Bite, The (VCX) Review

Reviewed by Oddobsessionmovies  on  5/21/2006

The Bite is not as it seems. Originally released in theatres as The Big Con, the film resurfaced a year or so later, re-titled THE BITE, as a means to cash in on the success of The Sting. Although the two films share similar plot elements, The Bite takes a far more lyrical and comedic touch to the subject matter

That said, I'll spare you a major plot summary, other than to say the film involves a few 1930s crooks who decide to con a banker into buying a brothel. The Bite (or The Big Con) is an amusing, if not outright fun hardcore romp from 1974. The cast, among them Sara Nicholson, Alan Marlo, Robert Everett, and future disco star Andrea True all provide fine acting performances. The direction (by ex-nudie filmmaker Jerry Denby who also directed the excellent Whatever Happened To Miss September?) is strong and the film as a whole has much higher production values than most at the time.
The film as a whole feels like a well made nudie film, which makes the explicit sex quite annoying much of the time. The set and costume designs as well as the musical scoring are both in keeping with 1930s atmosphere, and the well written script offers more than a few clever one liners and plot twists to keep the audience interested. Denby tries hard to make the most out of this production and he does. Cinematically, The Bite looks just as good as lower budget Hollywood films and the talented cast and very high production values help a great deal. The film works very well as both a 1930s period piece and a 1970s time capsule of a quality east coast hardcore film. The one major problem is that the plot gets a bit overrun by mindless sex scenes, but as a whole, the sexual content is kept to a minimum and the plot is allowed to fully develop.

SEX: Luckily, not so much. The sex content does get a bit bothersome at points, but rarely interferes with the plot.

A/V quality:
VCX has done an OK job of mastering this film from an ancient VHS tape, which although leaving a lot to be desired, is at least not as bad as some current companies.

CUTS:
This is sort of tough as the IAFD lists the complete running time as 78 minutes, but both the VCX and VCA releases run around 76 minutes. I'm not sure if IAFD is wrong or the only masters of this film in existence are all cut.

Extras:
None...What a shock.

Who should see it:
Those who like films with good plot and acting.

Who should skip it:
Those who think that plots are boring and mindless sex is interesting.

Overall:
This is a good film that could have been much better had a bit of the sex content been removed.