Little Bites

Stumbling upon "Little Bites" by random chance here in 2025 and seeing it was a horror movie that had eluded me, of course I opted to sit down and give the movie a fair chance. I do have a fondness for all things horror, after all. And without knowing what I was getting myself into here, I suppose writer and director Spider One had every opportunity to impress and entertain me with this movie.

The narrative is rather slow paced and dull, which makes sitting through the movie somewhat of an ordeal. It was as if the movie never got off of the runway, falling into a monotonous slump and never really taking the audience on any thrilling ups and downs. The script felt subpar and half-baked, as if it was not properly fleshed out before being brought to the screen.

The movie does have some horror icon actresses on the cast list, with the likes of Barbara Crampton, Heather Langenkamp and Bonnie Aarons. I've seen leading actress Krsy Fox before, though I can't claim that she is one whom have made a splash impact on my radar, but I will say she carried this movie nicely. The acting performances in the movie were good, just a shame that the storyline was such a dumpster fire.

Visually then "Little Bites" was good. The special effects are nicely made, and it definitely does add flavor to the movie, pardon the pun.

If you enjoy horror movies, then I most definitely would recommend you not to waste 105 minutes on watching "Little Bites". The movie is simply too boring and slow paced.

My rating of writer and director Spider One's 2024 movie "Little Bites" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Starts well enough, creepy and atmospheric. Immediately thrown into the premise which isn't a pretty on in its own right. Pretty horrific situation with choices that are moreso.

Then, well, it's sits idling a bit. Almost feels like a film made out of a short but there was promise. Kept me interested for a bit and just further continues down the hole that feels like filler, only to stumble into a disappointing "flat" finish. Overall, interesting. Chalked this one up as many"missed opportunities" as it was creepy and atmospheric and built enough tension, only to waste so much time spinning it's tires, it loses it's early-on head of steam.

4/10.

"Little Bites" has a unique premise, which flows from a very literal application of the metaphor of addiction being a monster which eats away at you, little-by-little, till one day there is nothing left. Given the almost non-existent budget, the Spider One (the younger Cummings brother, i.e. Not Rob Zombie) / Kirsty Fox writer / director couple, augmented by the much improved cinematography of Andy Patch, did astonishingly well. The set (basically a very cool gothic house) creature - and bite effects, 70's setting, and claustrophobic camera work, created a tense and oppressive atmosphere, which worked very well. Horror screen queens, Crampton and Langenkamp excelled in minor roles, and Sklaroff did the cool measured patronising voice. Fox really gave the performance her all, and her character at times worked brilliantly. However, the script needed a lot of work. Some interactions were written very unnaturally, and the failure to move past the basic metaphor and to run said metaphor is almost criminal. The duality between the visual events and the mental cause thereof needed decent capitalisation and the continuous spoon-feeding of the metaphor, just made a way too long 104 minute film, feel even longer. A mixed bag film, but because of the originality of the idea and the decent visual execution, despite the micro budget, "Little Bites" gets a 6/10.

I was rather excited for Little Bites because the premise sounded unique enough, and there were some familiar faces attached to it. It tells the story of a young widow desperately trying to protect her daughter from something evil, to put it vaguely. Krsy Fox, as the mother, does a solid job and largely carries the movie on her back, as her character demands a lot from her.

There are only a limited number of characters, and the acting ranges from pretty good to rather poor at times. From the overall quality of the film, it's clear that the budget was limited and that Spider One and the rest of the team worked with what they had. While I appreciated the use of practical effects, it was obvious that the antagonistic force was just an actor in makeup. The film is very dark and poorly lit, which not only contributes to the cheap-looking effects but also does the movie no favors.

The narrative unfolds at a snail's pace, and the movie feels too long, making for a rather boring viewing experience. It felt like a short film stretched to over 100 minutes, with slow pacing and barely any questions answered. In the end, it was rather unsatisfying, and therefore, I can't recommend watching it. However, if the premise sounds interesting to you, you might want to check it out and form your own opinion.

I enjoyed the movie. The first two thirds were really good, I'd give it an 8. The slow building tension, the acting was spot on. I was actually impressed with Krsy Fox's performance. Heather Langenkamp's performance was my favourite, she has a limited role but she makes it so memorable. The pace of the slow boil was good in my opinion. It wasn't so slow that I lost interest and it didn't rush and lose the delicate tension. The last third I almost felt like maybe the original script was changed? It took me out of the movie a bit hence my rating coming down to a 7. It was not bad by any means, I still enjoyed it. I would have preferred an ending that kept in tone with the first 2/3. I actually think that Spider One created a solid movie though. I actually would love to see him explore other genres, I think he could create an interesting body of work.