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Teeth

 
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Teeth

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  • Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Horror
  • Movie Type: Horror Comedy, Sex Horror
  • Themes: Sexual Awakening, Innocence Lost
  • Main Cast: Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman, Ashley Springer
  • Release Year: 2007
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 94 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: R

Plot

A high-school student struggling to suppress her budding sexuality makes a startling discovery about her womanhood after becoming the victim of sexual violence in director Michael Lichtenstein's semi-surreal exploration of the vagina dentata myth. Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a proud virgin and the most active member of her local chastity group. Though she struggles with every ounce of her willpower to resist the pleasures of the flesh, Dawn finds her noble efforts to remain chaste repeatedly challenged by her disturbed stepbrother, Brad -- whose provocative advances are becoming increasingly difficult to resist. When Dawn is sexually assaulted and discovers that her vagina actually has teeth, she struggles to comprehend her anatomical anomaly while experiencing both the benefits and drawbacks of this strange new revelation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Review

Fans of Michael Lehmann's 1989 cult classic Heathers should do themselves a favor and seek out this slick little indie from first-time feature filmmaker Michael Lichtenstein, as this gruesomely charming tale of vagina dentata shares a similar satirical tone with that darkly comic tale of teen alienation. Of course, there are some key differences separating the two films, yet their approach to skewering teen trends and suburban morality binds them as cinematic siblings that share an uncannily similar comic sensibility. Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a prim and proper teen who's saving herself for marriage, and who openly preaches what she practices as the impassioned spokesperson for an organization that uses a ring to symbolize their vow of abstinence (think Promise Keepers). Her mother, Kim (Vivienne Benesch), married single father Bill (Lenny Von Dohlen) when Dawn was just a little girl, and there's always been a certain tension between Dawn and her psychotic stepbrother, Brad (John Hensley). When outwardly angelic teen Tobey (Hale Appleman) violates the virginal Dawn during what was supposed to be an innocent dip in the lake, the girl who treasured her vow of celibacy realizes just how different from her classmates she truly is.

Any film dealing with teen sexuality will court a fair amount of controversy by default -- add a girl with a killer vagina into the mix, and odds are good that any potential distributor will go running for the hills. Thankfully for fans of extreme cinema, Roadside Attractions and Dimension Extreme have seen fit to give the film a proper stateside release. In terms of horror, Teeth delivers the gory goods yet never wallows in excess, while in terms of comedy, it uses smart satire and gruesome sight gags to highlight the adult hysteria surrounding sex education, and the inherent dangers of forced ignorance regarding human sexuality. Weixler's performance as virtuous teen Dawn successfully highlights the script's satirical strengths as her unusual character arc toys playfully with the idea that she is some kind of female superhero gradually coming to terms with her unusual power, and co-star Appleman makes a demented impression as well. Also distinguishing the film is Paul Avery's smart but subtle production design, the local nuclear cooling towers at one point adorning Dawn's suburban ranch home like some garish symbol of middle-class social status. Addressing such complex and controversial issues is certainly no easy task -- especially for a modestly budgeted independent such as Teeth -- yet thanks to his love for classic monster movies and his smart skills as a writer/director, Lichtenstein craftily manages to keep things relatively tasteful without necessarily playing it safe. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Cast

Vivienne Benesch - Kim (Dawn's Mother); Lenny Von Dohlen - Bill (Brad's Father); Nicole Swahn - Melanie (Brad's Girlfriend); Julia Garro - Gwen (Dawn's Friend); Adam Wagner - Phil (Dawn's Friend)

Credit

Tom Cole - Art Director, Richard Blue Lormand - Associate Producer, Suzanne Crowley - Casting, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Paul Schnee - Casting, Rita Ryack - Costume Designer, Kathleen Tull - First Assistant Director, Mitchell Lichtenstein - Director, Joe Landauer - Editor, Rick Chaplin - Line Producer, Robert Miller - Composer (Music Score), Beth Amy Rosenblatt - Musical Direction/Supervision, Paul Avery - Production Designer, Wolfgang Held - Cinematographer, Mitchell Lichtenstein - Producer, Joyce Pierpoline - Producer, Ben Lowry - Sound/Sound Designer, Mitchell Lichtenstein - Screenwriter, Lewis Goldstein - Supervising Sound Editor, David Briggs - Supervising Sound Editor, TexFX - Visual Effects, Sally Hamilton - Set Decorator

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Wikipedia: Teeth (film)
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Teeth

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein
Produced by Mitchell Lichtenstein
Joyce Pierpoline
Written by Mitchell Lichtenstein
Starring Jess Weixler
Hale Appleman
John Hensley
Music by Robert Miller
Cinematography Wolfgang Held
Editing by Joe Landauer
Distributed by Roadside Attractions
Release date(s) Sundance Film Festival
January 19, 2007
United States limited
January 18, 2008
Running time 94 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2 million
Gross revenue $2,323,612

Teeth is a 2007 horror-black comedy film written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, about a teenage girl who has teeth in her vagina. It premiered January 19, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival in the independent drama category. It was released on DVD in the United States on May 6, 2008, by Dimension Extreme.

Contents

Plot

Dawn O’Keefe (Jess Weixler) is a teenage spokesperson for a Christian Abstinence group called The Promise. She attends groups with her two friends, Gwen (Julia Garro) and Phil (Adam Wagner). One evening after giving her speech talking about the purity ring those in the group wear and what it means, she is introduced to Tobey (Hale Appleman) and finds him attractive.

The four begin going out as a group, and Dawn has fantasies of marrying Tobey, although after acknowledging the attraction they agree that they cannot spend time together. Soon after they give in and meet at a local swimming hole. After swimming together, they go in to a cave to get warm and begin kissing. Tobey then forces himself on Dawn; in the panic her vagina bites off his penis. Horrified, he stumbles away and she flees the scene. After a Promise meeting, she meets her classmate Ryan (Ashley Springer) at a dance; they talk, and he drops her off at her home.

Dawn researches Vagina dentata and realizes she may have it, then she visits a gynaecologist, Dr. Godfrey (Josh Pais), in an attempt to find out what is happening to her. Finding out that she is a virgin, he attempts to take advantage of her by saying he is performing a test, when what he is really doing is molesting her. She panics, and her vagina bites off the fingers on his right hand. He screams “vagina dentata” in his pain. On her way back, she sees someone driving in Tobey's car, and she goes back to visit the pool. When she gets there she sees the police bringing up Tobey's body. At home, her ill mother, Kim O'Keefe (Vivienne Benesch), collapses, while Dawn's stepbrother, Brad (John Hensley), and his girlfriend, Melanie (Nicole Swahn), continue to have sex while she lies on the floor. Kim is taken to the hospital.

She goes to Ryan, seeking help for no one else will listen to her. The two successfully have sex. The following morning they have sex again, but mid-coitus Ryan’s friend calls, and Dawn learns that he had a wager on having sex with her. In her anger, her vagina bites off his penis, and she leaves him to call his mother for help.

Dawn learns her mother has died, and after her stepfather, Bill (Lenny Von Dohlen), attempts to throw Brad out, Brad sets his dog on Bill. Dawn meets her stepfather and Melanie at the hospital, and emboldened by her power, she goes back home to seek revenge. Dawn puts on make-up and goes to her stepbrother, and they engage in sex. In the middle of the act, Brad recalls when he was younger and his finger was bitten by Dawn, that it wasn’t her mouth that bit him. As he realizes this, Dawn’s vagina bites off his penis. She releases it on the ground, and Brad’s dog eats it, spitting out the glans and Prince Albert piercing. Dawn leaves him to bleed to death.

Dawn cycles away from home, but her bike sustains a puncture, so she begins hitchhiking. She gets a lift from an old man (Doyle Carter), but when she reaches the next gas station and tries to get out, he locks the doors. He licks his lips as if to ask for a sexual favor to release her; Dawn hesitates, and then looks towards the camera with a seductive smile.

Cast

Release

The film premiered January 19, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

It was also shown at the

It opened in limited release in the United States on January 18, 2008.[1] The film was released on DVD on May 6, 2008.

Critical reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 81% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 59 reviews — with the consensus that the film is "smart, original, and horrifically funny."[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 57 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.[3]

Sundance

Reaction from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival was positive, with Cinematical critic Scott Weinberg saying, "Teeth is precisely the sort of genre movie that we need to see more of."[4] Adrienne Shelly Foundation artistic director Mystelle Brabbée declared it "one of the most talked-about films at the Sundance Film Festival this year".[5]

Jess Weixler won the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Performance (and tied with Tamara Podemski from the film Four Sheets to the Wind).[6]

Additional awards

Weixler and Hensley were honored at Spike TV's 2008 Scream Awards. The pair won the award for "Most Memorable Mutilation" for "Penis Bitten Off By Vagina With Teeth"

References

  1. ^ "Teeth (2007/I) - Release dates". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780622/releaseinfo. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 
  2. ^ "Teeth - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/teeth/. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
  3. ^ "Teeth (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/teeth. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
  4. ^ "Sundance Review: Teeth". Cinematical. 2007-01-21. http://www.cinematical.com/2007/01/21/sundance-review-teeth/. Retrieved 2007-01-24. 
  5. ^ Burnham, Gabriella (2007-11-04). "2007 Film Festival focus centers on female screenwriters". The Inquirer and Mirror. http://www.ack.net/femalescreen060707.html. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  6. ^ "2007 Sundance Film Festival award winners". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2007-01-28. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5105046. Retrieved 2007-01-28. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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