Review: ‘Teeth’ on DVD

WARNING !!! For all the guys out there about to read this review, be forewarned that this movie may be psychologically difficult to watch …

Noted in an earlier post, Teeth was a hit during its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Now, its available on DVD. Jess Weixler plays Dawn, a prim and proper high school teen who cherishes her virginity and is applauded for speaking to younger students on behalf of saving themselves for marriage. She is courted by Tobey (Hale Appleman), who appears on the surface to be a kindred spirit. Then, when an opportunity arises, Tobey makes his move … bad move, Tobey.

Teeth, written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, is a very well-made movie that combines dark comedy with horror, maintains some suspense and delves into social commentary, some subtle and some, well … pretty darn obvious. Once Dawn learns of her “special” trait, she begins to do her research. She discovers she is representative of the myth the ancient Greeks (and many other ancient societies also have stories of) referred to as vagina dentata. Unclear on how that translates? Well, look it up …

Lichtenstein does actually elude to the cause of Dawn’s “mutation” through repeated visual hints, namely that Dawn’s house is situated surprisingly close to a nuclear power plant. However, Lichtenstein chose not to dwell on this topic, instead telling a cautionary tale about teen sexuality and the finer details of proper dating etiquette. The various male “victims” (I use that word carefully) in this movie do not heed this warning and therefor suffer the consequences. See, Dawn eventually learns that she has control. As a potential mate of Dawn’s, you can be assured safety … so long as you stay on her good side. Piss her off, well … something else comes off in return.

Teeth is a simple film at first glance, but is actually a remarkably well-made movie in retrospect. The structure of the film is that of your run-of-the-mill teen slasher film, but there’s no big bad killer. The story combines elements of a woman learning about her own sexuality, but also that of a woman who loses everything important to her and changes, leading her to seek a new life. I suspect Teeth will become the next addition to the infamous Cult Classics gallery of movies. The films also features John Henlsey as Dawn’s twisted step-brother, Josh Pais as Dawn’s perverted OB/GYN and Lenny von Dohlen as her step-father.

DVD Features:

• Audio Commentary by writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein
• Deleted Scenes (with optional director commentary)
• Trailer and a TV spot