Teeth review

Teeth
Starring Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais
Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein
Rated R (contains strong gory violence and disturbing sexual material, some language and drug use)
Score: ***1/2

Teeth is a new dark comedy/horror film that was in independent release a few months ago, and has now reached DVD.

This film contains mostly unknown actors and an unknown director. That doesn't get in the way of the film's odd charm.

We see Dawn, a young high schooler intent on saving her virginity until after marriage. She is pai9nfulyl oblivious, not only to her body, but alos to the people around her. But, when she meets a boy she likes, she finds it hard to resist her urges. Unfortunately, she also has a strange mutation know as Vagina Dentata- the toothed vagina.

Does that sound wierd to you? Well, it IS. But that is a major plus for this type of indie horror film. In fact, it's probably what saves this film from being completely average.

The film is entertaining, but not in the traditional sense. It's very interesting. The vagina dnetata myth has been around for a long time, but this is the first film I've seen or heard about that took the legend and put it into modern context. The movie has a lot of classic imagery and almost a mythical quality about it.

The character interactions and most of the dialog is good, but the acting could have been better, especially from lead actress Jess Weixler. She's a blossoming talent, that's for sure, but she stil needs some work.

The film's message is at best ambiguous. Is it a critique on religion? Is it about the opression of women in today's society? The mannerisms and the way the beliefs she holds to are presented paint a possibly offensive picture of the Christian religion, as such stalwarts as evolution vs. creation, women's place in the home, etc are brought up. But thankfully, the film doesn't really focus on it. In fact, God is barely, if not at all, mentioned in the film. It's more a critique on how society uses religion and other aspects to put boundaries on women.

I don't think it would be out of place to call this a feminist piece of art.

It's very gross at times. Horror officianados will be pleased, I guarantee it.

The negatives of this film...well, it's lacking in any real sense of enjoyment. Sure, it's got a few chuckles, and it's very interesting to watch, but it's very back and forth. It almost relies on the "indie" charm and the sheer uniqueness of the story to compensate for lack of structure and poor character development. Well, at leats poor development of the side characters.

The film is very short, too. It does come full circle, but the film just feels to short at 88 minutes.

Overall it's a solid rental and definitely a strong debut, but it isn't an amazing piece of work.