Teeth 2008

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Teenage horror-movie spoof, John Waters parody, No Nukes protest movie: Mitchell Lichtenstein's clever, crude comedy, Teeth is all these and more. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: In Teeth, Mitchell Lichtenstein makes the old v.d. the centerpiece of a gory female-revenge black comedy. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: There's no scarier myth for males, and [director] Lichtenstein turns various images of emasculation into a black comedy that flirts, fairly tediously, with pornography. Read more

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times: [The] castration scenes aren't nearly as excruciating as his awkward timing and worse-than-obvious pacing. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: As amateurishly made as it is, Teeth runs on a kind of angry distrust toward boys. Read more

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune: Given how thoroughly all the subtext spells out the message, then, it seems unnecessary to make the actual text so raw, grotesque and graphic. Granted, a horror movie about vagina dentata was probably never destined to be tasteful, but Lichtenstein's comp Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein is onto something really fresh in his feature debut, flipping a graphic warning for men into an empowering fable for women. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Every time the scary music kicks in and another dumb male clutches his crotch, the theater bursts into uncertain giggles like a needed release Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: Campy, shameless and sophisticated, Lichtenstein's debut is gutsy and original. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: The gratuitous and often overly garish mayhem is made more palatable by the assured comedic turn by Weixler. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Actor turned writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein has bitten into one of the oldest myths in human folklore with Teeth, an imaginatively demented horror-comedy. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Debuting director Mitchell (son of Roy) Litchtenstein creates a lot of dread but not a consistent tone. Read more

Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times: Whether you view it as a primordial image from the collective unconscious or a practical warning against promiscuity, vagina dentata makes an indubitably memorable impression -- and an ideal premise for a tongue-in-cheek teen horror movie. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: After Dawn comes to understand her remarkable genital gift, it's pretty much one can-you-top-this gross-out scene after another. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: The picture is unfocused and indistinct; there's a noncommittal quality to the filmmaking. Teeth hinges on one strong idea but doesn't know quite where to take it, wobbling awkwardly between going for laughs and making its semi-delineated points. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Extremely funny, very clever and still packs some cover-your-face bloody thrills that top any Saw or Hostel movie. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's definitely not for Aunt Minnie, but cult movie mavens will appreciate director Mitchell Lichtenstein's willingness to push the boundaries of bad taste. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: I'm not sure I've ever seen rape, incest or abuse dealt with so vapidly. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: A game, disarming lead performance from Jess Weixler, who won a jury acting prize at Sundance, goes some way toward making palatable this mish-mash. Read more

Jim Ridley, Village Voice: Credit writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein with making a first feature that every man in America will watch with his legs crossed. Read more