Teeth has bite, leaves mark

Wow, a film about vagina dentata. The myth of a sex organ with teeth sounds like perfect fodder for a horror film, a genre that constantly plays with cautionary themes. Here the message gets a twist by having high school student Dawn (Jess Weixler) trying to organize her classmates towards abstinence friendly afternoons (no R-rated films) while fighting off certain impulses common to all teenagers.
This is an interesting myth on its own but Teeth takes it into contemporary areas which give relevance to the idea. In all fairness the trashiness of the other characters - cruel schoolmates, perverted brother - make Dawn a very sympathetic character, even if her, ah, malady makes her a freak. When Dawn attempts to masturbate in her bed she freezes and recalls the giant ant from the movie Them, its mouth a gaping orifice ablaze with sharp teeth. And when the love twitch dominates even Dawn can't resist, but will her newfound abilities lead her to go on a dick-cutting-off rampage at the expense of her innocence?
When the horror moments come they pay off - just what you'd think given the subject matter. The various cutting sounds in Teeth are worthy of foley honors. In many ways Teeth has some of the strongest castration imagery in a horror film since the Exorcist, you know that devil film about male fear of female puberty. But the scares aren't laugh proof and they also lean away from the torture type inflictions used by lesser films (think Saw IV, Hostel II). Teeth will click with smart femmes, submissive dudes and horror fans. The film may not be a grand monster movie like The Mist or Cloverfield, actually more of a lark along the lines of Black Sheep. Make a sacred promise and see Teeth in it's exclusive run at the downtown Angelika starting this Friday.