Shopping for Fangs

Plot summary

Housewife Katherine loses consciousness and lost her cell phone as a result. Lesbian waitress Trinh sends her sexually suggestive messages and pictures. Katherine's husband works with a man by the name of Phil.

Payroll clerk Phil, who is confused about his sexuality, thinks that he is transforming into a werewolf because his hair grows so quickly that he has to shave every hour, he gorges on raw meat, and is uninjured after being struck by a car.

Cast

Production

The film's budget was less than $100,000 and had a filming schedule of 21 days in Los Angeles. Lee and Lin separated the filming between themselves, with Lee filming the part with Katherine and Lin filming the part with Phil. It was released by Lin's company Margin Films. The term GenerAsian X may have been coined because of this film's release, with the X later being removed.

Lee said in a 2012 interview, "Shopping for Fangs is about finding connections, which is a theme that threads through all my movies." He also said, "It’s hard to quantify cultural impact, but certainly years after, scholars and critics are still talking about Shopping for Fangs."

Reception

David Noh, writing for Film Journal, said, "Under the circumstances, the actors manage to do rather nicely." Edward Guthmann, of San Francisco Chronicle, wrote, "Despite some fresh ideas, attractive actors and a sly, surprising performance by Chin as the disaffected Katherine, this is a rough first effort."

Home media

The film was released on DVD on October 6, 2009 by Pathfinder Home Entertainment.