Teeth

It’s hard to shock a modern-day audience, but Teeth had packed houses at Sundance eliciting full-throttle screams in unison. It is one of the few non-pornographic movies that examines the power of the vagina, and dares to pose the question, “What if the vagina was no longer the most vulnerable part of a woman’s body, but her greatest weapon?” Sweet-faced teenager Dawn is saving herself for marriage, but when she attracts a series of sexual predators she discovers that she possesses an ancient and mythic addition to her anatomy: the Latin vagina dentata. Homegirl has girl has teeth in her vagina. We get to watch as Dawn evolves from a puritanical Jesus-loving virgin to a third-wave neo-feminist, using her femininity (and vagina) as a weapon against those who would harm her. Since, statistically speaking, most women will attract a sexual predator in their lifetimes, it seems that Lichtenstein (the son of famed pop artist Roy Lichtenstein) has filmed a veritable revenge tale on the behalf of the “other” gender. Oscillating between uproarious comedy and violent slasher film (depending on the severity of individual castration fears) Teeth takes itself very seriously: it is rumored that when Lichtenstein was shooting on location in Austin, TX he maintained a sober tone throughout production, never letting the crew know they were working on a comedy. This dead-pan seriousness shines through with blinding hilarity, and while BananaWho highly recommends this indie, Teeth is not for the faint of heart.
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Writer: Mitchell Lichtenstein