There isn’t any way to mince words here – this is a very low-budget film. From the acting abilities of the cast, to the shaky camera work, to the confusing, choppy editing and poor special effects and sound, it’s clear that the filmmakers were working on a very small cash flow to make this movie. Having a meager budget isn’t the fault, nor is it even the major downfall of Fangs Out. It’s the fact that there is no clear way to determine if this is horror/comedy, an attempt at purposeful B movie hilarity, or if the creators genuinely feel this is a well made story.

Since the early 2000’s, the phenomena of movies that fall into the “so bad, it’s good” category has essentially become its own genre. Films like Sharknado took their low-budget, poorly written productions and somehow managed to garner impressive success based solely on the fact that people were getting together with their friends to see just how bad it really was. Many followed that path, and that gray area of “are they TRYING to make a bad film?” became much more discernible. Let’s face it, whether you’re a fan of that sub genre or not, there are many of us who need those movies. Sometimes we want to be entertained and have our emotions evoked…and other times we just want to turn our brains off and laugh at sheer and utter absurdity. The key to this working, though, is that we know when a filmmaker’s goal is to purposely create a B Movie. If the line between “on purpose” and “unintentional” becomes blurred, the formula can’t work.

That, in a nutshell, is the biggest problem with Fangs Out. Written by Randy Oppenheimer and directed by Dennis Devine, it stars Stacy Aung, Marlene McCohen, Heidi Hemlock, and Brian Easter, Jr. as four college students who travel together to Mexico to undergo cheap cosmetic surgery. 

Already, it doesn’t take a PhD to recognize that this is a bad idea that will likely result in a disastrous outcome for them. When they arrive at the seedy, ramshackle clinic, they meet Dr Pavor (Samuel Code), the surgeon who will be performing their…interesting surgical requests. Though he speaks of odd, alternative methods to how these procedures will be done, he assures them all will be fine. Despite the fact that there are an alarming amount of red flags – from the remote location, to the shoddy condition of the surgery center, to the aloof and downright bizarre behavior from Dr. Pavor and his nurses, the characters carry on with their decision to go under the knife.

It’s at this point we’re able to piece together that Dr. Pavor, and his nurses, are actually vampires who are hell-bent on collecting the blood of their unsuspecting victims, and have been running their bloodthirsty enterprise for quite some time. When a detective (played by Oppenheimer), and father to one of their previous sacrifices, arrives in search of her, it becomes an all-out fight for survival between mortals and bloodsuckers.

With horror, you can operate on low production value if the writing is strong and the characters are likable. Unfortunately, every character in this movie is vapid, clueless, and one dimensional, leaving no room for the viewer to want to root for their survival. 

If this was the angle and intent of the filmmakers, it’s just not obvious enough for Fangs Out to safely fit into that “so bad it’s good” category. As critics, there is always some consideration and leeway when it comes to indie films, because everyone starts somewhere, and that “somewhere” is hardly ever a person’s magnum opus. In the end, though, that can’t be the only factor in determining a movie’s rating. That makes this problematic to recommend to anyone, unless you’re someone with a very open mind and a lot of patience. Otherwise, you’re likely to be left feeling frustrated that your time was wasted.