TEETH: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a pretty but prim high school virgin who unknowingly has a set of mutant teeth between her legs. When supposedly likeminded boyfriend Toby (Hale Appleman) forces himself upon her, Dawn's vagina dentata start chomping - which is just the beginning. Caught between her emerging sexuality and a host of oversexed young men, including her twisted half-brother Brad (John Hensley), Dawn eventually gives in to her freakish powers.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
The poster for the film, with Dawn (Jess Weixler) relaxing peacefully in a bath up to her chin in soft bubbles is an in-joke - which we aall get after seeing the movie. The bubbles floating serenely on the water hide a male horror nightmare: vagina dentata, or vagina with teeth if you're Latin-challenged. This much we know from the synopsis, but what sort of a movie can you maker about that, you ask.

Well, the sort that begins with a charming scenario somewhere in middle America, where college kids are walking hormone factories. The only ugly sight is the twin towers of an industrial complex belching smoke. Could this have helped create the mutation that Dawn carries between her legs? Mitchell Lichtenstein has made Dawn the champion of virginity at her school, an ironic device to heighten the dramatic payload. When Dawn puts herself in a dicky situation at an idyllic, romantic spot with Toby (Hale Appleman), they both get the shock of their lives when the dentata take revenge.

The shocked Dawn, confused and unsure of her own body, tentatively visits a gynaecologist for check up, where the unsuspecting doctor annoys those dentata and again, reality bites hard.

The tone of the film wavers between satire and horror-comedy, but that doesn't diminish the entertainment value of what plays like a tongue in cheek celebration of a woman who turns her imperfection into empowerment.

The DVD includes a Behind the Scenes featurette (about 30 minutes) with cast and crew interviews, where we hear that the filmmakers wanted the chewy bits realistic - but on the gory side.

Published August 7, 2008