Search - Fangs on DVD

Three stars: Fun, but you have to be in the mood

P. Mann | Los Angeles | 09/25/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There is a scene in the movie in which a teenager reports that a police officer could not issue a speeding ticket because the teenager had too many aluminum cans on his dashboard, thus rendering the officer's radar ineffective. This news gives the films heroes, officer Ally Parks (Tracy Nelson) and veterinarian John Winslow (Whip Hubley), a brilliant idea. If they cut up lots of aluminum cans, they can use them to jam the bats' radar and save lots of lives.

A purist might wonder what good jamming radar does when bats rely on sonar, and if you're such a purist, this film is not for you. On the other hand, if implausibilities such as this don't bother you too much, this film has something to offer, in large part because it's not Bats. "Fangs," by contrast, does not seem to take itself too seriously, is thoroughly derivative of other films in the heavily-mined animals-run-amok sub-genre (e.g., Slugs, Squirm, and Slither, and those are just the S titles), and has two lead actors who are fun to watch.

The bare-bones outline of "Fangs" is familiar enough. A small town finds itself terrorized by a particularly nasty form of a familiar creature, here bats that have been genetically modified. The powers that be, real-estate developer Carl Hart (Corbin Bernsen) and police chief Sam Taylor (Michael Gregory), naturally oppose any sensible effort to rid the town of its problem, so the young duo of Parks and Winslow must go it alone. Not surprisingly, they begin to develop a romantic interest. In short, there's nothing new here.

Still, "Fangs" is fun in its way, especially because the leads Hubley and Nelson are likable and their relationship fun. As long as you're not expecting anything on the order of classic films like Jaws or The Birds, "Fangs" is an enjoyable film to watch while sharing a bowl of popcorn with the family. (And this film is appropriate for the family. I am not certain, but I do not recall any profanity, and there certainly was no nudity. The violence is minimal, consisting almost entirely of people swatting away bats.)"