This year in Horror Bingo we’ve had—among other things—creepy serial killers, 80’s body horror, horror documentaries, and Japanese kill-or-be-killed stories. Today, however, we’re shifting to vampires. Specifically, queer teen vampire comedies.

Get in, loser. We’re watching Bit.

Year: 2019
Director: Brad Michael Elmore
First Watch or Rewatch: First Watch
Streaming Service: Amazon Prime
Spoilers: Some, technically, but very minor
Grade: Vanilla

I enjoyed Bit, although I’m not sure how much I have to say about it. The movie does feel a bit, hm. Stilted, I guess, particularly in the first half? It’s not that I got bored, exactly, but I was very aware of the time, particularly every extended pause and every line read that, while funny, didn’t always come across as wholly natural to me. It’s possible I’d feel differently about that on a second viewing, though.

On the upside, there’s a lot to enjoy here: the humor, the absolutely fantastic soundtrack (there isn’t an official one to buy/stream, damn it, so I’m using IMDb to track down each song), and just the whole amazing queer aesthetic. (The fashion. The vibes. I’m so here for Duke’s whole look.) We have multiple queer characters, up to and including Laurel (Nicole Maines), our heroine and baby vampire. Laurel, like Maines herself, is trans, and I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen a movie with a trans lead played by a trans actor before. (I was especially excited to see Nicole Maines, as I unfortunately gave up on Supergirl shortly before she was added to the cast.) To my surprise, though, no one ever explicitly states that Laurel is trans. It’s definitely a part of her story, but—unless I missed a line—nobody ever says it outright. I do really like that Laurel being trans is never a twist or plot obstacle, nothing the other vampires hold or use against her. When Duke (Diana Hopper) says, “Never crossed my mind” . . . yeah, that’s one of my favorite moments in the whole movie.

Overall, I like the entire cast, particularly Maines, Zolee Griggs, and scene stealers like Matt Pierce and Lauren Stamile. (Damn, if Stamile doesn’t make the most of her, like, three minutes of screen time.) Also Mark, Laurel’s brother, is played by James Paxton (Bill Paxton’s kid), which I got a kick out of. I can’t help but wish we got to see a little more from Frog (Char Diaz) and Roya (Friday Chamberlain), though. I’m not sure it’s really a problem with the film, but I would’ve liked more time with them regardless. They seem fun.

I have more to say, particularly about the ending—which I enjoyed—but I really don’t want to go too deeply into spoilers here. So, I’ll just say that A) while Duke definitely does screw up, I can’t help but sympathize with her and—because of that—find one scene surprisingly hard to watch, B) Vlad works for me, particularly because instead of casting some sexy sex god in the part, they just have . . . some dude, which feels right, and C) the line “men can’t handle power” sounds good on paper, but it also implicitly excuses men for their shitty behavior on the basis that they can’t help themselves. So, I really love that the film addresses this.

And now, because it’s finally available to rent  . . .

Next Up: Bodies Bodies Bodies