Teeth

The premise alone can speak for the originality of the movie. Most audiences will be rushing to this film out of sheer curiosity, I know I did. While this movie is graphic, the conflicting tones of horror and comedy give it a playfulness and a freshness that any true movie-lover could appreciate. Now, its not by any means the best movie ever or the funniest or most horrific but it shines its light. The story and characters are all cheesy/campy but thats what gives this movie its charm. Its almost like whats going on is so absurd and awful and awkward you have no choice but to laugh! I don't recommend this film to the faint of heart but if you are in the mood for something new and will keep you talking for weeks, then I say this is the film for you. If anything, just to say you saw it is quite enough for most people. Women, you'll appreciate it more than you think. Men, you'll be more careful out there in the real world.

This is an independent film that has not one actor or actress I have ever heard of, but, wow, is it original! The characters don't even have last names in their credits. They are just Dawn, Tobey, Bill, etc.

Dawn is a high school girl who has taken a pledge of chastity until marriage. She is a classical beauty, a rather Scandinavian looking girl. She has a wastoid of a stepbrother (her stepdad's son) who spends his time sleeping, having rampant casual sex with a slew of girls, and keeping a "pet" attack dog in a cage in his room.

Well, unfortunately, Dawn's first sexual experience, with a boy who seems so nice and so sweet on her, turns into assault with devastating effects on the boy, that being death. Dawn is at first horrified by what has happened, does some internet research, and realizes she has "teeth" down there. At first she feels like this is some kind of punishment, some kind of chastity belt, but then she realizes that these teeth only attack when she feels violated. As she learns to control these "teeth" she begins to feel empowered. And although the journey is unpredictable, the destination is entirely predictable from about a quarter of the way into the film. That's the reason I don't give it an eight.

There is not an over abundance of gore, just enough so that you see what happened. I will say the film does have men coming off as very opportunistic, either that or Dawn is the unluckiest girl in the history of the world. And the film has one quirky gimmick. Throughout the film you see two towers of a nuclear power plant. The assumption you might make is that Dawn has this physical feature from growing up in the plant's shadow. But not one word is ever spoken about it. That's what makes it great. The film doesn't lecture you about anything that happens here. It just tells a story and leaves the viewer to draw their own conclusions, and it really works as a dark comedy/horror combo. I'd recommend it.

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.

A new evolution of horror as arrived with the new film, Teeth. Teeth tells the story of Dawn O'Keefe (Jess Weixler), a young abstinent teenager who comes to find out that her "family jewels" are much more special than everyone else's; her vagina has teeth. When she comes to realize her "differences" she starts to battle with her sexuality and wanting to act on her impulses.

This has definitely revolutionized the horror genre along with some awkward comedy, Teeth holds interest for the viewer throughout. From a woman's perspective I'm not sure how the film would be received, but from a man, to put it plainly simple, it scares the ever living crap out of me. The film holds nothing to the imagination as it shows the most graphic images I've seen on film in quite sometime.

Other than graphic imagery, the storyline isn't as strong as images. There's no flow to the story and pretty random at times as it conquers the steps of gross and unfortunate adolescence. The performances are enough to suffice but its John Hensley who plays Brad, Dawn's perverted step-brother who wants to take his sister's virginity that stands out. Young Dawn takes on some new attitudes throughout the film and Weixler attends to her with grace and ease.

Not sure if this is a must-see for people, but it compares to The Matrix scenario when Morpheus presents the red pill and the blue pill. You can take the blue pill, the dream ends and you can believe whatever you want to believe; you take the red pill, you get to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

**½ /****

This movie is like a crossover between a feminine horror story and a black comedy, better yet satire. Teeth succeeds because it doesn't take itself too seriously and it gives as well fleshed out characters. The lead actress is an amazing find. She knows exactly what to do with her character and how far she can go with it. She is believable from start to finish. I wouldn't recommend this movie to people with high morals, because you do get to see a lot of 'genital gore' in the movie. Just look at the plot keywords, if one of the things bothers you this movie isn't for you. All in all this movie is for people who like to see something different for achange, not that manufactured sh!i from Hollywood these days. If you don't take this film too seriously and you have a good sense of humor, this movie is a must see for you. I give it 7/10 because the ending is not that good and IMO it could have been longer.