BITE
MOVIE REVIEW

My Books and Movies!

E.C. McMullen Jr.
RUMOR

RUMOR: People are dying to know the truth

PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

Extensively quoted in

PHANTASM
EXHUMED
The Unauthorized Companion

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Dept. head
Special Effects Make-Up
(SFX MUA)

A SIERRA NEVADA
GUNFIGHT
(MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE).

Production Designer

UNIVERSAL DEAD
(DOUG JONES,
D.B. SWEENEY,
GARY GRAHAM)

Art Director

THE CRUSADER
(COLIN CUNNINGHAM,
GARY GRAHAM)

Review by
Ken King

BITE

- 2015
USA Release: May 6, 2016
Black Fawn Films, Breakthrough Entertainment, Scream Factory
Rating: USA: N/A

This past Saturday, while I went out to get my mail, I saw the neighbor across the way and went over to talk to her. We hadn't spoken in awhile, and since we had been chums since middle school, it seemed like the thing to do. Adjacent to our two properties, is a thin stretch of woods and I had to cross through that to talk to her.

Bad mistake.

I didn't get more than two sentences out before I was attacked by a nest of Yellowjackets, seemingly from out of nowhere. I barely got inside my house, fighting the beasties all the way. Some of them almost made it in with me. As my wife doctored my multiple stings, I thought of this movie. The way my mind works, all sorts of crazy stuff was flitting about in my brain. If you decide to watch this flick, you will think some of the same nightmare scenarios if you are ever bitten again by any flying insect with a stinger.

Casey (Elma Begovic: SAVE YOURSELF, THE HOARD, TEAR US APART) and her friends, Jill (Annette Wozniak: ALL I NEED, SECRET SANTA, THE FINAL RIDE) and Kirsten (Denise Yuen: MAN UNDERGROUND [TV]), take a vacation down to Costa Rica, to celebrate her bachelorette party with a wild time in tropical paradise.

First of all, you men out there, I don't care how much you trust your woman, NEVER let her go with her girlfriends to some place like this. That is just asking for trouble and I don't just mean a bad sunburn and possible stomach ailments.

The same could be said of you ladies letting your men do the same thing. This is a foolish endeavor and your chances of being married, engaged, or otherwise attached in any sort of way, become lower with every passing moment they are away.

Just the facts of life. Nothing more be said on this subject.

Let us move on.

So, like was said before, Casey and her girlfriend's head down to Costa Rica. They participate in all forms of debauchery at their disposal. A lot of this is captured on film. Maybe, too much.

The three women go for a swim in a lagoon that some scuzzy local has told them about and this is where the real trouble and the subject for the title of the movie comes into play. Casey gets bitten by an unknown insect. It doesn't take long for said bite to become infected.

After their arrival back in the states, Casey, is having second thoughts about marrying her man, Jared (Jordan Gray). Further complicating this matter, is Jared's mother (Lawrene Denkers: DARK BETRAYALS, DEAD RIVALRY, MARJORIE, ROGUE CELL, THE TASTE OF BLOOD) who thinks Casey isn't good enough for her son. She makes this well known in the nastiest of ways every scene she has with her soon to be daughter-in-law.

I won't say much more about director Chad Archibald's (DESPERATE SOULS, CREEPY CANADA [TV], PARANORMAL PORTALS [TV], NEVERLOST, KILL, THE DROWNSMAN, EJECTA, THE HERETICS, I'LL TAKE YOUR DEAD) movie, because the further it goes along, the more apt I am to give away the whole plot.

However, I do want to give a shout out to the SFX department (lead by Jason Derushi: SWAMP DEVIL, SCARCE, RECON 2023: THE GUADA PRIME CONSPIRACY, KILLER GOD, MONSTER BRAWL, EXIT HUMANITY, THE BARRENS, SEPTIC MAN, HELLMOUTH, THE DEMOLISHER, THE HEXECUTIONERS, THE HOARD) who worked on this film. These folks knew their craft. The gore and creature effects were top notch. You could tell they were students of the David Cronenberg school of Body Horror. A good portion of this movie is reminiscent of the Master's film, THE FLY.

That is not a bad thing. If you are going to emulate someone, always go for the best. My admiration for Cronenberg is such that he ranks in my Top Three of Favorite Directors, alongside Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter.

("I'm Feo Amante and I approve of Ken's taste.")

Ignore the low rating trash talk on IMDB. This one is worth your time to seek out and watch, especially, if you are into Cronenberg type flicks.

Three Shriek Girls