Teeth

Horror Subgenre: VAGINA DENTATA!!

Severed Penis.

Those two words should instill horror in all men. What could be more frightening to a man than the thought of being separated from his baby maker? That’s the basic premise of Teeth, a horror movie that will not only have men crossing their legs, but maybe even empower a few women.

Teeth is part horror, part comedy, and all sorts of crazy. At the center of the movie is repressed do-gooder Dawn. She wears a promise ring and holds pro-abstinence functions at her school, a perfect model for young high school girls. When her boyfriend doesn’t understand No Means No, something inside Dawn is unleashed — and it’s got teeth. The movie is a cautionary tale of teenage sexual angst, manifested as teeth inside Dawn’s lady parts. As Dawn tries to understand her own body, the dead bodies start piling up in increasingly gruesome fashion.

Teeth combines several genres, starting off as a teen comedy satire, then jumping the rails into horror territory until finally settling on the revenge genre. It sounds schizophrenic, and it is, but each genre is effective, and Jess Weixler is so strong in the lead role, you’ll have no problem going along for the ride. Seeing Dawn discover and harness her power is an interesting, and unsettling, journey with enough blood to satisfy gorehounds, enough female power to satisfy message-seekers, and enough detached penises to put a dildo factory out of business.

MUST-SEE MOMENT: When Dawn finally embraces her sexual power and unleashes it on her twisted brother, giving him a true taste of revenge and leaving the leftovers for the family pet.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Film, Horror Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.