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Teeth (2007 film)

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Teeth
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMitchell Lichtenstein
Written byMitchell Lichtenstein
Produced byRichard E. Chapla Jr.
Mitchell Lichtenstein
Joyce M. Pierpoline
StarringJess Weixler
Hale Appleman
John Hensley
CinematographyWolfgang Held
Edited byJoe Landauer
Music byRobert Miller
Distributed byRoadside Attractions
Release dates
January 19, 2007 (Sundance)
January 18, 2008
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,000,000
Box office$1,875,335

Teeth is a horror-black comedy film written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, about a 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 US on May 6 2008 by Dimension Extreme.

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 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. She flees the scene, leaving him to bleed out. After a Promise meeting, she meets her classmate Ryan (Ashley Springer) at a dance, they talk and he drops her off home.

Dawn researches Vagina dentata and realizes she may have it and then 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, but Dawn's step-brother, Brad (John Hensley) and his girlfriend Melanie (Nicole Swahn) continue to have sex while she lies on the floor. Kim is taken to hospital.

She goes to Ryan and 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 step-father Bill O'Keefe (Lenny Von Dohlen) attempts to throw Brad out he sets his dog on him. Dawn meets her step-father and Melanie at the hospital and emboldened by her power she goes back home to seek revenge. Dawn admits her feelings for her step-brother and they engage in sex. In the middle of the act Brad recalls when he was younger and being bitten on the finger by Dawn, he remembers 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 out.

Dawn cycles away from home, but her bike sustains a puncture so she begins hitch hiking. 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 looks towards camera and gives a kinky 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. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  2. ^ "Teeth - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  3. ^ "Teeth (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  4. ^ "Sundance Review: Teeth". Cinematical. 2007-01-21. Retrieved 2007-01-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Burnham, Gabriella (2007-11-04). "2007 Film Festival focus centers on female screenwriters". The Inquirer and Mirror. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  6. ^ "2007 Sundance Film Festival award winners". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2007-01-28. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
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