Bite
Director: Chad Archibald
Cast: Elma Begovic, Annette Wozniak, Denise Yuen
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Now that Scream Factory has conquered the classic horror Blu-ray releasing market, it looks like they are going to start distributing new movies under their banner. They have released some stuff from Chiller TV over the years, but that was made by Chiller, not them, and yeah, it’s Chiller, so low expectations will serve you well there. But this is their first completely new movie, as far as I know, anyway. And from the previews it looks like it tackled one of my favorite horror sub-genres, one that doesn’t seem to get a whole lot of love anymore: body horror. So does Bite have bite, or was it totally toothless? Well grab your flyswatter and an industrial-sized can of Off!, and let’s find out.
Casey, a young bride-to-be, gets bitten by some unknown insect while out on her bachelorette party. This all happens in first person, found-footage style. Now before you start to bemoan that (if you are someone that does bemoan that), fear not, things quickly turn to a more traditional narrative once the party is over. Upon returning home she starts to doubt her future commitments, but in addition to her cold feet, she starts feeling a bit cold blooded. And by that, I mean insect-like as the bug bite is slowly changing her into something else. Something with a taste for flesh, and about a million eggs she needs to lay and protect. And really, that’s about it for story, so the plot is nothing to jump up and down about. The real star of the show, as is often the case with body horror, are the amazing, gross, goopy, horrifying special effects as Casey becomes Brundle-Casey-Fly. No, this film isn’t as good as the famous Cronenberg flick I am oh-so cleverly referencing; not in story, direction, or special effects. But neither is it bad. Sure the pacing is a bit slow, but Elma Begovic is a young actress more than up to the daunting task of carrying the majority of this movie on her shoulders, and director Chad Archibald is a capable filmmaker. You know where this movie is going from the start, but if watching really icky things make you happy, you’ll enjoy the ride.
As for the special features on this Blu-ray release from Scream Factory. First there is a commentary track with director and (story) writer Chad Archibald and producers Cody Calahan and Christopher Giroux. There are five very short (around 5 minutes each) featurettes about several aspects of the movie, such as makeup, on the set, the Fantasia Film Festival where the movie premiered, the director’s wedding (?) at another film festival, and what it was like filming in the Dominican Republic. Sadly these are all just talking heads interviews, with no extra footage. There is also a trailer, so the disc isn’t barebones, but I do usually expect more from the mighty Scream Factory, especially for their own movie. Oh well, maybe next time.
Bite is basic body horror where a nice person has something horrible happen to her that she can’t escape or stop. I am a fan of inescapable horror, not to mention an old school gorehound, so this movie started off in my wheelhouse and it never left it. So come for the excellent gore gags and I think you’ll find enough here to keep you watching, entertained, and grossed out until the end. Bite gets a recommendation from me.
