Fangs

release year: 2001
genre: horror
viewing setting: home DVD, 10/7/02

synopsis: Genetically-altered bats escape from a lab and run, err, fly amok.

impressions: Basic entertaining-but-not-too-serious horror. The plot was a bit generic (genetically-altered anything always is, and having a greedy bad guy was also cliche) and the dialogue often silly, but what the hell - it made me chuckle and kept me occupied for ninety minutes. I have read some (well, two) web reviews of this movie, and they both mentioned the fakeness of the bats; I didn't really notice. Actually, the thing with bats, in my opinion, is that they're just not threatening. They're tiny and can be batted away, or perhaps avoided altogether if you have a coat to put around your head as you run to shelter. Basically, as long as you don't run around in circles, you should be able to survive a bat attack. Now if a bat was FIFTY FEET LONG, then that would be a different story...but that's not the case here (for a good approximation, see Q: The Winged Serpent.)

things to watch for: 1:14 - flying bats break through plate-glass window.

acting: Corny but acceptable. The antics of the main protagonists were good for some laughs. The computer-whiz kid was a little over-the-top though. Corbin Bernsen was way over-the-top as the greedy real estate developer.

final word: Worth seeing when you're in a "animals attack" kind of mood.

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