Toxic waste is the culprit behind more big bugs in 1993's "Skeeter." The sludge, culled from an abandoned mine by bad guy developer Jay Robinson, causes mosquitos to grow to the size of chihuahuas and attack the residents of a small Southwestern town. Standing in their flight path is heroic deputy Jim Youngs and environmental agent William Sanderson, of "Deadwood" and "Newhart" fame.
'70s film and TV actor Clark Brandon directed "Skeeter" with what might be charitably called an unsteady hand: the film often wavers from broad comedy to horror within the same scene, and the professionalism of the actors is the only binding agent that keeps the picture together. The cast is a cult movie devotee's dream: in addition to Sanderson, Charles Napier ("The Silence of the Lambs") is on-hand as a corrupt sheriff, while Michael J. Pollard (an Oscar nominee for "Bonnie and Clyde") does his usual oddball routine. George "Buck" Flower, who appeared in John Carpenter's "The Fog" and "They Live," is a local yokel, while John F. Goff, whose writing and acting credits include numerous exploitation titles, is the dad of female lead Traci Griffith ("Sleepaway Camp III"). Attempting to hold the whole thing together is co-producer Don Edmonds, director of the notorious "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS."
As for the skeeters? Well, they're ratty-looking puppets whose primary means of flight appears to be courtesy of an off-camera production assistant throwing them at actors. They do splat with impressive gore, though.
