Insectula!
Starring: Pasquale Pilla, Arielle Cezanne, Harrison Matthews
Director: Mike Peterson
Reviewed by David Wing
‘From an unknown world…here to destroy ours!’
So, a giant assed mosquito-thing heads across the vastness of space, drawn by the sumptuousness of Earth’s CO2 polluted atmosphere. He or she (I’m going with she) is after blood and the Earth has plenty. A rather deluded and beautifully moustachioed E.P.A. agent – Aldo ‘Del’ Delbiondo (Pasquale Pila) – falls victim to the creature’s cravings when his beloved Anna meets her decapitated end at the hands/arms/tentacles of…Insectula! He swears vengeance, as you might expect. Meanwhile, Dr. Johan Kepler (Harrison Matthews), a deviant, depraved, diabolical scientist, brought in by the FBI to consult, seeks to experiment upon and manipulate the monster for his own ends. Britney Sax (Arielle Cezanne), his stunning lab assistant is caught in the middle, between a tormented and heart-broken EPA agent and a demented scientist.
In a clear attempt at homage, director Mike Peterson melds some not-so-bad creature effects with physical, face-mulched gore and a spattering of CGI to create something that would sit nicely within the realm of the classic drive-in theatre features of yesteryear. The Insectula! poster, in all its incarnations, capitalizes on the giant alien/monster and more often than not, a large breasted blonde. Think The Wasp Woman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Them! and you will not go far wrong with your expectations for this film.
Aimed at a Hammer-horror/drive-in audience, Insectula! fits in well with its more infamous compatriots and fans of the ridiculous will not be disappointed.
P.S. Don’t miss the girls dancing in bikinis halfway through the closing credits.
