After Dark Horrorfest's DVD edition of TOOTH & NAIL(2008).
© Lionsgate

Mania Grade: C+
Title: Tooth & Nail
Rating: R
Starring: Michael Madsen, Rachel Miner, Robert Carradine, Vinnie Jones, Rider Strong
Written By: Mark Young
Directed By: Mark Young
Distributor: Lionsgate
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: Miss Horrorfest Webisodes

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TOOTH & NAIL

In an opening prologue, were told that the end of the world didn’t come about due to war, global warming, or other catastrophe. We simply ran out of gas. As a result, two-thirds of the world’s population is dead. Of course, we’d still be talking about two billion people still living in the world so were not exactly talking about the apocalypse here. Since there’s no oil to heat homes, most people in the U.S. have migrated south, leaving only some hearty stragglers to survive however they can. Darwin (Robert Carradine) leads a group of survivors. They’ve taken refuge in a large Philadelphia hospital and go out scavenging for food. On one of these outings they find an unconscious woman and bring her back to the hospital for safety.

For reasons which are never explained, all of these survivors are named after cars. I guess that’s supposed to be ironic in some ways since Detroit gas guzzlers are largely blamed for the gas running out. There’s Viper, Dakota, Ford, Torino, Nova, etc…and the girl they find is named Neon (Rachel Miner). Now, ok, I suppose I can buy this group giving themselves all pet names but then why would this stranger also be named after a car model? Logic is not one of Tooth & Nail’s strong suits. Neon tells the group that she and her boyfriend were attacked by a group of cannibals called Rovers. When Darwin is killed, Neon becomes the group’s de-facto leader and I bet you can see this plot twist coming from a mile away. The Rovers begin to hunt the group at the hospital but, because they like their meat fresh, they only take one victim at a time. Gourmet cannibals, that’s gold!

As I said, logic is completely tossed out the window. As the Rovers come to hunt at night, led by Jackal (Michael Madsen) and Mongrel (Vinnie Jones) the survivors hide in the hospital. Now, this is a HUGE metropolitan hospital. From the exterior shots it looks to have at least eight to ten stories which means it has hundreds of rooms, yet the Rovers seem to have no problem finding their prey. It’s like they’re wearing Lojack devices. 

Madsen is listed as an Executive Producer which is why, I suppose, he’s in the film at all but his part is brief, lasting only a few minutes. Vinnie Jones is one of my favorite screen villains but he’s fairly wasted as well in his role. Miner starred in one of last year’s superior Horrorfest offerings Penny Dreadful and while she’s not nearly as good in this film, it is one of the better performances and she’s a very intriguing actress. Nicole DuPort also turns in a solid performance as the heroic Dakota.

Tooth & Nail is hard to qualify as a true horror film. It’s more of a thriller. The Rovers dress and act like barbarians, and are more influenced by other post-apocalyptic films such as The Road Warrior. Tooth & Nail isn’t a bad film, just annoying because it could have been so much better. Director/Writer Michael Young wanted to work on a large city scale but that left his story with far too many holes.

Extras

The only extras on the disc are some Miss Horrorfest webisodes and are only worth watching if you like to see Goth chicks acting like morons.

Tim Janson and Robert Trate will be bringing all 8 Films to Die For to Mania. Please check the site everyday for continuing coverage of After Dark’s Horrorfest.