Teeth

Dawn (Jess Weixler) is not like the other girls. For one thing, she's in high school and still a complete virgin. But also, she has a set of vicious teeth inside of her woman parts. And, wouldn't you know it, those boys just can't leave their mitts off of her... bad news for everyone involved.

I have to give plenty of credit to writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein, who is surprisingly older than you might expect for this sort of material. The only film I can even compare to this one as far as controversial subject matter is "Sick Girl". Lichtenstein, what other goodies do you have in store for us? Jess Weixler, who plays Dawn O'Keefe, was largely unknown but is now taking off... I suspect it has something to do with this role. The film seems to have a strong cult following, as I've heard about it multiple times in the past few years, despite not ever receiving a theatrical release and getting ignored by many mainstream outlets.

The film shows penises -- a handful of them -- but not vaginas (a parallel to the textbook incident); is this "modesty"? It's an interesting reversal where naked women are traditionally most acceptable in films. Even soft-core has no problem showing women mostly nude while shooting men at strange angles to avoid the slip of any genitalia.

Jim Emerson, taking the place of Roger Ebert, ties this in to horror and science fiction history. "The 1950s sci-fi premise would be that Dawn is the unfortunate victim of radioactivity, but there's something else in the air (and maybe the water) here. It's called sexuality, and it permeates her everyday life: from pop culture (parental-advisory lyrics, R and PG-13-rated movies) to anatomical textbook illustrations in health class to the hormones and pheromones that hang heavily in the atmosphere, like the fetid steam in a gymnasium locker room. Everywhere she turns, Dawn the dental damsel-in-distress is surrounded by temptation." Emerson takes this is a bit far at times. The lyrics and movies part is his speculation, not made apparent in the film. And yes, while she does live in a world of temptation, she does not actually seem all that interested in boys. She easily maintains her virginity for a fair portion of the film, despite men's advances. He is correct to show that the sci-fi aspect is played down. While there is clearly heavy pollution in her backyard, we are never given that topic directly. This is never an anti-pollution film, despite that being the implied source of Dawn's mutation.

Emerson also draws the horror parallel: "While 'Carrie' is the obvious influence (with genital transmogrification instead of telekinesis, and the other sex doing the bulk of the bleeding), 'Teeth' could be seen as a 'Reefer Madness' for the New Chastity Generation. The camp sensibility, however, is fully self-aware." Yes, the campiness is self-aware, and "Carrie" is hardly like "Reefer Madness" and the connection is pretty much a teenage girl going through life changes and lashing out on those who oppress her. The men doing the bleeding? That's a stretch... lay off the literary criticism when analyzing films.

Anyway, "Teeth" is a must-see for sure. More and more often it seems that the underground films are the ones worth seeing, and this is no exception. You could go see the latest theater triumph (as I type this, it's "The Last Exorcism"), but I assure you that you'll find Lichtenstein's "Teeth" to be far more satisfying and memorable.

I was a little worried about this going in, even as I loved the joke that was the premise: a vagina with razor sharp fangs inside the walls. How much could be done with something like this? As I found out, a lot more than I expected, but especially surrounding it as a nifty satire on the world of abstinence pledgers in high schools. There can never be enough room to make fun of these 'abstinence-only' folk who wear the "Promise Rings" and are amid a self-made desensitized cult that, in essence, dissuades those who do have romantic connections from giving in to their desires. And there's mythology to boot!

If anything, the burgeoning relationship between Dawn (Jess Weixler) and Tobey (Hale Appleman) shouldn't be something they should ever have to avoid. But they do for "purity" sake, despite each others' curiosity about each other's bodies. The first attack is the most savage, and perhaps though the most anticipated, and with a sweet twist: it's a shock to each of them, as she has no idea what is "down there" (all the sex-ed textbooks have the vaginal area censored, this despite the penis right in diagram, a possible reference to how it turns out in visual-style in the picture as men may grab their crotches in unified pain).

To be sure, some of the satirical jabs and slight plot twists aren't totally effective. While the brother character (effectively played as scum by John Hensley) is needed to move the plot along at a crucial point, there's never much explanation to how he's such a sex-psycho with a big dog. There's also a touch of familial drama that feels a little forced (though, again, as part of disbelief that must be upheld throughout). What I liked, and at times even loved, as the pure abandon, like a talented filmmaker tackling the sexploitation genre with some juicy under-cutting to the society that this springs out of. Somehow this guy in his 50s- his first feature no less after years of acting gigs- has crafted some of the funniest penis jokes that could never be fathomed by, um, most people. To say it's a guilty pleasure doesn't do it justice, be it the most obvious jabs or the visual gags and symbolism (the cave opening, the phallic rocks, etc).

One more note: this is truly a "breakout" performance as Weixler plays Dawn for all its worth as a character who truly has an "arc", if you could call it that. Whether it's the sexually confused innocent early in the film, to the totally mind-f****d soul who realizes an old myth called Vagina Dentata may be why she has this via nuclear radiation, and then onward as someone who can use that tunnel of love for all its worth. She's someone to look out for in the indie world, and leads this film along like it's worth every minute. 7.5/10

Not everyone will take to Teeth, a comedy slash horror that at times stretches moral and sociopolitical boundaries, as well as people's tolerance to its contents.

It's a movie that I find difficult to explain, mainly because it feels like something that doesn't seem aware of its own identity, much like the characters, naive teenagers, who are finding their independence as well as their place in the world.

Teeth starts out playful, almost dream-like, where everything seems wonderful, reminding me of the flower power days of the 60s and 70s. The main character Dawn O'Keefe, played very well by Jess Weixler, is a virgin who advocates at her school the idea of staying 'pure' until marriage. All appears positive and blissful as she gains a big following at her addresses to the students, but Teeth doesn't remain innocent and neither do its characters.

Quite abruptly, the movie takes a twisted turn and things become increasingly chaotic and violent. It's beginnings and ending are so far apart from each other in every way imagineable and as I said some viewers may find its extremities difficult to digest. Along its jumbled journey it jumps from comedy to horror to moralistic to political to pornography and I found it difficult at times to understand its message, which it obviously is intended to have - a message, but as I said it doesn't come through clearly.

Teeth is, if nothing else, an original movie and at times thought proking and I respect that about it, in a genre where most comedy slash horrors are copies of each other. Just don't expect everyone to like it and don't expect to feel particularly satisfied at its conclusion.

Playing into the male fear of castration is what adds the horror element into the movie. I would argue that the premise alone makes this movie worth seeing. Although the film doesn't take itself too seriously (which is a good thing in my opinion) it still explores the idea of sexual freedom for women as having vangina dentata would make women immune to sexual abuse. As near the end of the movie Dawn realizes that what she thought was a curse can be gift as well. In short; it is a good horror movie with a side of dark humor that explores the themes of chastity, sexual abuse and pubenscence.

The trend of imbuing horror films with a quirky sense of irony cribbed from the hell that is adolescence (think "Ghost World" with gore) may have finally run out of steam with "Teeth," a moderately impressive (though unspectacular) yet overly precious and self-aware stab at subverting the genre's gender roles. Writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein's concept (a puritanical virgin who grows up next to a nuclear power plant discovers a mean set of incisors below the waist when her sexuality blooms) is intriguing, and some of the film's best moments possess a surreal quality that almost transforms the material into a metaphorical extension of Dawn's (Jess Weixler) awkward adjustment to womanhood. While much has been written about gender roles in the horror genre, "Teeth" cleverly manages to have its cake and eat it, too: Dawn is treated as a haplessly naive girl by every male she encounters; the males are predatory, would-be rapists. In films like "I Spit On Your Grave" and "Ms. 45," the female victims recover to enact revenge in an extreme manner--"Teeth" playfully subverts Freud's notion of "penis envy" by transforming male genitalia into a literal kiss of death; Dawn's encounters (while tinged with a sometimes groan-inducing, "Clueless"-styled humor) eventually contribute to her growth and maturity as a woman, to the point where she finally becomes master of her domain. While not great, "Teeth" is a worthwhile little sleeper with some food for thought.