Mansquito and Supergator

You probably don't need to know any of what I'm about to post.

The Syfy Channel has been a good source of science fiction shows and movies over the last few years. Every so often, I'll be flipping through channels (late at night) and will page my way to Channel 71 just to see what's playing. I've caught reruns of The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as some good movies. They also have all sorts of Stargate stuff, Ghost Hunters, and Scare Tactics (hosted by Tracy Morgan) which seems like it would be a 30 Rock spinoff show. All in all, if you like you some sci fi, it's worth checking the Syfy Channel out.

That said, the Syfy Channel has been giving us some EXCEPTIONALLY bad content that no one knows about. They have some good movies and then they have some movies that feel like they were practical jokes played by college film students.

Let me present you with two pieces of evidence:
(and WATCH these clips - they are UNFREAKINGREAL and very very funny)

Exhibit A: Mansquito

The premise of Mansquito is that doctors are trying to develop a cure for a virus related to the West Nile virus (I think it's called the Gillian virus and who knows why that is). They discover that when given a small dose of radiation, the cure works, but apparently too much radiation is really bad. Anyway, they need to test this on humans, so the research leader brings in death row inmates to test on them. There was the following exchange:

Cop: Is this legal?
Research Dude: Yes. All the lawyers have signed off on it.

Anyway, there is laughably little security when transferring the inmate to the lab and he manages to get away, take a hostage and get doused with radiation and cure. He then quickly turns into a man-sized mosquito and starts draining the blood of his victims. I don't want to ruin the end for you... ok who am I kidding - we couldn't bear to watch until the end. Think District 9 with 1/100th the special effects budget and 1/10000th of the plot.

Exhibit B: Supergator

Look, I wasn't going to watch this at all, but then in the info bar, it showed that Kelly McGillis was in it. YES, THAT Kelly McGillis. The one who played opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun. WTF?

The following is taken from wikipedia: Scott Kinney is an American geologist monitoring a local volcano when the Supergator, a prehistoric alligator recreated from fossilized DNA escapes from a secret bio-engineering research center. Kinney joins forces with another scientist (McGillis) and a Texan alligator hunter. They pursue the moster as it heads down river intent on destroying a luxurious resort packed with tourists.

Oh, I forgot to mention, this all takes place in Hawaii. How could there be a prehistoric alligator in Hawaii? How did it get there? Did it swim across the ocean? Was it carrying all the snakes that ended up on Samuel L. Jackson's plane? I understand that it's low budget, but can you make the movie seem a little bit less like the writers posted a bunch of ideas on a wall and then threw darts to pick which ones to put together.

I watched only the first 15 minutes of the movie (and enough to watch two people get killed!) But no Kelly McGillis. I think a little part of me would have died had I seen her in the movie. As far as I know, it might be another Kelly McGillis.