Review of Teeth (2000) by Noel N — 13 Jun 2011

I'm surprised about all the mediocre reviews this film is getting here because I think that 'Teeth' is one of the most original horror movies I've seen lately. It's feminist without being preachy, it's funny without being ridiculous and it's violent without being torture porn.

'Teeth' is about an innocent teenagerl named Dawn, who is a member of a chastity group aimed at getting teenagers to wait until marriage. She is immediately enamoured by a handsome student named Toby who appears to want the same thing, but breaks his promise when he attempts to rape her. When he does this, Dawn realises that she has teeth down there. While she is initially horrified, she then realises that her rare condition can be used to her advantage.

This film went right where a lot of Hollywood films went wrong. All of the characters look like normal people, with regular clothes and skin that isn't flawless. I'm also glad to see that the director Mitchell Lichtenstein was more interested in casting actors who could do the job rather than Hollywood stars. Jess Weixler for example, was fantastic as Dawn. She really captured her evolution from a chaste wallflower into an empowered heroine.

As I mentioned, this is a very feminist movie. It's based on the classic vagina dentata myth, but also deals with the double standard regarding sexual abuse. Men are able to use their bodies as weapons to rape women, but Dawn in this movie is able to do the same thing with her teeth.

While I did love the feminist message, I did have a problem with the way the men were portrayed in the film. They could've at least had one guy who was good, but all of them were arseholes. I was especially disappointed with how even the doctor was fondling her inappropriately. That scene struck me as really unrealistic because seriously, a doctor wouldn't act like that! For me, the most interesting male character in the movie was Brad, but even he was an arsehole too.

Oh well, the rest of the movie was still awesome.