Love Bite (2012) Reviews

• story line holds together remarkably well for a film about werewolves

  geoffgee2012-11-16

  I thoroughly enjoyed this film. (So much so that I have now seen it twice.) True there is quite a lot of all the (crude) stuff that other reviewers have mentioned, but there is also a story line that holds together remarkably well for a film about werewolves. In the course of the film suspicion falls on various characters as to which one is actually becoming the werewolf at the time of the full moon. I felt at times I was watching a murder who-done-it. By the end of the film all the earlier 'loose ends' are tied up in a satisfying way that makes logical sense of the script. The film's characters are, to a greater or lesser extent, larger than life (if not downright quirky) - but no more so than might be reasonably expected in a film of comic fantasy. All in all I found this to be a very original story. It was well paced and kept me interested from start to finish. The seaside setting was also refreshing and occasionally provided a picturesque backdrop. In my opinion Love Bite is well worth seeing (at least once). 6/10.

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• It Sucks

  snodlander2012-11-15

  This is a British Comedy Horror film. I know this, because the poster said it was, but if you are looking for another Sean of the Dead, look elsewhere. I saw it in Birmingham, where there was doubt on the night whether they would show it at all. In the event, about 10 sat through it. In a rainy, rundown seaside town four teenage boys are desperate for sex, and understandably no local girl or tourist will touch the crude, foul-mouthed boys with a barge pole. Their hunt for sex becomes all the more desperate as a werewolf starts picking off the virgins of either sex each full moon. Enter sexy and mysterious foreign tourist, who takes a shine to one of the boys, but every full moon rejects him and disappears, only to be welcomed back with open arms when she deigns to show up again. The 'humour' is mainly based around the boys using sauce bottle as phallic toys and the normally wonderful Timothy Spall creeping around in funny clothes and pulling funny faces. I'd guessed the identity of the werewolf early on, even though they try and build up the suspense and mystery. It's rated as a fifteen, but I can't see anyone over 13 actually finding this funny. It doesn't bite, it sucks. It could suck lemons through a garden hose. Avoid.

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• Classic Teen Comedy Horror

  StylinRed2015-01-21

  Other reviews seem to really hate this movie and I imagine this may be due to British reviewers, now you're probably thinking 'well yeah it's a British movie naturally the brits will know if it's good or not' but you would be wrong. The thing is aside from the British accents this is very much an American style teen movie, so tastes are rather different between the cultures and I can easily see those in the UK disliking the film but that shouldn't cause you to shy away from this. The socially awkward but good looking guy with loser friends are trying day and night to get laid but can't. In comes the gorgeous foreign tourist that takes a shine to the quirkyness of said awkward fellow and the entire movie is spent with the boy trying to lay the hot tourist. Classic teen movie that you see more of from American films circa the late 70s through 80s/90s and to a lesser extent today even. Add to this missing teens and suspected werewolves and a werewolf hunting hermit and you have a your American style teen comedy horror. The acting is unexpectedly superb (given the budget and age of the actors), the jokes are crude as expected but work well (american pie style), the film quality/cinematography/directing/make up/cgi/ are all above par for a low budget horror. If you're looking for a teen comedy/horror this should be on top of your list. rated as a teen comedy 9/10

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• Watchable, but nothing new or original with unremarkable characters

  nigel_sars2012-11-09

  I happened to catch a screening of Love Bite tonight after the film I was trying to see was sold out. The showing had barely a handful of people and it is easy to understand why with the lack of promotion for this film. Not even a poster picture on IMDb. The premise of Love Bite is a group of teenagers attempting to loose their virginity in the British seaside town of Rainmouth. Add the desperation factor of a werewolf intent on turning anyone who has not popped their cherry and you basically have the plot for this film. Watching the film it just came across as poor version of Inbetweeners movie. Jamie (Ed Speleers) and his three best friends Kev (Luke Pasqualino), Bruno (Robin Morrissey) and Spike (Daniel Kendrick) spend their lives hanging around the fairground and chip shop attempting to pull women. At a party Jamie meets American travel writer Juliana (Jessica Szohr) who catches his eye. As the action between the pair gathers pace a sub plot with werewolf hunter Sid (Timothy Spall) putting doubt in Jamie's mind that Juliana is not all it seems. Sadly the balance of the this film is all wrong, rather than a good mix of characters you get one (Jamie) that is likable and three others who are foul-mouthed and crude. It makes the film overbearing and sadly it becomes tiring and the jokes lose any humour. I missed the humour in this film, apart from cheap sauce squirting gags and crude one liners there were only a few laugh out loud scenes that made the film watchable. I guess this film borrows from other toilet style humour films and sort of pulls elements together to try and make something original, but doesn't quite achieve it. Watching the film you can't help but notice that it was low budget. One scene you see the front of Claton pier as an establishing shot but Claton has been digitally replaced with the name Rainmouth. As Jamie and Juliana walk past you can then clearly see the real name in the background. It is just one of a few examples of goofs noticeable during the film. I don't think this film will be at cinema's for long, I'd advise waiting for a DVD release rather than spending any money on seeing it on the big screen. Just about watchable, but nothing new original with unremarkable characters. 1/5

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• British Lad Culture meets the horror genre... yet again!

  ColonelHetzer2172019-03-26

  Pros: Best suited for young British viewers as the humour is tailored for their tastes. Cons: Everybody else will be switching off at this kind of British Lad Culture humour. The Story: In a small Scottish seaside town, four teenage boys are trying desperately to lose their virginity, but the advice that their so-called 'expert' Kev is hopelessly bad. One of them, Jamie, runs a B&B with his pothead mother & dreams of going out with one of their guests, the mysterious American tourist Juliana. But at the same time, a series of disappearances of local youths has been occurring & another of Jamie's guests - the eccentric Sid, who claims to be a werewolf hunter - has attributed these to a werewolf hunting virgin flesh & claims that Juliana is a werewolf. Jamie ignores the claims but with his continued inability to get laid & some of his friends starting to vanish, he begins to fall for Juliana's charms despite growing evidence that she is not who she claims to be. In Britain, there exists a social disease that has infected the vast majority of British male youth. It is called "Lad Culture" & is a mix of boorish stupidity, mild misogynistic sexism, pro-alcoholism & all-round general jackassery that makes them do stupid things & cause several kinds of trouble without ever learning from their mistakes. This kind of 'humour' started in the 1990s with several British men's magazines that deliberately put out this kind of content but masked it with a false humorous context that is designed to deflect indirect criticism. Love Bite, a 2012 Scottish B-grader from Andy De Emmony, is a pretty good example of what to expect from this kind of 'humour' (I keep putting that term in quote marks because it is being used in an abstract manner to show that the humour in this film is not good humour). The film is a British version of American Pie but without the rampant sexuality that the source material is known for & filled with the British Lad Culture content that several youth-related films from this location are known for, coupled with a horror story about a virgin-eating werewolf. As it stands, Love Bite is mildly interesting as a tale of a young virgin who can't get laid (probably as a result of his timidness & the bad luck of having a circle of friends who all get their relationship advice from a young 'expert' who clearly has no idea of how to get laid, instead spouting all sorts of chauvinistic advice that is offensive to anybody who actually has a brain) & who does fall for a mysterious American girl who might actually be involved in the disappearances of several of his friends (but not in the way you think). The idea of a werewolf preying on virgins is interesting but is not a consistent concept with traditional werewolf lore & is badly applied here - the werewolf is not terribly fussy about who it kills & in the end the revelation of the werewolf's identity seems to be arbitrarily applied to make up for the fact that we can't seem to guess who it is. However, I did like the way the film ended, with the hero & his American girlfriend (who is actually a werewolf hunter) both being infected with the werewolf affliction & losing their virginity while being werewolves (featuring a funny image of them going at it doggy-style) & a blackly humorous end coda. As for the acting, Jessica Szohr gives a professional performance as the mysterious American tourist whose secret identity provides the counterpoint to the story. Ed Speleers is good enough to carry the show while Timothy Spall is amusing as the hapless werewolf hunter & Kierston Wareing provides some interest as the cop's sexually promiscuous daughter.

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