Review of Tooth and Nail

Going into Tooth and Nail, I was excited, Horrorfest is an opportunity to get away from the typical Hollywood narratives and enjoy some good old fashioned gore, and I have to say I was impressed with the first half of the film. It addresses a topic that is still untouched, in horror films at least, and is able to play off of human nature quite well. While the acting left something to be desired and the opening monologue made me want to scream, I was intrigued by the story and willing to go where the narrative took me. I was however disappointed at the Viking-like appearance of the cannibals, it was obvious from the start that they would not be the victors in this film. I also felt that it was all too predictable that Victoria would be rescued when she was captured, and then she would be the only one with the brains to overcome the obviously stupid cannibals, which she is able to do through the simple trick of not showing her drugging bodies. I felt that this ending was too much of a cop out. Her transformation into an "angel of death" is something common seen in the women who survive horror films, and I found myself rooting for the cannibals to overcome this tired convention.

This film had the potential to become something great but instead tripped and fell into the stereotypical ending of the horror genre, the Final Girl is able to overcome evil and escape into the world, bringing with her Nova, a child that represents hope for the future of mankind. It seems that the filmmakers were afraid to make a film that presented a truly bleak outlook for the future and instead chose to end the film in a typical Hollywood fashion.