2007’sTeethwas a bloody, hilarious ride that left audiences hungry for more. The horror-comedy follows chaste, religious teen Dawn O’Keefe (Jess Weixler) as she discovers a dark secret lurking beneath the belt—she has a condition known asvagina dentata,rows of sharp teeth lining the walls of her vagina.Teethquickly became acult classic, and in the 15 years since its release, there still hasn’t been another film quite like it.
Speaking with Alternative Press following the 15th anniversary of the film’s release at the Sundance Film Festival, director Mitchell Lichtenstein shared that it was initially difficult to get anyone to bite at his script forTeeth—a script that his manager told him to “never show to anyone.”
Though the myth of vagina dentata predatesTeethby millennia, appearing in folklore in different cultures across the globe and even appearing disguised in other media, Lichtenstein says that his film is different in its direct approach to the myth’s absurdity.
“Versions of the myth appear in many cultures throughout the world. And it sneaks, disguised, into popular culture. Just one of many examples is the female monster inAliensthat, with its well-lubricated teeth, has been described as a vagina dentata figure. It seemed to me that by disguising the myth in popular culture, we’re perpetuating it, but if we showed it directly, we’d expose the absurdity of it—the absurdity of men ascribing this attribute to women,” he said.
Lichtenstein adds that the myth says “very little about women,” but speaks volumes about men and the acts that would necessitate such a myth in the first place.
Lichtenstein Says Dawn’sTeethare Essentially a Superpower
While the vagina dentata myth has dark roots, Lichtenstein sees it as a vengeful reclamation of power and bodily autonomy—a superpower of sorts. Dawn herself learns this lesson when a boy (Hale Appleman) tries to rape her, only to have her body fight back in ways she never knew it could.
“I always thought of Dawn’s teeth as a superpower, and her journey with them follows the same arc as most superhero origin stories. First unaware that they have the power, then horrified by it, then learning its rules, then accepting it, and finally perhaps reveling in it,” the director explained.
Lichtenstein compared Dawn to another vengeful heroine—albeit a less-discerning one.
“If you look at [Brian] de Palma’sCarrie, which I consider to be a superhero movie, it’s pretty much the same arc, minus the indiscriminate slaughter at the end. Dawn will only use her superpower against those deserving of it.”
Check out Lichtenstein’s full interview with Alternative Presson their site;Teethis now available to stream on Paramount+.
