Little Bites is a 2024 film written and directed by Spider One, best known as the front man for rock band Powerman 5000… and as the younger brother of Rob Zombie. Much like his brother before him, Spider One made the leap from music to film a few years back, directing a few shorts before releasing his first feature, Allegoria, in 2022. His second feature, Bury the Bride, released in 2023. Spider One also wrote and developed the short-lived MTV series “Death Valley”, which aired in 2011. As I have admittedly not watched either of those previous films, I can not fairly compare Little Bites to either of them in any way, nor should I really be trying to.

While I’m sure that Spider is just as sick of reading and hearing comparisons to his brother as anyone else, casting his own wife, Krsy Fox, in prominent roles in both of his previous films and in the lead role here probably doesn’t help silence the conversation. Nor will the fact that Fox co-stars in Spider’s new film, Big Baby, which debuted at the Screamfest Horror Film festival in early October of this year. Fox, who gets hacked up in the opening of Terrifier 3, is also the ex-wife of Theory of A Deadman singer Tyler Connolly, who serves as an executive producer on both Little Bites and Big Baby.

Little Bites also features a supporting role from Chaz Bono, who also appears in both Bury the Bride and Big Baby, as well as Zombie’s 3 From Hell. Little Bites received a little extra media attention upon its release due to the fact the film was executive produced by both Bono and his legendary mother, Cher. Little Bites also features appearances from Bonnie Aarons (The Nun), Elm Street‘s Heather Langenkamp, and Re-Animator‘s Barbara Crampton. While all three actresses are solid in their roles (some more than others), there is some question of “stunt casting” (which Zombie has often been accused of himself) as at least two of these roles likely could have been occupied by less-recognizable actresses without losing much in performance.

To prevent an ancient creature (JonĀ Sklaroff – Crocodile 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) living within their home from eating her 10-year old daughter, young widow Mindy (Fox) agrees to let the creature regularly feed off of her instead. As she still has to send the girl to stay with her grandmother’s for a few weeks for safety, drawing the attention of both neighbors and child protection services, it’s not really much of a fair trade.

While Little Bites is a rather slow-paced film, it makes no delay establishing its central plot, doing so from the opening moments. However, there’s never any explanation given for the creature’s origins or how it found its way into Mindy’s house. While this does leave things completely open to the viewer’s interpretation, there’s also a case to be made that Spider One didn’t bother to develop much of a backstory. This did create something of a “disconnect” for me as I have difficulty sympathizing with a person’s situation without first knowing how they found themselves in it.

Initially, Mindy generally accepts her fate, seeing it to be a means of protecting her child from an unfortunate situation. In time, she begins to look for compromises, even offering to sacrifice another to the creature, named “Agyar”. Of course, this attempt doesn’t go quite as hoped, with Agyar even rejecting the offer. That said, Agyar does get the opportunity to feed on someone other than Mindy before the film’s conclusion.Ā  Eventually, after a chance encounter with an older woman (Langenkamp) and facing the possibility of losing her child for good, Mindy decides to confront her demon. However, in order for her to ever be free, she must expose her child to the horror waiting in their home.

As “Mindy”, Little Bites‘ main character and the driving emotional force behind the film, Fox gives a solid performance, but not one that I’d call “outstanding”. Fox manages to portray the character as physically worn down, but I never truly felt the emotional exhaustion that the character must be experiencing. That said, some of this may be due to limitations in the script. Sklaroff deserves some recognition here as he instills Agyar with something of an aloof personality and signs of a superiority complex, which seems “normal” to me as the creature must envision itself in something of a “master/servant” relationship. Agyar, who I assume to be something akin to a ghoul, is played just as much of an emotional or “psychic” vampire as it is a physical one, slowly draining Mindy’s will to resist as it drains her blood.

All this said, the young actress portraying Mindy’s daughter is not quite as convincing. I don’t really want to speak too ill of a child actor (even if they do kinda suck), but as the character becomes pivotal to the film’s final act, the performance somewhat deprives the proceedings of conviction.

While honestly quite lacking in frights or scares, Little Bites does a commendable job of playing off the fears that come with being a parent. It presents the notion that, as parents, we sometimes spend so much time and effort shielding our children from the horrors of the world that not only do we prevent them from being able to face and accept these horrors, but we also prevent them from helping us to face them ourselves. However, at its core, it plays with every parent’s greatest fear; that one day we will have to let go of our children so that they can live life on their own.

There’s fair argument to be made that Little Bites is as much a “drama” as it is horror, albeit one with a flesh-eating monster. Factor in the extremely low “kill count” (one death, if I’m correct) and the lack of any notable gore and Little Bites may become something of a “hard sell” for many potential viewers. While I never felt that the story got carried away or went so far as to become absurd, it’s difficult for me to dismiss the notion that Little Bites was an extremely slow build-up to… well, not much. As such, the film did feel a few minutes too long for its own good, but this is a minor criticism in comparison to other aspects.

While the film’s conclusion is actually quite befitting and feels like a logical resolution, I was still left somewhat unsatisfied, perhaps in light of the performance of the young actress. Upon finishing the film, I did find myself asking if “that’s it?” Despite this, I generally enjoyed Little Bites, although I truly do not believe that I will ever watch the film again. While I did find the story interesting and the performances respectable, I was left with something of a hollow sensation afterwards. In retrospect, maybe Little Bites was an appropriate title for the film as it never quite feels like a full meal.

Little Bites is currently available to watch (with subscription) on multiple streaming services.Ā