Vampires in Modesto? Horror movie shot in city to premiere at State Theatre
Bloodthirsty vampire girls roaming around Modesto? Put down the holy water and garlic; they are most likely the stars of an independent horror comedy called “Only Fangs.”
The full-length feature film is the latest release from writers and directors Paul Ragsdale and Angie De Alba, the Modesto filmmaking couple behind A&P Productions.
They will be releasing their fifth full-length feature on Oct. 18 with a world premiere at the State Theatre. “This has been a crazy journey, from start to finish, and we’re just so excited to finally have this thing come out,” said Ragsdale.
The plot is summed up this way: “A bloodthirsty gang of vampire chicks moves into a small town and meets a wannabe monster hunter named Wes, who helps them develop an app to turn victims into customers.” A mix of horror and camp, the movie includes many scenes shot in Modesto.
The road to the premiere was long; initial conception and writing started in July 2024. Ragsdale and De Alba’s story started much earlier, about 20 years ago, in a film class at MJC.
“I just took the film class because it sounded like it was gonna be an easy A,” said De Alba. “I ended up being the only girl in the class by the end of it, and no one really took me or my ideas seriously. They’re kind of like, ‘Oh, she’s just a girl, she just wants to make a rom-com.’ I didn’t really have any kind of aspirations about being a legitimate filmmaker or pursuing it after I left college. But then I met Paul.”
Ragsdale always knew he wanted to make films. He grew up in Patterson, watching ’80s and ’90s classics like “Friday the 13th” and “Child’s Play” and ensemble adventure films like “The Goonies” and “RoboCop.” He was particularly inspired by the ’80s vampire cult classic “The Lost Boys,” starring Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric.
“I’ve always wanted to make a vampire film,” he said. “The title just kind of came to me one day, and I said, ‘Well, let me try to put something together here,’ and I just started writing a script.”
While Ragsdale embraced the darkness, Newman native, De Alba, didn’t grow up with the same inspiration. “My mom was very strict. I was allowed to watch mostly educational stuff or happy, girly, fun stuff like Disney, Care Bears, and My Little Pony,” she said. “To this day, horror is still not my preference. It’s not my first choice of genre of films. I don’t really watch scary movies. I don’t really enjoy them, I just make them.”
“Because she’s not into horror, she has an outside perspective that helps just in storytelling and filmmaking,” said Ragsdale. He credits his partnership with De Alba as essential to creating a unique story.
“I love working with Angie, she just knows how to make things happen, won’t quit, doesn’t give up,” he said. “As a filmmaker, we can be sensitive and insecure, and I remember feeling that way on our first feature, and she was the one who pushed me. I love working with her; she’s my best friend and the love of my life.”
After meeting in college, adult responsibilities and work were their focus for a few years before they felt the urge to get serious about making a full-length film. They had full-time jobs, working together at the same company, and Ragsadale wondered if they could make a movie on their off time. Drawing inspiration from their cultural experiences as Latinos growing up in the Central Valley, they wrote and released their first full-length film, “Cinco De Mayo,” in 2013.
“The film is about Mexican American identity, it’s about a Chicano studies professor who’s diagnosed with Aztec bloodlust by this doctor and so he goes on this killing spree against these racist guys that were hassling Mexicans,” he said. It was really ahead of its time, because at the time, people thought we were crazy, saying, ‘No one harasses Mexicans’” and I thought, ‘Well, I guess we’ll see.’”
They stayed within the cultural theme for their second film, “La Soldadera,” but pivoted to less horror and more action and romance as the movie focused on two lovers on the run from Narcos and hired killers.
In 2016, they jumped fully back into slasher horror with a film titled “Streets of Vengeance,” which follows a former adult film star as she seeks revenge against a cult after an attack. The film’s theme, beautiful and tough women wreaking havoc upon those who wronged them, has become a sort of signature for their films.
Their next two films, “Slashorette Party” and “Murdercise,” were released in 2020 and 2023, and by this time, the couple had begun to gain a dedicated fan base.
As online streaming platforms grew, so did the opportunity for independent filmmakers to distribute their own movies, exposing relative unknowns to the masses.
“Social media and Filmhub are two ventures that really changed things around for us,” said Ragsdale. “It’s weird to say, but we have so many fans, supporters, slasher fans, from around the world, and that wouldn’t have been possible without the ability to stream our movies. We’ve met a lot of people who said, ‘Hey, I watched your movie, and that’s how I found out about you,’ and they were just scrolling through Amazon Prime. It’s humbling to even have that kind of outreach. And that’s something that never would have been possible 10 years ago,” he said.
As they embarked on the start of “Only Fangs,” Ragsdale and De Alba began to feel the pressure of working day jobs while making movies. They needed to work to finance their films, which were all self-funded, but wanted to focus on film as a main career.
After 18 years at the same company, they have taken a sabbatical to focus on filmmaking full-time. “I think we both need to accept that this filmmaking thing is a real big part of our lives, and maybe we should step away from our day job and kind of finally take the risk to pursue filmmaking and being artists, and we’re both giving ourselves a year to see what we can accomplish,” De Alba said. They plan to attend film festivals and fan conventions to promote “Only Fangs” over the coming year.
This decision was possible because of a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo, which raised over $60,000, making” Only Fangs” their largest budget production thus far.
“Our first campaign raised $1,500, and we were like, ‘Oh, my God, we’re rich,’ and since then, the campaigns have just grown,” said De Alba. “This is beyond anything that we ever thought we could do when we were just in our early MJC days, paying people with pizza. Now we’re at a position where we can pay our actors and pay the cinematographer and pay for locations,” she said.
With a sizable budget, Ragsdale and De Alba were able to film in locations near and far, including Las Vegas. Many of the scenes in the film were shot in Modesto — some at McHenry Bowl, some at Graceada Park. And there are many exterior shots around town, even at the State Theatre.
Although they seem to be on the path of wider recognition and acclaim, the couple says they want to continue making movies in Modesto and the Central Valley. The availability of technology and editing programs no longer requires moving to a larger city to make a movie, and both filmmakers have found strong community support.
“We’re really excited to not only stay here but expand in Modesto. And a lot of the actors that are in our movies are from here. That’s our first choice, to work with people here in Modesto,” De Alba said. They also say there is a burgeoning and exciting filmmaking community, thanks in part to projects like the 48 Hour Film Competition.
“It’s possible to be in Modesto and make something, build a community, and build your own project and create your own little fan base,” she said. “We’ve known some aspiring filmmakers who have now been picking up the camera again, saying they are going to try, because there’s just more opportunity. It’s only getting bigger, so it’s really cool to see the evolution of independent filmmaking here in green Modesto,”
Ragsdale said they are looking forward to the premiere and the opportunity to continue independent filmmaking in Modesto. “The hope I have for this movie is to be our biggest release and to generate enough income so that we can start our next film. And even if this movie does not do that, I am pretty confident that it’s going to make people happy,” he said.
De Alba added, “I am hopeful the movie gets across more eyes, and hopefully people laugh at it and have a good time, and if anything comes of it financially, then that’s just the cherry on top.
Only Fangs premieres Oct. 18 at the State Theatre. Tickets are available now on the theatre website, thestate.org.
To contribute to their fundraising campaign, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/onlyfangs-a-horror-comedy-with-bite
This story was originally published September 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
