Four out of
Five stars
Running time:
88 mins
Hugely enjoyable, blackly comic coming-of-age horror film with a superb script and a terrific lead performance from newcomer Jess Weixler.
What's it all about?
Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth stars Jess Weixler as clean-cut teenager Dawn, a leading light in her school's Promise Keepers movement who regularly urges her fellow students not to have sex until they're married. However, when her new crush attempts to date rape her, Dawn discovers that she has sharp teeth in her vagina and she's driven to a spot of self-exploration and self-discovery (no prizes for guessing what happens when she visits her sleazy gynaecologist).
Meanwhile, Dawn's ne'er-do-well half-brother Brad (John Hensley from Nip/Tuck, playing an equally messed-up character) is dealing with his own issues, following a traumatic I'll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours incident with Dawn when they were young.
The Good
Weixler is superb as Dawn and there's strong support from Hensley and a parade of well-cast supporting actors as Dawn's less-than-satisfactory suitors. Lichtenstein gets the tone exactly right, ensuring that the audience's screams and grimaces (of which there are several) are equally balanced with laughs.
Teeth would make a great double-bill with Ginger Snaps, in that both films are teen horror pics that use physical anomalies (werewolves / vaginal teeth) as metaphors for emerging womanhood / puberty. Similarly, the leads in both films get gradually, almost imperceptibly hotter on a scene-by-scene basis until they're drop-dead gorgeous by the end.
The Great
There are several excellent (and quite possibly traumatising) scenes and much credit is due to the production's special effects team, particularly in regard to the various prosthetics. There are also knowing nods several high school movies as well as the body-horror films of David Cronenberg.
Worth seeing?
In short, Teeth is a superbly written, blackly comic teen horror flick that works on several different levels. Highly recommended.