Bite (2015) 

   Bite is a 90-minute vomitorium of nauseating body horror, juxtaposed with insipid, pedestrian characters and supplemented with so-so acting performances. It's a movie that is more sickening than captivating, delivering a huge dose of bug-infested, body-transformation-reliant horror, instead of giving us an equal balance of gross-out scares and well-rounded characters. Its premise reminds me of another body horror film I had seen before, only that it's not on the same level of greatness as its flying insect antecedent. Nevertheless, the film delivers on its revolting scares, able to instill a sense of repugnance even in the most proficient of horror fans. 

   

  Bite is a body horror film directed, written, and produced by Chad Archibald (The Heretics, I'll Take Your Dead) and starring Elma Begovic as Casey, the film's protagonist. The plot follows Casey celebrating her bachelorette party in Costa Rica, with her two friends, Kristen (Denise Yuen) and Jill (Annette Wozniak). At one point during the trip, Casey is bitten by an unseen, waterborne insect, a bite she initially brushes off, as she has an upcoming wedding to worry about, dealing with an impending marriage to her fiancé Jared (Jordan Gray) and his shitbag, overbearing mother Mrs. Kennedy (Lawrene Denkers). 

  Released in 2015, the film premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival, where it generated publicity after two audience members had fainted and vomited in response to the film's execrable content. One audience member had to be rushed to the hospital after he/she/they hit their head trying to leave the theater. Naturally, a movie that garners such publicity should be able to attract considerable attention from the horror community, but for some reason, it faded into obscurity, with the movie destined to be discovered years later by morbidly curious horror buffs interested to check it out. 

  Funnily enough, I'm a morbidly curious individual, which is what led me to discover this movie available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, which I remembered seeing the movie in one of those lists about movies that were too scary for audiences to finish. After I had watched the movie, I can determine why this movie was promptly forgotten, and the answer is quite simple; it's not a great movie. While its premise is nothing new, Bite could have made for a gooey fun time, albeit a little derivative of other superior body horror movies, but a passable diversion regardless. Instead, the movie brings nothing new to the body horror table, as it doesn't make the most out of its "familiar but still rife with the potential to make something decent" premise. 

  Bite suffers from a plodding and tedious beginning, characterized by underdeveloped and two-dimensional characters that leave a lot to be desired in terms of development. The acting performances aren't worthy of praise, with each ranging from being decent to utter rubbish, except for Elma Begovic. Begovic gives us a believable performance, shining through the dark pit of mediocrity abundant in the acting of this movie. As she transforms into an egg-laying, acid-spitting monstrosity, Begovic brings a believable performance as we the audience see Casey's bodily degradation into that of an insect, the feeling of helplessness, and the encroaching evil we the audience will surely see is amplified by the impending doom that awaits her. 

(Babies! Babies! Babies! Babies! Fuck this scene, honestly.)

  As terrible of a first act, the film has, Bite makes up for its spiritless beginning by giving the audience what it wants to see, and that is stomach-churning body horror that would make David Cronenberg smile in quiet satisfaction. Make no mistake, fellow reader, for all its noticeable faults, Bite is still a disgusting movie; it lives up to the expectations that a hardened horror fan would have for this movie. We see Casey lay large, fish-like eggs all over her apartment, turning it into a huge hive and emitting pus and ooze with the consistency of snot from any orifice in her body. There is a seriously fucked up dream scene where Casey arrives at a surprise baby shower in her apartment and the attendees begin to chant "Babies!" before a billow of eggs proceeds to splatter the floor, unquestionably laid by Casey. The guests, unfazed, continue to chant the word before they start to jump and stomp on the eggs in a sadistic and cruel manner, with Casey's fruitless attempts to stop them from doing so. 

  I honestly felt like my eyes were bleeding after having watched that scene, accompanied by a nauseating feeling at the very deep pit in my stomach, and this comes from someone who's seen nasty and violent movies from time to time. Bite succeeds in making viewers feel sick to their stomach, to the point of inducing nausea and possibly vomiting as well, with enough gross-out scares to satisfy the gorehounds seeking body horror thrills. The effects are exceptionally made, making use of make-up and prosthetics to bring Casey's transformation to vivid life, and the apartment's hive-like appearance was quite outstanding, given the low budget this movie had to work with. However, I felt like Casey's transformation cycle was a little unfinished, having expected her to achieve some final stage that turned her into a revolting insect/human hybrid, but I was thinking too much of David Cronenberg's body horror opus The Fly (1986). 

  Throughout the film's runtime, I couldn't help but think about Cronenberg's movie, as Bite shares some similarities with The Fly (1986), both movies having a protagonist going through a horrifying transformation, differing only in the circumstances that lead to the subsequent conflict that pertains through the movie. But the differences between the two films don't stop there, as The Fly (1986) gives us compelling characters and a tragic story, having a mild-mannered but extremely likable scientist in the form of Seth Brundle, gradually transforming into a horrid fly/human hybrid after a teleportation experiment gone wrong. The sad realization that a man loses his humanity and the person he loves the most is very frightening, as nothing else can beat the disturbing concept of one's body falling apart and devolving into a monstrosity of a hybrid. Another notable detail is that Seth's transformation is detailed and complete, with various stages that meticulously display the effects it's having on Seth's bodily degradation. 

  Bite doesn't reach the same level of greatness as David Cronenberg's body horror opus, lacking any compelling characters or being able to pump out the potential in its derivative premise, being a rather forgettable body horror movie in the end. Nevertheless, if you are morbidly curious and are in the mood for watching a disgusting horror movie, then Bite will be sure to please even the most dedicated horror fans and gorehounds alike, delivering a huge dose of slime-drenched horror and insect-showered gore. But for those who seek a perfect blend of riveting body horror and captivating characters, then David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) will be sure to satisfy your demands for a horror film that will surely stay with you long after the credits roll. 

No copyright infringement is intended with the use of these images. All images used in this review belong to their respective authors. Sources used: Bite (2015), IMDb, The Fly (1986), and Disturbing Movies You Won't Be Able To Sit Through by the YouTube channel Looper.