Put aside the cutesy title, Bite Me works because it doesn’t make fun of the characters- they aren’t winking at the camera and telegraphing that “hey, this is just a joke.” Nope. Instead of ridiculing the “real-life” vampires in the story, it takes them seriously. They’re real people with real world problems, desires and…relationships.
Thank Goodness – It’s Not ‘Wacky’
Here’s something I never thought I’d say: Sarah, a real-life vampire with a facial tattoo and blue hair, gets audited by the IRS. Okay-that does sound wacky, but the earnest IRS agent, James, seems to be down to learn more about this chick who needs to consume blood to keep from having the vampire equivalent of low blood sugar.
Since this is a romantic comedy, we expect the unlikely pair to fall in love and try to navigate a relationship, and they do. They both know this is not a great setup on paper, but they go for it.
There are whole subplots that involve workmates, moms, and whether Sarah and her friends are an actual “church” which would give them tax exemption status. It’s not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but I smiled at the eye-rolling from the vamps at every awkward utterance James makes (“are you guys Team Jacob or Team Robert Pattinson?”).
There’s a rom/com template in the universe, and Bite Me avails itself of that framework. That makes the outcome somewhat predictable, and we’d be disappointed were it not so. It’s not scary, it’s not strictly a comedy – it’s kind of its own thing in many ways, and I found that to be a strength.
It IS romantic, however, and there’s a nice message in there, too.
