La morsure

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.

Back when I was a boy, my dad used to go to the 'video shop' to rent a film for the family to watch. My dad had a talent for choosing the worst films in the shop, but when he came home with 'The Bite' one night; I seem to remember thoroughly enjoying it. I've revisited a number of favourites from my childhood since becoming a 'serious' film fan, and have mostly been disappointed; but with this film, I agree with my childhood self that it's an enjoyable and fun little flick. I'm not sure where the 'Curse II' prefix comes from - I've not seen the original Curse, and even if this is a sequel, it still nicely stands on its own. I do, however, suspect that the prefix is a cash-in - and from now on I'll refer to this film as 'The Bite'. The plot focuses on a young couple; Clark and Lisa, who are driving across the desert for some reason. After breaking down, Clark's bad luck continues when he's bitten by a snake - and continues further when the snake turns out to be radioactive and the hand he was bitten starts to become a snake itself! On his tail are a salesman/wannabe doctor and the county sheriff.

This film has two main problems when it comes to the plot. First of all, it takes far too long to get going; I have no problem with build-up, but this film verges on being boring too often, and the build-up fails to generate any interesting characters...so it feels rather pointless. Secondly, the plot base had a lot more to offer than what we got. I guess the film took influence from Cronenberg's masterpiece 'The Fly', as it features similar themes; but the idea is never really explored, and while things such as the dog at the start get the imagination going, it's all very mundane for the most part. The acting isn't too bad, although J. Eddie Peck was miscast in the lead role. The Stepfather's Jill Schoelen is a pleasure to watch, while the likes of Jamie Farr and Bo Svenson do well in support. The gore isn't too bad either, and there are some suitably nasty scenes throughout the film. The ending is a highlight as it features the film's best stint in terms of atmosphere, and also gives a suitable climax to a macabre little tale. Overall, this is far from perfect; but despite its flaws, The Bite is still worth seeing and I recommend it to my fellow trash fans.

After a young man is bitten on the hand by a radioactive snake, his hand changes into a lethal snake head, which attacks everyone he comes into contact with. Also, his body becomes filled with snakes. Now, he must prevent himself from hurting others. "Curse II" is not only poorly made, but is also boring as watching paint dry. There are some gruesome parts, and screaming mad George's special effects range from really bad to acceptable, but the script is awful, the acting is so-so, and the music is extremely annoying. Don't watch 'Curse 2: the bite". it's a typical excuse for a sequel. (By the way, what does this have to do with the original?) 2-2.5/10.

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.

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.