosquito repellent throughout the local camp ground, the mosquito's are out in force but he has no idea just how bad it's gonna get before the night is over. Also in the area of the National Park are a trio of bank robbers lead by Earl (Gunnar Hansen, none other than Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre), these miscreants are the first to encounter the giant blood-sucking menace in the woods, they accidentally shoot one of their own while trying to shoot the bug. 

Also in woods this day is an Air Force meteorologist named Parks (Steve Dixon) who's in the area is tracking down a radioactive meteor that may have fallen in the area, not realizing it was the alien craft, or that over sized blood-sucking mutant mosquitos are in the area. Eventually all parties converge, some are drained of blood, and the rest must face off against the over sized blood-sucking menace of the giant mosquitos.

The addition of Gunnar Hansen is a nice bit of stunt casting for this silly sci-fi horror mash-up, he begins as a bad guy but evolves ham-fistedly into a decent anti-hero, which allows him to face-off against some skeeters with a chainsaw. Ron Asheton of rockers The Stooges supporting role as the comedy-relief is welcomes, I had no I Asheton was an actor or that he was so damn funny, he fits perfectly into this humorous splatter movie. 

The movie is ripe with practical special effects, the giant mosquitoes look fantastic and when they attack we get some great shots of them piercing the flesh and eye-sockets of victims, including a the unfortunate woman taking a skeeter-sting to the ass, fun stuff. There's some stop-motion and animated sequences throughout, they're not as effective as the rubber-prop bugs but I love all the old giant monster-movie tricks they use to achieve the effects, this is a fun love-letter to those movies of yesteryear we all watched on TV as kids. 

Audio/Video: Mosquito arrives on Blu-ray from Synapse Films with a few unsavory qualities, it was shot on 16, and then blown-up to 35mm, this new HD master is sourced from the director's own 35mm interpositive, as such the movie is very grainy and rather flat looking, with inherent softness to the image. Not great but probably a lot better than anything we've had before, colors are strong, skin tones are decent, and black levels are acceptable. Not the most ideal PQ, but you know Synapse put everything they could into bringing this to Blu-ray with the best possible picture they could. 

Surprisingly we get a DTS-HD MA 7.1 surround mix for this b-movie bugger, there's not a ton of use of the surrounds but it does offer some ambiance to the presentation, there's also a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo option, English SDH subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we begin with an audio commentary with Director Gary Jones, Director of Photography and Co-Writer Tom Chaney, and Producer David Thiry loaded with anecdotal info about all facets of making the movie, how certain effects were achieved and pointing out the flaws along the way. There's also an hour long making of documentary from Red Shirt Pictures with interviews from Director/Co-Writer Gary Jones, Stars Gunnar Hansen, Tim Lovelace, Rachel Loiselle, Mike Hard, and Josh Becker, Director of Photography & Co-Writer Tom Chaney, and Producer David Thiry. A lot of it is director Gary Jones and Tom Chaney revisiting the make shift studio and various locations used in the production including Chaney's own parents home, which is the location of the final stand-off against the skeeters. 

There's also seven-minutes of deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary from Jones, plus forty-minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the movie, also with optional commentary. Extras are finished-up with a theatrical trailer and a still galley, plus a sleeve of reversible artwork

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Gary Jones, Director of Photography and Co-Writer Tom Chaney, and Producer David Thiry
- "Bugging Out!" The Making of Mosquito - Featurette (66 Mins) HD 
- Deleted/Extended Scenes with Optional Director Commentary (7 Mins) HD   
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage with Optional Director Commentary (40 Mins) 
- Still Gallery (5 Mins) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) HD 
- Reversible Cover Art

Mosquito (1995) is a fun giant bug b-movie loaded with some awesome practical special effects and gore, it's very goofy and low-budget but it has a lot of heart and the 20th Anniversary Edition from Synapse is loaded with some entertaining extras, this is a very enjoyable slice of b-movie cheese from the nineties. 3/5

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION (Second Sight Blu-ray Review)

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 
2-Disc 40th Anniversary Restoration 

Label: Second Sight Films

Region Code: B

Rating: 18 Certificate

Duration: 8d Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.77:1)
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and 5.1 / PCM Stereo 2.0, PCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger, William Vail, Jim Siedow, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal 

When I was just barely in the double digits my parents rented a laser disc player (what's that, right kids) and a few scary movies movies and one of them was THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) and the other was the erotic-demon shocker MAUSOLEUM (1988) starring the demon-boobied Bobbie Bresee. 

From the very first frame it was unsettling and filled me with an unease, the image of the sun baked armadillo dead on the roadside right away gave me the heads-up that I was about to endure something awful. Layer on top of that the macabre images of the disinterred corpses staged at a cemetery and the unsettling flash photography and I was already a bit nauseated.

Enter a group of twenty-somethings travelling cross country in a Volkswagen van, we have Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) and her paraplegic brother, Franklin (Paul A. Partain) travelling across Texas with friends Jerry (Allen Danziger), Kirk (William Vail), and Pam (Teri McMinn), to visit the grave of the Hardestys' grandfather which may have been desecrated following the the macabre acts of vandalism mentioned previously.  

Along the way they have the unfortunate urge to pick-up a very strange Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) who has an unsightly birth mark on his face. Once inside things go weird when he goes on about the joy of killing cows at the slaughterhouse and how tasty his brother's homemade head cheese is before he takes a pocket knife and slices open his own palm...  watching this for the first time I quickly realized I was seriously in over my head. Now everyone in the van is on edge and panicked when suddenly the but grabs Franklin and slices open his arm before being thrown out the van. Running alongside the van as it speeds off he smears his blood on the van and the group continue on. 


arriving at the cemetery they conform that their grandparents graves have not been disturbed and head off to check out the now abandoned Hardesty house, Before arriving and they realize they are running on fumes and top off at a gas station only to be told they are out of gas and the fuel truck won't arrive until the next day. With the Hardesty farm house just a few miles away and they decide to make the short trip of it and return to the gas station later that night to refuel. 

At the house Kirk and Pam wander off to a swimming hole rumored to be nearby while Sally and Jerry explore the dilapidated house leaving poor wheelchair bound Franklin on his own, unable to navigate the crumbling home. Early on we discover what an annoying whiner Franklin is but he takes it to the next level at the house. Unable to follow his sister he's left on his own to complain while giving disapproving raspberries in his sister's direction. The poor bastard is a cripple and you would think you might have some sympathies for him but he is such an unlikable character who wallows in hos own self pity. 

Pam and Kirk never do find the swimming hole but they do come across a neighboring home after they hear a gas-powered generator humming away in the distance. The curious Kirk enters the home and meets one of the inhabitants with deadly consequences. A hulking figure wearing a dead-skin mask named Leatherface (Gunnar Hanson) smashes his skull with a mallet, the encounter is quick and before you know what's happening Kirk is dead on the floor with his legs creepily twitching away. 

Pam hears the commotion and come inside looking for Kirk whom she assumes is playing a joke on her. Inside she enters a room blanketed in chicken feather and eerie sculptures made from the bone of animals and what appear to be human. Realizing something is very wrong she attempts to leave but Leatherface snatches her up and impales her on a meat hook! While she hangs there helpless and squirming Leatherface starts to carve-up Kirk with a chainsaw. 

As night sets in the group back at the Hardesty homestead begin to worry about Pam and Kirk, Jerry mounts a one-an search party and sets off into the night finding his way to the home not expecting to discover the horrors that await him inside. He hears a noise coming from a freezer and opens it to find Pam still alive just as Leatherface kill hims.

Now completely dark outside Sally and Franklin begin to worry and set off through a brush thicket to find their friends when Leatherface emerges from the darkness chainsawing poor Franklin to death as the hysterical Sally lets loose the first of many marathon screams - it is a supremely effective kill scene to this day, every death onscreen in this move carries a weight to it and that makes it so damn effective - nearly bloodless but brutal. . 

Sally escapes Leatherface and makes her way to the gas station seeking the help of the the proprietor (Jim Siedow) who turns out to be the father of Leatherface and the Hitchhiker, of course. He beats her with a broom before tying her up and placing her in sack. Siedow is truly demented in the role and brings a lot to the character, it's a nightmarish encounter. He throws her in his truck and makes his way back to the farm house where the strange clan sit down for a family dinner with Sally as the main course. They wheel out the desiccated corpse of their Grandpa (John Dugan) who looks mummified until he gets a taste of Sally's blood and then he becomes a bit more animated. Apparently he was quite the killer back at the slaughterhouse and the family want him to do the dirty deed. They kneel the hysterical Sally over a large wash bin at Grandpa's feet as he limply attempts to smash her brains in with a hammer. It's such a nightmare scenario and infused with the crazy energy of the cannibal clan and Marilyn Burn's marathon of screams, her duress is nerve-shattering.

While Grandpa swings away to the cheers of the family Sally somehow manages to get away by leaping through a window pane of glass, sprinting for the main road with both Leatherface and the Hitchiker just behind her. The film ends with a semi truck happening upon the bizarre scene with the Hitchhiker splattered on the road and Sally jumping into the bed of a passing pick-up truck laughing and screaming hysterically as Leatherface spins the chainsaw in the air in anger. 

I remember watching it for the first-time like it was yesterday, my nerves were a wreck. I was shaking and scared out of my mind and for some reason I loved it - it was at that moment I knew I loved to be scared. Subsequent viewing bare witness to the continuing power of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, a tightly crafted film with not an excess ounce of filler to it. Everything onscreen carries with it a weight that cannot be denied - a terror classic without equal.

BLU-RAY:

When I first heard there was a brand new 4K remaster of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE on the way I scoffed at the notion that you could improve this 40 year-old classic shot on 16mm. This had always been a sweaty film with copious amounts of grit and grain galore. Could a new 4K restoration even be worth it, or worse take something away from it? 

Now that I've watched it I must say that the film certainly has never looked better - which is not to say pristine. There's only so much you can do with a 40 year old film shot on the inherently grainy 16mm film stock, let's be real about that. Knowing that the grain structure is intact and appears natural without any wholesale DNR having been applied leaving as much fine detail as the possible onscreen. The colors are solid but this film has always been a bit soft but the fine detail and textures do come through with a deeper clarity and vibrancy - though I would stop short of saying there's a lot of sharpness to the image., it's a sweaty film but this new restoration is worth the double-dip in my opinion. 

We have four audio options including the original PCM Mono 1.0 for the purist and a newly created DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1. Thankful for the inclusion of the original mono but I gotta give it to the new 7.1 surround mix, some great use of the surrounds creating a terrifyingly immersive experience with chainsaw, screams and creepy sound design filtering in from the surrounds with surprising effectiveness. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Onto the extras we have almost everything ported over from the Dark sky Films Ultimate Edition Blu-ray with the notable exception of one - that would be the 'Dr. W.E. Barnes Presents"Making Grandpa" (1 Minute) detailing the transformation of the actor from baby-faced youth into the hideous visage of the blood-sucking grandpa character. 

Onto the new extras on disc one we have two brand new commentaries. The first being a commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper and the second with Editor J. Larry Carroll and Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou. Between the four commentaries you will know everything you could ever hope to know about this terrifying film.

Onto the jam-packed second disc we have the carried over features plus nearly an hour of new content exclusive to the 40th Anniversary Restoration. A new interview with production manager Ron Bozman, John Dugan the actor who portrayed the blood-sucking grandpa, editor J. Larry Carroll plus new deleted scene and outtakes presented silent in the absence of an audio track. 

Additionally there are 22 minutes of interviews with Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel which I do not believe are on my Dark Sky Ultimate Edition Blu-ray or the 40th Anniversary version from MPI in the US. 

The MPI release here in the US has courted some controversy regarding a cut to black that was originally a fade to black and Sally's scream/laugh appears to be oddly looped during the finale . Second Sight were aware of the issue and took corrective steps to return the fade to black during the flash photography sequence and the audio glitch, which is appreciated. 

DISC 1
- NEW 40th Anniversary Restoration supervised by Tobe Hooper
- NEW 4k transfer from the original 16mm A/B rolls
- NEW 7.1, 5.1 and stereo mixes as well as the original mono
- NEW audio commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper
- NEW audio commentary with Cinematographer Daniel Pearl,
- Audio Commentary with Editor J. Larry Carroll, Sound Recordist Ted Nicolaou
- Audio commentary with Writer-Producer-Director Tobe Hooper, Cinematographer Daniel Pearl, Actor Gunnar HansenAudio commentary with Actors Marilyn and Burns, Allen Danziger and Paul A. Partain, and Art Director Robert A. Burns

DISC 2
- ‘Cutting Chain Saw’ with Editor J. Larry Carroll (11 Minutes)
- ‘Granpaw’s Tales’ with Actor John Dugan (16 Minutes)
- Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: TCSM (20 Minutes)
- New Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (15 Minutes)
- ‘The Shocking Truth’ Documentary (73 Minutes)
- 'The Shocking Truth' Outtakes (8 Minutes)
- ‘Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw’ (72 Minutes)
- ‘Off The Hook’ with Actor Teri McMinn (17 Minutes)
- ‘The Business of Chain Saw’ – with Production Manager Ron Bozman (16 Minutes)
- ‘House Tour with Actor Gunnar Hansen’ (8 Minutes)
- Tobe Hooper interview (14 Minutes)
- Kim Henkel interview (8 Minutes)
- Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (25 Minutes)
- Bloopers (2 Minutes)
- Trailers and TV Spots (7 Minutes) 
- Radio Spots (1 Minute)
- Stills Gallery (2 Minutes) 
- Trailers (2 Minutes) 

VERDICT:
THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE will always be a terrifying slice of horror and this 2-disc edition from Second Sight in the UK is just fantastic with a brand-new 4K restoration and a sweet new surround mix with a wealth of bonus material clocking-in just shy of the eleven-hour mark, making this about as damn near definitive as we are ever going to see. Not just a high recommend but a must-own release for any red-blooded horror fan. 

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40th Anniversary Restoration UK Steelbook Blu-ray released on 11/17

The brutal classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) 40th Anniversary Restoration comes to Blu-ray in the UK on November 17th from SECOND SIGHT FILM as a standard two-disc Blu-ray and a Limited Edition Blu-ray SteelBook with new extras and a 4K HD Restoration!!

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

40TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION

Label: Second Sight Films

Release Date: November 17th 2014 

Region Code: B

Duration: 84 Minutes

Video: 1:77:1, 1080p

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Aduio 7.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, PCM Stereo 2.0, PCM Mono 1.0 

Director: Tobe Hooper 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre not!only changed the face of!horror in 1974 but still remains one of the most shocking, powerful and terrifying films ever made.Now to celebrate its 40th Anniversary, brand new!restored version comes to Blu-ray!courtesy of Second Sight.

Widely banned on release! its notoriety has not! diminished and this harrowing tale of a depraved Texan clan and its chainsaw wielding icon of horror Leatherface! continues to stun and disturb audiences like no other film.

Supervised by director Tobe!Hooper, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has received a stunning 4K restoration and 7.1 audio!mix, looking and sounding like never before.

The film will be released as a two-disc limited edition Steelbook blu-ray with!brand new artwork created by Doaly and stacked with brand-new!bonus features, a standard two-disc Blu-ray with reversible sleeve featuring the new artwork and the original!U.S. poster!artwork will!also!be!available on November 17th 2014.

BRAND NEW BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
- NEW 4k transfer from the original 16mm A/B rolls.
-NEW 7.1 surround audio mix supervised by Tobe Hooper, 5.1 surround, 2.0 stereo, 1.0 original mono.
- NEW Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper.
- NEW Deleted scenes and outtakes.
- NEW audio commentary with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, sound recordist Ted Nicolaou, and editor J. Larry Carroll.
- NEW Deleted Scenes and Outtakes
- NEW 'Grandpa's Tales' with actor John Dugan.

OTHER BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
- Audio commentary with Tobe Hooper, actor Gunnar Hansen, cinematographer Daniel Pearl.
- Audio commentary with actors Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, and Paul A. Partain, and production designer Robert Burns.
- 'Cutting Chain Saw' with Editor J. Larry Carroll.
- Horror's Hallowed Grounds: TCSM.
- 'The Shocking Truth' documentary plus outtakes.
- 'Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of The Saw'.
- A Tour of the TCSM House with Gunnar Hansen.
- 'Off The Hook' with Teri McMinn.
- 'The Business of Chain Saw' – with Production Manager Ron Bozman.
- Tobe Hooper interview.
- Kim Henkel interview.
- Deleted Scenes and Outtakes, Trailers, TV and Radio spots.

DVD Review: REPLIGATOR (1996)

REPLIGATOR (1996)

Label: Whacked Movies
Duration: 84 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Director: Bret McCormick
Cast: Gunnar Hansen, Brinke Stevens, Keith Kjornes, T.J. Meyers, Carl Merritt

Synopsis: An army experiment gone awry turns burly brutes into gorgeous nymphets who morph into gators when they reach orgasm. This crazy, erotic sci-fi romp tells the story of a top secret military experiment that turns burly soldiers into sexy nymphomaniac babes who turn into gators when they reach orgasm! The film stars Gunnar Hansen (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and scream queen Brinke Stevens who reveals her finest assets. A cult classic ripe for rediscovery, Repligator offers non-stop fun and plenty of topless babes.

There's not a lot I can add to that synopsis. If I did you just might go cross-eyed trying to make sense of it all and I certainly couldn't. In fact, that's probably why they stuffed it with glorious amounts of naked woman, just to turn the thinking part of the brain off so you could just enjoy how deliciously campy and fun this cornball b-movie is. It stars Gunnar Hansen (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) as Dr. Kildare and 80's scream queen Brink Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre) as Dr. Goodbody, oh the names in this movie are something else. Both are scientist working for the military industrial complex. Goodbody has tapped into the horny thoughts of men and Kildare has invented a frikkin' laser beam that turns hard-nosed male soldiers into horny babes, now tell me what's not to love about that? There is however one very unfortunate side effect to all of this, once these horny babes are sexed-up they turn into alligator-women - that's right - glorious no budget alligators! 

So, yeah this is a pretty awful film but it's certainly entertaining in an eye-rolling sorta way, the comedy is juvenile and the sci-fi techno babble is mind certainly ridiculous but these guys did something that's rarely done well, they made a bad movie by design and it actually worked, for me anyway. 

The special effects are laugh-out-loud bad but the cast are just awful enough in that special way to make the screwball script work it's schlocky magic. Imagine if Frank Henelotter (Frankenhooker) penned a retro science fiction script and Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall) directed it with Roger Corman producing, the bad movie making firing on all cylinders right there! To give credit were credit is due the film was actually written by Keith Kjorned and produced/directed by Texas b-movie auteur Bret McCormick and while I enjoyed this one I have so very little interest in watching any of his other films. I get the feeling this was sort like capturing lightning in a bottle and for others it might just be a jar full of piss.

The DVD from Whacked Movie features a a cool Behind the Scenes Featurette documenting the fun/problems of working on a low budget productions plus an Interview with Director, Bret McCormick who speaks about Roger Corman's influence on his career.

This is not quite a broad recommend to everyone because you have to seriously love bad cinema to get through it but if what you've read so far intrigues you seek it out. 2 Outta 5