Bite

After seeing the trailer for Bite and reading online articles of how viewers at various film fests passed out during showings, I couldn't wait to see it, After more than a year it (at last!) popped up on my local cable channels On-demand roster. I happily shelled out $5.99 and hoped to see a film that would at least make me flinch several times.

But like $100 pay-per-view fights, unorthodox political candidates, and most rap CDs, this film didn't come close to living up to the hype. Bite, simply put, is done in by its own excesses. When a horror film relies solely on gross-out gimmickry rather than clever use of lighting, camera angles, or plausible plot, then the element of fright is replaced by boredom, nausea or both. Community theater acting doesn't help.

Elma Begovic plays Casey, a recently engaged twenty-something who while out celebrating with her girls, is bitten by some sort of water insect. Rather than seek medical attention, she ignores the mark left behind, even as it becomes larger and more disgusting. By the time Casey realizes this is no ordinary wound, the drastic effects are manifested.

This film contains every horror movie cliché you've seen before— single females going into dark venues to investigate; single woman falling down as she attempts to flee; overblown makeup to accent the drastic physical changes of victims; and sex scenes that are not only gratuitous, but fail to deliver the expected shock—say in the manner of the bedroom scene from the first Nightmare On Elm Street.

Poor pacing and the lack of anything original makes one want to yawn rather than scream. The director (Chad Archibald) has no idea how to use shadow or the camera to build suspense. It is so drab it makes anything produced by Rob Zombie look Oscar-worthy.

If you like being grossed out, you might get excited by Bite. If you're looking for something that makes you worry about having nightmares when you fall asleep, you'll find more chills—and better acting—in episodes of The Outer Limits.

I enjoyed this movie, I had not heard about any of the hype until after I watched it so I had no preconceived ideas.

Casey is getting married and goes on a hen party trip with two of her friends. They go off the beaten track to a natural pool which is recommended to them by someone they meet. Casey is bitten under the water by some kind of bug. After returning home she notices a rash on her shoulder whilst in the bath. Areas of her body become inflamed with raised large lumps, they are painful and develop into gross pustules. She feels unwell, begins to get sick and basically gets worse and worse.

Along with this going on she has the mother-in-law-to-be from hell who literally hates her guts and a friend who wants her fiancé and steals her engagement ring.

Casey mutates into a gross goo-dripping creature that lays little ball eggs and makes a big slimy mess.

There have been a lot of negative reviews about this movie but I think that is possibly down to pre-movie hype that did not live up to expectations.

For me I found the movie a little bit slow after Casey began feeling ill. I quite liked the characters and how they were all a bit off. I was frustrated at how Casey didn't go to the doctors when the initial symptoms began appearing as that would have been what any relatively normal person would have done. If she had have gone to the doctors this would have given the movie a bit more depth and could have added another dynamic.

As the movie progresses and Casey becomes more and more mutated I thought it was really good, I like the concept of making a nest and how she changed. I felt for her. There was tension and the makings of a good thriller as her friends began to try to get in touch with her and enter her apartment.

Yes there are many flaws but it does still stand up as a pretty good horror. It caught my imagination and kept me thinking about it for some time after watching which is always a good indication of a film you have enjoyed.

The acting is sub par and isn't helped by a shoddy script. Where the budget was used well was on make-up and practical FX.

The title card was played over loud eerie music that was blatantly stolen from Insidious (which is also rubbish).

The body horror was stolen from The Fly.

The cocoon ideas were stolen from Alien(s).

So why on earth then, did Ms Bitey appear to be scared to visit one????

The acting, even by general horror movie standards is awful. Not so bad its good awful, just good enough to be considered genuinely awful.

The plot, could have been interesting with a bit more imagination, however the entire time I watched, I kept saying to myself, why doesnt she just visit a hospital? Its Canada. Your survival rates from getting checked out by a doctor are pretty high.

The effects were, as another reviewer commented, akin to The Fly, even some of Mr Goldblum's mannerisms were used here too I feel. I liked it, and the dark, amber soaked lighting added to the mood nicely.

Best part of the movie was the dog, what a cute little bugger he was.

The worst part, when our lead character screams into a mirror and it shatters and the whole apartment appears to shake as a result of some otherworldly powers which really, was ridiculous and out of place with the rest of the movie.

Lastly, they did a real number on the apartment, looks like it was filmed by Renton inside the worst toilet in Scotland.

The beginning of the movie left me already winding myself in my seat and my first reaction was "oh no, not another one of these terrible low budget movies". But the further the movie progressed, the more I got sucked into it. This is one of the movies where you shouldn't care about the plot, the dialogues or even the characters themselves. Instead just focus on the practical effects they used and how they add more and more layers of film art step by step. This is one of the movies known for the audience leaving the cinema because they couldn't take it anymore at some point. And I can totally understand where this is coming from. If you have a problem with vomiting, slime and goo... or insects in particular, you might not enjoy this movie at all. Those who can sit through something like this will get rewarded with an awesome example of how to create a creepy creature and using just the right lighting to not ruin things. I applaude this movie! Thank you for the love of detail, no matter the budget. If you liked the visuals of The Fly, you will love Bite. If this movie would have the acting and the writing of The Fly, it could be maybe even become another classic of our time.