Horror fans tend to cite Bram Stoker’s Dracula as the foundation for what we think of as the granddaddy of the modern vampire, but it’s apparently Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella Carmilla, a work of lesbian vampire fiction (predating Stoker’s by 26 years) that is clearly the grandmother of Brad Michael Elmore’s Bit. Recently premiered at Toronto’s LGBT Inside Out Film Festival, Bit is the queer feminist love child of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Craft and Blade.
Bit tells the story of Laurel, a young transgender college student leaving her life in small town Oregon to spend her summer in Los Angeles in the hopes of finding more open-minded people and to spend some quality time with her older brother. On her first night out on the town, she successfully sneaks into a bar and finds herself in the throws of a one-night stand with the gorgeous Izzy (Zolee Griggs), who celebrates post-coital bliss by turning Laurel into a vampire.
Soon enough, Laurel is invited to join Izzy’s intersectional feminist vampire clutch, led by the scorned former bride of a male vampire, Duke (brilliantly performed by Diana Hopper) and her new life in Los Angeles immediately gets far more adventurous, dangerous, and exciting than anything she could have ever imagined.
Laurel is played by Nicole Maines, who most will recognize as “The First Transgender Superhero” after joining Supergirl. Maines is also the anonymous plaintiff, Susan Doe, in the landmark Maine Supreme Judicial Court case Doe v. Regional School Unit 26 regarding gender identity and bathroom use in schools. Her life was used as inspiration for the book Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family, and was later featured in the HBO documentary, The Trans List. Maines’ entire life and career has been defined by her being transgender, and while her gender identity is a major factor in Bit, Elmore handles the topic with the utmost of affinity and honesty.
One of the rules of the vampire girl gang is that they must never turn a man. When Laurel coyly questions her gender identity, the leader of the pack quips back “never crossed my mind” without missing a beat. It’s a very subtle and throwaway moment to the untrained eye, but Duke’s steadfast affirmation that Laurel’s gender identity is valid and worthy with one sentence is probably the most important moment of transgender representation ever portrayed in a horror film.
Our leader’s idea serves as the central conceit of the entire film: the idea that men must never become vampires ever again because they cannot be trusted with this ultimate power. Historically speaking, men abuse power and it frequently leads to the oppression and abuse of women, regardless of cultural background. It is this belief that assists Duke, Laurel, Izzy, Frog (Char Diaz) and Roya (Friday Chamberlain) in determining who is “deserving” to be nothing more than a midnight snack for our vampire crew.
Bit isn’t all feminist bark, however, it’s got a hell of a bite. It fits nicely within the modern vampire canon, but still feels like a total breath of fresh air. Fans still mourning the ending of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will likely be the target audience for this film, as are the legions of queer horror fans who have spent the entirety of their fandom picking apart subtext trying to see themselves in characters of their favorite films. This is in large part to the communal vibe presented by our vampire clutch who give performances with such authenticity it makes the audience feel like we’re eavesdropping into the lives of these women. As for the horror, Bit never feels “scary” in the same way films like Fright Night never feel scary – but are still a hell of a fun ride.
Elmore has created something truly special with Bit. The film tackles subjects often reserved for angry Twitter threads and finds a way to handle it all with nuance while still managing to make it fun. He effortlessly weaves subtextual messaging with matter-of-fact “no shit” opinions on social justice and splatters it with blood and sexuality. For the voices who have felt marginalized by horror films for…well…ever…Bit is the badass power fantasy we’ve always dreamed of.
