Mitch Gonzales – Tripping Through Gateways

During World War II Cpl. John Baker is captured and experimented on by the deviant Nazi scientist Schramm. He was saved by the Allied forces, but he is forever changed. When he sees blood, he is transformed into the human-mosquito, or rather the Weresquito. He is on a mission to find Nazis (and specifically Schramm) who are hiding out in America.

His search has unexpected complications as he starts to fall for Schramm’s niece (who is unaware of her uncle’s dark past).

Weresquito is one of those high-concept ideas that feels like it would have been at home in the late fifties. It is promoted as being in Plaz-Mo-Scope which evokes, of course, the gimmicks of the era. What this means is that anytime we see blood, it is red, and the only color in the entire film. This makes for a neat effect. If you have ever seen the horror film Popcorn, this film feels like it could have been one of the “fake fifties films” they made for that movie.

The performances are good (and James Norgard is clearly having fun going over the top as Schramm). The Weresquito himself is a great monster visually. Listen, if you want to see Nazis get their blood sucked out by a man-sized mosquito (and I think you are lying if you say you do not)? This is your film!

Set in the future of Cave Women on Mars and Destination: Outer Space, Attack of the Moon Zombies takes place in the Jackson Lunar Base. A new scientist arrives and while he is being given a tour, finds a unique item…a plant. After he seems to die from exposure to spores, the inhabitants of the base move on. But while preparing for an autopsy, the young man wakes up…changed. Slowly, scientists are disappearing, being changed into the moon zombies.

It becomes a race against time as the survivors try and find a way to stop the zombies and escape.

All the films, of course, have had ties to each other. But Attack of the Moon Zombies really feels as if it ties the Mihmiverse films together. While Josh Craig appears as neither Jacksons, his Professor Jackson is mentioned (but has been upgraded to President). One character is related to the Deputy from Terror From Beneath The Earth and Dr. Edwards also returns.

The zombies look pretty good (the Mihmiverse films started to show a vast improvement in the makeup and costumes around Destination: Outer Space). One of my favorite in-jokes the film has is its naming conventions. The Captain is named Herman Frehley, but constantly demands to be called Ace. The Administrator’s last name is Ripley. But observant viewers will notice that several characters are named after the characters of the old Buck Rogers TV show.

Attack of the Moon Zombies moves at a decent pace and is a lot of fun to watch.

Captain Jackson is back! Trapped on a mysterious planet, Captain Jackson is trying to get home but gets pulled into an epic adventure. He must fight alien hordes, find a secret base that must be destroyed.

Writer and Director Christopher R. Mihm explained that he went into this film with a “what if”. What if…Ed Wood had made Star Wars?

The spaceships are obvious models and green screen work. But it feels like the limitations are less financial here and more sticking to the premise of being a fifties sci-fi b-movie.

The alien make-ups are actually quite good. Or, rather, entertaining. There are aliens with big eyeballs for heads that shoot laser beams from the eyes. There is a scene paying homage to the Star Wars cantina scene where the filmmakers clearly had a lot of fun populating the bar.

Does Destination: Outer Space answer the What If? Yeah. It feels like it came from the era, and it is a lot of fun. The film is loaded with fun references to sci-fi like Star Wars and Star Trek. The “high-tech” robot A.D.A.M. looks especially like a fifties idea of an advanced robot. The film promises more adventures with Captain Jackson in the end (with a soft cliff-hanger). We shall see if he ever returns.

Tag: Mitch Gonzales

Bucket of Blood (Weresquito: Nazi Hunter, 2016)

Not of This Earth (Attack of the Moon Zombies, 2011)

Galaxy of Terrors (Destination: Outer Space, 2010)