Dad: There's dinner, if you want a bite.
Dawn: I ate... thanks.

See here kids this is independent filmmaking at its core: originality, ingenuity, and a premise that can be explained in one sentence following a raucous laughter from audiences. "Teeth" is the antithesis of every coming of age romance you've ever seen with a twist of Tim Burton, and John Waters thrown in for good measure. Director Mitchell Lichenstein's controversial dark comedy is a strong contender for one of the best of 2008 featuring one of the most twisted comedies I've ever seen. Though it's heavily steeped in the horror genre, writer Lichtenstein doesn't just pose a concept that's potentially ridiculous, but he takes it and turns it into a rather surprising and brilliant allegory on sex, and evolution. Dawn is the next step of evolution with her infliction of Vagina Dentata, and she doesn't even know it.

In a town with a radioactive plant always present in the backdrop in every shot of the film, Dawn has taken the next step of evolution for women and doesn't quite know how to deal with it. Dawn is a very conservative Christian girl who aims to practice chastity and abides by "purity" by even hosting local seminars about abstinence. But one day after a rape attempt, she learns that she has an extra--ahem--asset to her body that serves as a defense she can't quite comprehend. "Teeth" is not only (technically) a horror and dark comedy, like every good film, it also is a commentary. It's about our constant fear of sex, and how we've demonized it to the point of transforming it into some disfiguring potentially deadly tool, instead of a natural form of human nature.

Lichtenstein gives this to those victimized and turns Dawn into an allegory for the desires of victims of sexual violence, someone for the girls to root for and think "I'd definitely like to have that." But while the prevalent social and political themes are present, Lichtenstein's opus isn't preachy, nor is it dark. It's actually quite funny in that some of the most unusual and absurd situations occur are prone to inspire hysterical laughter from the audience, male or female. From the confrontation at the swimming hole, to the utterly painful and hysterical incident at the local gynecologist, Lichtenstein's goal is to make us laugh at the misery, and cringe at the punishment. Jess Weixler (bearing a shocking resemblance to Kate Bosworth) gives a truly interesting performance with a varying degree emotions ranging from inherent shock to her situation, to downright confusion, and Dawn ends up a wonderfully layered protagonist we sympathize and root for. Though the source of her deformity is horrific to watch, the director wisely leaves the source of unfortunate asset ambiguous with hints at possible mythic sources, or perhaps environmental sources. At one point Dawn considers it a possible gift from god.

But the character of Dawn is never turned into a monster, a villain, or demented hero, she’s just someone who experiences a shocking coming of age and sexual awakening, and that’s what keeps “Teeth” a light and steadily paced crowd pleaser.

It's a revenge flick, it's a hysterical comedy, a twisted fantasy, a man hating tirade, and it's also one of the most original films of the last eight years. While it feels like something that would be played at a rally with man-hating feminists, it's still a well crafted clashing of sub-genres and themes that works to its advantage, making it an instant cult classic.

• The cave at the swimming hole looks like a mouth with teeth.