The Bite

UK title - The Bite. A young couple driving across the American Southwest are warned by a gasoline attendant not to take a short cut through a former military testing ground. Naturally they ignore hit advice and the guy ends up getting bitten by a snake. Over the course of the movie he slowly mutates into a gross half man half snake creature. The acting is pretty good and there are some interesting characters but at the end of the day The Bite is all about special effects. Screaming Mad George provided them here, and does a great job. However, most of these come near the end of the film, it is a bit of a slow burn until then. I watched this on VHS, it is a classic example of great sleeve artwork, which entices the viewing to watch the movie, but ultimately the end result is not quite so great. Does have a sufficient amount of Bite though to make it worthwhile.

The Curse part two?? The only thing this modest 80's horror production is cursed with is the burden of getting linked to another and entirely unrelated B-movie that just happens to be produced by the same greedy Italian (Ovidio G. Assonitis). "The Curse", a.k.a. "The Farm", is a poorly made and incredibly cheesy movie about a meteorite crash-landing on a farmland and subsequently mutating the crops and the inhabitants. It's a personal guilty pleasure of mine, but the majority of horror fans – clearly with a better taste in movies than me – dislike it and therefore are likely to avoid "The Bite" based of their prejudices. Not that this movie is an absolute must-see or anything, but it's simply unfair to promote something as a sequel when it tried to be original. No meteorites or infected crops in sight here, as "The Bite" revolves on genetically altered snakes and the disastrous effects their bite cause. Trying to reach Albuquerque via a short cut, hunky Clark and his cute girlfriend Lisa pass through an abandoned military zone in the middle of the desert. Not entirely abandoned, however, since the place is full of virulent and – more importantly – genetically altered snakes. One of the little buggers slithers into the jeep and sees its opportunity to bite Clark in the arm. From that moment on, "The Bite" becomes an absurd and laughable 80's cheesefest. Clark's arm gradually mutates into a ravenous snake-monster and the rest of his mind and body goes through some vast transformations as well. The film is somewhat oddly structured and contains a couple of twists with an extremely high "WTF"-level. For example, the script puts a lot of effort into a sub plot about an amateur medic (with a gigantic nose) chasing the young couple because he gave Clark a wrong antidote and fears a lawsuit. The guy even leads a communication network with deranged truckers! Then there's also a really peculiar twist involving a family of exaggeratedly religious freaks near the end. Weird… and quite boring often, too! Oh well, don't worry too much about the oddness, because the obvious elements to enjoy here are "Screaming" Mad George's engrossing special effects and the enchanting appearance of 80's beauty Jill Schoelen. Screaming Georgie's snakes are awesome and, even though the monstrous effects are not always convincing, this certainly isn't a film I would recommend to people with a phobia for slithering animals! Loads of icky stuff crawling out of people's mouths' and all, you know! The climax is completely unhinged. It looks and feels as if the producers had some extra money left and offered Screaming Mad George the opportunity to experiment and go really berserk with his special type of repulsive art.

Great movie. Alot of fun. The people who hate this movie are all idiots. Don't listen to them. Snakes rule!

I have always been a big fan of Jill Schoelen (The Stepfather). When I found out she was in this film I had to rent it. It's not the best film. But I didn't think it was the worse either.

some of the things that didn't work for me included the cheesy music that came on when ever there was an attack and some of the scenes could have been shot a little better. The film tends to drag.

Highlights in the film were the lovely Jill Schoelen as Lisa. I enjoyed seeing her sing and play the guitar. She is decent with the role of Lisa. J. Eddie Peck is easy on the eyes as Clark. There is some decent gore considering the low budget. The ending is really good. It's worth a look for the special effects or anyone who likes Jill Schoelen.

The movie is lousy, I won't pretend it isn't. But it will always rank in my Top 10 list of Most Erotic Movies Of All Time, because of one scene near the end of the film. Of course eroticism is subjective, but in my own humble opinion this film contains some of the most erotic footage ever committed to film. Fans of Showgirls (which I found about as erotic as corned beef) will probably not agree, but fans of Dario Argento's brand of erotic horror, or of JoBeth Williams towards the end of Poltergeist, should really check out The Bite (as it is known in England). Skip through the first hour or so if you wish - go on, I won't tell anyone - but that one scene will amply reward you.