Teeth

I bought this used from a local store after finding out it wasn't available to rent. The story line sounded interesting. It turns out to be almost rookie-level filming, thin story line, vague insinuations (like them living near a prominently shown nuclear power plant), and then the obligatory boob shot of a teenager. Almost as scary as an infomercial, I'm glad I only spent $5.

Finally someone got the courage to make a film about such an unusual subject: a girl with a toothed vagina. And interestingly enough, almost everything on this movie seems to click.

Dawn is a girl living in a small town (close to a nuclear power plant). She is a virgin and just met this guy who seems perfect. Until one day he tries to rape her and... Terrified with the episode, Dawn goes to a gynecologist who feels she is just an ignorant teenager and decides to abuse her. Bad move. As Dawn learns more and more about herself and her sexuality, she discovers she is unique... and no one will take advantage of her.

The screenplay is beautifully written and the acting is superb. Every character here shows a superior casting work.

But the most interesting element in this film is the clear critique to the blind puritanism and ignorance found in some parts of America. It is not by mere chance that Dawn belongs to those movements who advocate celibacy (using a red ring on her finger)... or that a simple model of the female reproductive system on a school book is covered by a large sticker by determination of the school board... or that some students mock the example of evolutionism given by the teacher...

So Dawn goes from incident to incident while trying to understand herself and her sexuality... until she fully realizes all the idiocy and hypocrisy of world full of people who are even freakier than her.

A truly unique film with a beautiful message.

This movie is more comedy then horror in my eyes. Seeing the previews months before hand I couldn't wait to grab hold of this and thanks to my Amazon friends who had already watched and rated this reminded me how anxious I wanted to see this. If films couldn't get any more bizarre imagine a strain of VD so powerful that one encounter with a carrier essentially kills you. The rub is that in this case, VD stands not for venereal disease but rather for the Latin " vagina dentata," e.g. "toothed vagina." If Russ Meyer had made this film, it would have been called Faster, Pussy! Kill! Kill! As it stands, the only real precursor to Teeth is a 2003 low-budget British comedy-horror film with the unlikely title of Penetration Angst.

That's certainly what some male viewers may feel after watching Teeth. The three main scenes of phallus interruptus leave nothing to the imagination and give a whole new meaning to the porn industry term `money shot.' Taken together, they add up to an experience that is tantamount to the "anti-date movie." Seriously, even if a female companion was hot to trot after the show, it's likely her male movie going pal would be too freaked out by all the slicing and dicing to take her up on it.

Unlike Fiona Horsey, the talented newcomer who has done nothing of note since the aforementioned Penetration Angst, the Juilliard grad star of Teeth, Jess Weixler, is already headed for bigger things. By sheer coincidence, today is the day casting was confirmed for the movie version of Peter and Vandy, Jay DiPietro's adaptation of his popular 2002 play of the same name. DiPietro co-starred as Peter, but in this case it's Jason Ritter who will have the honors opposite Weixler.

Teeth is very much a cult movie, a horror comedy to be devoured by thrill seeking genre fans. It's likely that Peter and Vandy will be more the kind of movie that really introduces Weixler to a wide audience, making good on the promise of her Special Jury Prize at last year's Sundance Film Festival ("For a juicy and jaw-dropping performance"). Still, her fearlessness in Teeth is to be commended. She dives into the role with abandon and is even willing for the sake of the film to do a revealing topless scene in this, her first major movie role.

Most people will know Weixler from a MasterCard TV commercial in which she plays a gal with a new job who, a la Mary Tyler Moore, skips about town while flaunting its features. The way things are taking shape, this Louisville, Kentucky native's real life debit account may also soon have her brimming with uptown energy.

Usually during a horror flick the ladies are the ones to squirm but it is quite the contrary in our title feature "Teeth." This film is probably the most unique we've seen in ages. It explores the ancient myth of vagina dentata that was found in several ancient cultures. The way this myth goes is that certain woman have teeth in the vagina which will bite off the manhood of all suitors until a hero comes to conquer the inner beast, turning her into a normal woman. Yeah if your a guy this is by far the scariest horror concept ever created. We'd rather take on Michael Myers and any killer/creature out there instead of going to battle with vagina dentata. The film takes a modern day twist on the myth making it a very entertaining yet horrific experience.

The film starts off with a couple of young kids sitting in a swimming pool. Their parents will soon be married and they will become brother and sister despite the young boys crap attitude towards it. This kid is a total perv and shows the little girl captain winky which then is followed by him screaming. The parents come running out to find the young boys finger deeply sliced up and bleeding. Now we jump to the teenage years and the girl (Dawn) is the leader of a local chastity group. She speaks to kids telling them the importance of saving themselves for marriage. The step brother (Brad) on the other hand is even worse of a perv and now a total drug machine whose sole purpose in life is to nail Dawn, who is his stepsister. Yeah we're thinking this one took place in the midwest. As Dawn leads her group she winds up meeting a Hale Appleman who shares her same views of self preservation. They wind up hitting it off and decide to take a swim down at a local lake. As their swiming they start making out which sends Hale's harmones through the roof. This kid seems so backed up that he's about to explode at any minute, which he soon tries to. He winds up making a move on Dawn and gets shut down. After being shut down he decides it time for some raping and forces himself in her. Now ideally we were hoping Chris Hansen would come out of the cave and read him his computer transcript and then send him on his way to be tackled by a group of cops but instead we have something much worse. Hale enrages the beast within Dawn and gets his manhood chomped off in one of the most disturbing scenes ever.

Now Dawn is so freaked out that she does some research online finding out about the Dentata myth. She isn't sure if thats what she has and decides to go to the gyno for a check up. Sure enough she finds out she does have it once her vagin bites off four of the doctors fingers. Now the poor girl is really screwed up. She has been restraining herself from sex for years and now she founds out anything that goes near her gets ripped to shreds. She had to wonder if she was going to wind up like the 40 year old virgin. She doesn't know who to turn to and decided the only person she can trust is some d bag she knows from school. Once she's over his house he gets her loaded and gets it on with her vowing he will conquer the beast, and does. He gets through the sexy time and keeps his goods in tact. As they go for it again he answers the phone telling his friend he nailed her as part of the bet. Yeah he went for her as part of a bet seeing if he could uncork her. She gets furious and has unleashes the dentata on him taking half his genitals. Now that she realizes she can take charge of her curse she goes to payback her perv step brother by seducing him and biting his wang off too.

In the end she seems to realize it's not all that bad since she can get the ultimate revenge on any guy that tries to take advantage of her. It was definately an experience for us. The film wasn't scary but the idea of this actually happening is one horrific thought. This one definately comes with a decent recommendation from us promising it will be different from anything you've seen before.

OK, now the idea of dentata for me (a male) was of curiosity. Of course, like the cat that followed curiosity, I believe this movie provoked fear. I loved this film. I found the morbid curiosity that brought me to view the film, also pulled from me the feelings of the unknown toward women. I thought the piece was empowering for women, and the lead actor Jess Weixler is someone to watch for upcoming films. I wonder how someone could put this film in his or her resume, but I?m not an actor, just an author. If the idea of (Can't say here) dentata frightens you, don't watch this film. I though the violence was subtle in much the way things was implied without being shown. All the same, I still cringed with every sound effect. Also, I think I laughed the hardest when she finally seeks professional help. Sometimes in features where the monster is shown for exposition at the end of the film...this movie will not leave you wanting. I will be watching for more from this script writer and director.