Somehow, Christmas horrors are quite the rage these days. We have had the super successful Terrifier 3 and then the not so well known He Sees You When You’re Sleeping already. And now, we have another one – in director Taylor Martin’s Silent Bite. Like the other two, this one also unabashedly embraces the pulpiness of the genre, with a heist twist. The movie takes quite a while to get going, and is also less gory in comparison. But still, Silent Bite is a decent fun ride, with a climax that sticks. Let us dig in.
Spoiler Alert
What Happens In The Movie?
Silent Bite may be a horror film, but it begins with a heist twist. Four men – Father Christmas, Grinch, Snowman and Blake aka Prancer (yeah, those are names) are on the run after robbing the Wisconsin County Bank and Trust on Christmas Eve. But instead of going far away, their plan is to take the night off at a motel nearby to deceive the police. The very jittery motel manager, Colin, welcomes them and takes them to the bar, where they’re gonna wait the night out. The boys (that’s what the movie collectively calls the group) are working for a man named Scrooge, who has booked the motel for them. A designated driver, Rudolph, is supposed to pick up the boys from the motel in due time and drive them to safety. The narrative introduces us to the guy – in Santa costume – handing over a bloodied dollar to gas station clerk Becky (who understandably calls the police).
At the motel, the boys act mostly like how you’d expect. Grinch is a hot-head who is apprehensive about Blake, who’s the nerdy genius of the group. Snowman is a bumbling idiot, while Father Christmas is the leader who’s trying to keep it together and also manage the team. They may be robbers, but they’re not necessarily bad guys – that’s what the movie establishes, which is a smart play, considering what’s coming for them is far more evil. You’re bound to root for the boys, especially after hearing Blake’s sad story about how his parents are dead and he’s trying to pay off his father’s gambling debt. The guy is also considerably younger than the other three, and academically brilliant. During a conversation with Father Christmas, who considers himself a lost cause, it becomes pretty clear that Blake is the one who’s supposed to survive the night.
Who are the girls and what do they want?
Simply put, the girls are the bad guys in this story. Not that they can help it, given they are a vampire family – Lilith, the mother (surely the name was intentional) and the daughters – Selene, Victoria, Lucia and Genie. Unbeknownst to the boys, the girls are already holed up inside the motel and waiting for their prey. Innocent Colin has done the boys dirty and arranged them as snacks for the girls. We can’t really blame him though, given you can’t really say no to vampires. Although one of the girls, Genie, is still human and very much unwilling to turn. No wonder Genie is tied to a chair inside room no. 666 (can’t be a coincidence, right?), where the others are feeding on her, and will eventually turn her.
But given they now have readily available snacks right outside, it only makes sense for Selene and Victoria to jump into the pool and entice a very interested Snowman. He was obviously not expecting to come across two young girls, so his first thought is this might be a trap. When he tells Father Christmas about it, he sends Grinch along with Snowman to play along with the girls. Blake, meanwhile, sneaks into room 666, and the first thing he realizes is the girls are no cops. Father Christmas delivers the good news to Grinch, who leaves Snowman alone with the girls in the pool for a moment. That is enough for Selene and Victoria to drain Snowman and leave his lifeless body floating in the pool. Blake, meanwhile, finally stumbles upon Genie, who’s still tied up. He rescues her swiftly, but Lucia barges into the room. Freaked out, Blake attacks her with a silver spoon (Grinch’s family heirloom he happens to be holding on to) and literally burns her to death. Silver is obviously the kryptonite to the vampires here.
Does Blake Survive?
With Lucia gone, the girls realize that it’s not gonna be a dinner party for them as the boys are not gonna go down easily. I liked that the characters in Silent Bite don’t ask for explanation upon hearing the term ‘vampire.’ This is a movie that takes pop culture so seriously that it goes to the extent of Grinch letting everyone know that he has read all the Twilight books, which effectively makes him an expert regarding vampires. Of course, that can’t make you win an actual battle against real vampires. Fortunately for the boys, Genie is there to help. Somehow, Blake and Genie are into each other, and while you wonder if that’s a bit too fast and unrealistic, I can lay down an argument with just one word – hormones.Â
Anyway, the boys eventually reach the conclusion that sunlight is the thing that’s needed to kill the vampires. But since there’s still some time left for sunrise, they need to find some alternatives. Fortunately, they have some UV grenades. Soon, Selene attacks the boys and Grinch falls prey to her. But before his death, he uses a UV grenade on Selene and gets his revenge. Blake instinctively puts a rug on Genie so that it doesn’t affect her. Unfortunately, she’s been bitten to the extent that her turning can’t be prevented.
Father Christmas’ death also looked like an inevitability, and Victoria soon gets the better of him. What she didn’t expect was him using a grenade on her too. With these two done, it now comes down to Blake and Genie to somehow get away from mother Lilith. But with Genie turning into a vampire, and only Lilith knowing how to turn her back, they decide to face her. Things don’t go as per plan though. Realizing Genie’s fate is sealed, Blake asks her to turn him. Lilith is also excited by the proposal. She is going to do it by herself anyway, if Genie doesn’t comply. But Genie goes ahead, only to trick Lilith into believing she’s actually doing it. Getting the chance, Blake uses an UV grenade that takes down Lilith but also Genie. There was no way Blake could have helped her anyway. Everything done and dusted, Blake gets out and takes off in Rudolph’s car outside. Sadly for Rudolph, he had the misfortune of encountering Lilith, and he is not human anymore. That’s a subplot plot which doesn’t get much attention. It also doesn’t really matter, just saying.
