Teeth

I’m a little conflicted about Teeth. The premise was right up my alley; a teenage girl discovers (sorry if this is a SPOILER, but it’s the whole point of the film) that her vagina has teeth. That is to say, I thought it sounded unique and funny, and it piqued my interest.

I finally got around to watching it and I’m not quite sure what I think. It starts off like any teen drama might, with a girl who likes a boy. Not an awful lot happens for ages, as we follow Dawn while she wrestles with her conscience; her vow of chastity weighs heavy on her mind now that there’s a boy she has the mega hots for.  Given the premise of the film, you might be able to imagine where things go from here so I’ll try not to deliver more potential spoilers.

The thing I didn’t like about Teeth was how virtually every man or boy who appears on-screen wants to get into this poor girl’s knickers, and they don’t seem familiar with the phrase ‘no means no’.  It gets rapey several times and I found that this made for very uncomfortable viewing.  But then, I suppose it makes sense, considering any action that takes place is dependent on Dawn being able to use her extra set of teeth. Still, though.

So, each time an aggressor pursues Dawn, he is taking his penis, and his life in his hands, and that is something we don’t see very often. Ultimately though, Dawn turns out to be a strong character, and unlike many films of this ilk, the protagonist matures due to the events that unfold, and by the end she’s a very different person.  That’s also something you don’t see very often in horror films.

Score: 7/10