One of the discoveries of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, director Mitchell Lichtenstein’s audacious feature debut is a jaw-dropping black comedy about the vagina dentate myth. High school student Dawn (the remarkable Jess Weixler, who deservedly won the Best Actress prize at Sundance) works hard at suppressing her budding sexuality by being the most active member of the local chastity group. A stranger to her own body, the truly innocent Dawn discovers she has a toothed vagina when she becomes involved with a boy. Lichtenstein’s film emerges as part horror film, part moral fable and part outrageous assault on male vulnerability and fear. ‘I hate movies in which women are merely victimised,’ says Lichtenstein. ‘I very deliberately made certain Dawn stayed clean of blood in Teeth. That said, I still think there are a few scenes which will satisfy gore fans. If you don’t cover your eyes, you’ll see cut-off penises.’
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ALL THE LITTLE THINGS