Horror Movie Review: Silent Bite (2024)

Written by Simon Phillips and directed by Taylor Martin, Silent Bite is a festive horror film with some fangs. It stars Luke Avoledo, Nick Biskupek, Simon Phillips, Michael Swatton, Dan Molson, Sayla de Goede, Camille Blott, and Paul Whitney.

It’s Christmas time, so if you’re going to rob a bank, you’re going to do it dressed as Santa and with festive-themed codenames like Prancer, Grinch, Snowman, and Father Christmas. Which is exactly what a group of British men have done as we’re introduced them arriving at The Jolly Roger Inn and Resort in a snowstorm with their ill-gotten gains.

They have a deal with the owner, and it is mostly deserted, so it’s perfect place to lie low while Rudolph leads the police on a wild goose chase. However, they’re not the only ones staying at the inn tonight. In another part of it, Mother and her daughters are holding an initiation for Genie. An initiation that will see the young woman join their ranks, whether she wants to or not. It’s going to be a very long night.

While Silent Bite does play it coy, it doesn’t take much thinking to work out that Mother and her daughters are vampires and eager for something to drink this festive period. Yet, while the direction the film goes in might be obvious, it doesn’t stop it being fun. Especially as it builds to its reveal in entertaining ways and has shades of From Dusk Til Dawn with the villainous gang forced to work with others to survive a vampiric onslaught.

It helps that the characters are likable, the vampires are sinister, the location is suitably isolated and ominous, the music is chilling, and the festive feel is consistent throughout. Unfortunately, once the reveal happens, the film begins to slowly fall apart.

The anticipation for a violent and bloody fight for survival is high, but what we get falls quite short. Evident by the unexciting way in which a vampire is dispatched and the very disappointing lack of gore. This really should have turned into a manic bout of bloody mayhem, yet it ends up limping over the finish line, while awkwardly shoehorning in an unearned love story and moments of heroism.

There’s a whole lot of teasing to get to a lacklustre conclusion and the reality is that it’s so unsatisfying, it affects the good will the first two thirds built up. An enjoyable journey is important, but when the payoff is this disappointing, it’s impossible to overlook. No amount of festivities can change that, sadly.