Shudder’s latest offering is a chilling tale of motherly devotion in Spider One’s Little Bites. The Haverhill native (and Powerman 5000 frontman) conjures up a compelling flick about Mindy Vogel (Krsy Fox of Terrifier 3 and Bury the Bride), a single mother who is tormented by a demonic, vampiric entity that lurks in the murky basement of her quiet home.
The wrinkly, life-sucking creature that haunts her, Agyar (John Skarloff), is cruel in every way. His smooth, eerie, regal tone beckons a weary Mindy into the darkness, and from the first arresting shot of this flick, we learn that he is slowly consuming her—and quite literally leaving gaping bite marks on her skin in the wake of his carnivorous meals. Mindy, bleeding and exhausted, passively cleans her wounds with rubbing alcohol.
She allows this to go on for the sake of her daughter, Alice. If Agyar is allowed to feed off the desperate Mindy, the young girl will remain unharmed. To further protect her daughter, Mindy sends her to live with her grandmother. In this isolation, Mindy grows pallid, dark-eyed, and paranoid as she’s devoured over time, highlighted in an especially tense and frustrating scene with Child Protective Services. Fox excels here—her anguish is visceral, and you can’t help but feel for her.
Agyar is a disgusting behemoth—an abhorrent, nefarious force slathered in shadow that gleefully licks his spindly fingers of Mindy’s blood. This loathsome creature makes for a formidable villain and is one of Shudder’s most memorable to date—thanks to his nightmarish cadence and even creepier design, complete with stringy hair, a beak-like nose, and completely crimson eyes. He’s a vulture—picking Mindy clean of any remnants of life.
Featuring beloved scream queens like Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator), Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and Bonnie Aarons (The Nun), Little Bites is a feast of charmingly odd horror, tinged with just enough camp and poignancy.
However, this charm buckles and succumbs to awkward performances in certain scenes, which causes the emotion that Spider One has laid in other parts of the film to be lost. With a bit more direction and adjusted dialogue, these scenes could’ve established stronger footing and allowed for a more streamlined narrative that doesn’t yank its viewer out of it.
Despite these slightly jarring moments that litter this flick, Little Bites is an allegory that digs deep into the physical and emotional sacrifices single mothers often face, the challenges thrown their way, and how all mothers give everything they have for their children.
While Little Bites is not a notably fine-tuned horror flick, it’s certainly an unsettling and thought-provoking one.
Little Bites
2024
dir. Spider One
105 min.
Now streaming on Shudder and AMC+.
