Teeth (2007, USA)

Part of me is surprised that Teeth, or at least a movie about vagina dentata in any form, hadn't been made before, but the other part is kind of surprised it ever got made at all. A wicked little horror comedy, Teeth is anchored by the hilariously dorky Jess Weixler as Dawn, a high school abstinence advocate who preaches saving it until marriage to local teens. Then Dawn meets a fellow abstinence promise-maker who turns out to be a little less interested in keeping that promise than she is. In this unfortunate way, Dawn discovers that she has a surprise defense mechanism, much to her attacker's displeasure. From this point, Dawn tries to figure out what's happening her as the rest of her life simultaneously implodes.

Teeth feels like the perfect companion piece to Ginger Snaps, another horror film that focuses on the fear of budding female sexuality, though Ginger does it with a bit more metaphor. Teeth is also a sight funnier, particularly with its repeated use of certain imagery and Weixler's bemused performance. It's not perfectly satisfying - the movie moves a bit too fast through some of the plot developments, and one of Dawn's sexual encounters felt a bit problematic to me - but films like this one and Ginger are a welcome comment on the more traditional sex = death teen horror films.