I was due for a marathon of low budget moves focusing on classic creatures of the night, so let’s get right into these modern takes on vampires and werewolves.
OPERATION BLOOD HUNT (2024)
Actor Louis Mandylor is very recognizable by face even if you don’t know him by name, and has been in his fair share of horror flicks. He also directs this time around, with mixed results.
I went into Operation Blood Hunt with the hubby by my side because it looked like a SyFy level werewolf movie, and we were so up for it. To an extent, that’s exactly what it is, but unfortunately, after a great opening scene of a cheesy cool werewolf attacking several military men, we don’t get another juicy werewolf attack until 65 minutes in!
The real problem is in a side story that adds absolutely nothing to the main plot. Main plot—during World War II, a big, burly reverend played by sexy wrestler Rampage is sent with a military team to an island where communication with military men has been severed.
There they meet the local native tribe and eventually come under attack by a pack of werewolves. That should have been it. The whole plot, the whole story, filled with werewolf action from start to finish instead of having it all jammed into the final act.
The subplot has Jonathan Rhys-Myers as a bar owner who is a friend of the reverend and has a past working in supernatural studies. I really feel like this subplot was in place for the simple purpose of giving Mandylor a role in his own movie. He plays a vampire who pays a visit to the bar, complete with streaking visual effects as he moves quickly across a room. He proves to be a wimpy vampire who eventually caves and gives the bar owner some inside information about gold hidden on the island where the reverend has been sent—another completely irrelevant plot point.
For me and the hubby, the meat of the movie was the big bad wolf battle that was sadly relegated to the final 20 minutes. The werewolves are an awesome mix of digital effects and men in big hairy costumes. So much potential to be an action werewolf bonanza missed due to that unnecessary vampire side story.
Shockingly, the final moments set the movie up for a sequel. Less shockingly, I would watch it in a second.
FANGS OUT (2023)
This one has total early 2000s direct-to-DVD vibes. Either you love this kind of hokey horror with corny acting and amateur sets or you don’t.
Four friends head to Mexico so one of the girls can get a boob job to be in porn.
Turns out there’s a crazy vampire doctor and his clownish vampire nurse waiting for more victims to bleed dry.
It’s absolute foolishness from start to finish. The doctor convinces all the friends to get some sort of surgery, including penis enlargement and pussy tightening. With all the talk of sexual body parts and porn, I kind of wish the movie had been more sexploitative, but there’s none of that. The film fails to live up to the trashy levels its dialogue promises.
The major subplot is that one girl’s dad is coming to rescue her after he finds out she crossed the border.
There’s no nudity, not much blood, very little of the humor works, and the effects used when vampires burn in the sun look like something from a PlayStation 1 game. The vampire nurse is perhaps the highlight here, but only when she finally hits her stride and gets quite campy in the final act.
BLACK OUT (2023)
Horror veteran Larry Fessenden directs and writes this werewolf flick, which I would describe as a rural, moody take on An American Werewolf in London with a 1970s horror movie aesthetic and a classic Wolf Man vibe.
There was something oddly compelling about this one, which focuses on a man trying save his own town from power and greed while also protecting it from himself—the monster.
The opener sets the tone, with a couple having sex in a field under the moonlight and then being viciously attacked by the wolf man.
Our main man interacts with townsfolk as he juggles the local drama, including property being bought up, contaminated water, and a rash of killings that are being pinned on an innocent Spanish man.
Familiar faces include Barbara Crampton, James Le Gros, the pervy gym teacher from Elm Street 2, and even the late William Hurt in a photo as the father of the main guy, who is literally William Hurt’s son in real life. He’s also equally as unassumingly sexy as his father.
There is quite a bit of talk as the main man navigates his interpersonal relationships, but there are also plenty of effective wolf man attack scenes and flashbacks.
Eventually the film takes a thrilling turn once the main guy looks to his friend for help putting the curse to rest once and for all in a segment that adds a little levity to the serious tone. The wolf man action and horror atmosphere in the final act have such a classic vibe and left me quite satisfied.
SUCKERS (2024)
Suckers is another vampire flick with an early 2000s direct-to-DVD feel. It is slow to start, but when this low budget flick finally takes off, it’s the simple kind of fun I love.
Running only 67 minutes long, the film begins with a couple alone in a studio being attacked by an unseen force.
Next, a group of pretty influencers gathers at a venue drenched in pink and red horror lighting. They believe they are there for some big event that will help shoot them to stardom. A lot of time in the first half of the movie is spent on them talking and getting to know each other.
Considering this is such a short film, I wish they would have cut back on the introductions and gotten to the action sooner.
35 minutes in, after there is finally a hip hop partying montage, we get a sex scene between the bombshell hostess and a hunky pretty boy. Her true vamp side is revealed, and the makeup effects are campy and playful.
From there she begins luring more influencers away from the group and biting them. In turn, they become vamps, causing more trouble for the core group of influencers, who discover they are locked in the building with the bloodsuckers. It’s my favorite kind of simple formula.
At this point, one dude steps forward to serve as the comic relief, and he absolutely steals the show. He is a hoot. There are also references to plenty of vampire flicks, as well as a shirtless muscle vampire. It’s simple, sexy vampire comedy fun that deserved to be at least 80 or 90 minutes long with more sexiness, silliness, and vampire thrills.
