Night teeth | |
---|---|
Directed by | Adam Randall |
Written by | Brent Dillon |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Eben Bolter |
Edited by | Dominic Laperriere |
Music by | |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $21.7 million [1] |
Night Teeth is a 2021 American vampire thriller film directed by Adam Randall from a screenplay by Brent Dillon. The film stars Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Debby Ryan, Lucy Fry, Raul Castillo, Sydney Sweeney, Megan Fox, and Alfie Allen.
Night Teeth was released on October 20, 2021, by Netflix. [2] [3] The film received mixed reviews from critics.
The movie reveals that vampires have co-existed peacefully with humans for centuries, feeding only by consent.
Benny, a freelance chauffeur driving in place of his brother Jay, is hired by friends Blaire and Zoe to drive them to several popular Los Angeles nightclubs. Unbeknownst to him, the girls are both vampires, and Jay is secretly part of the human council charged with maintaining the peace between vampires and humans.
Victor, a wealthy vampire lord who has grown bored and discontented with his life, is planning to subvert the system by kidnapping Jay's girlfriend, breaking the truce with Boyle Heights. As Jay and his allies begin hunting down all of the vampires in Greater Los Angeles, Victor executes a plan to wipe out his fellow lords and seize power for himself while tasking Blaire and Zoe with creating as much chaos in the city as they can to distract the vampire hunters and peacekeepers.
When Benny drops the girls off at a hotel, he discovers that the hotel is actually a feeding ground for vampires and realizes what Blaire and Zoe are using him for. The girls threaten his life, but spare him so they can get to Jay. During a visit to one of their targets, the girls are trapped by vampire hunters, but Benny decides to help them escape and lets them hide at his home. Benny then learns that Victor has his brother, who lost to the vampire in hand-to-hand combat while trying to slay him.
Benny drops the girls off at the last location on their list and discovers that the home belongs to Victor. Blaire urges him to leave, but Benny refuses to abandon his brother. Inside the house, Benny finds several human prisoners being kept by the lord as "blood bags" for him to feed on, including Jay, but is captured by Victor while trying to free him. Victor and Zoe then threaten to kill him, leading Blaire to turn against Victor and Zoe, after realizing that she has feelings for Benny. In the struggle that follows, Zoe stabs Blaire and in retaliation, Benny remotely activates his brother's car, smashing a window and exposing sunlight which kills Zoe. Victor then attacks Benny using Jay as bait, and manages to bite Benny before Jay tackles him into sunlight, killing him. Benny soon transforms into a vampire and the brothers go their separate ways after Jay decides to start training as a professional vampire hunter and tells Benny that he expects him to fight by his side when the city plunges into chaos. Later that night, Benny meets Blaire for an evening out.
In August 2019, it was announced Adam Randall would direct the film from a screenplay by Brent Dillon, with Netflix distributing. [4] In February 2020, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Debby Ryan, Lucy Fry, Alfie Allen and Raúl Castillo joined the cast of the film. [5] In July 2020, Alexander Ludwig, Bryan Batt and Marlene Forte joined the cast of the film. [6]
Principal photography began in February 2020 in New Orleans and Los Angeles. [7] Later that year, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [8]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 38% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Night Teeth has a solid cast and some interesting ideas, but they're all lost in a listlessly told, generally predictable vampire story." [9] Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [10]
Meagan Navarro, writing for horror magazine Bloody Disgusting , gave the film two out of five stars, and said of the opening sequence that it "never really amount[s] to anything and sets the precedence for the film's anemic world-building", added that "what Night Teeth lacks in substance it makes up for in style", and concluded writing that "despite a likable lead and a constantly moving narrative, Night Teeth lacks bite" and labeled it as "predictable." [11]
Lucy Boynton is a British actress. Raised in London, she made her professional debut as the young Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter (2006). She appeared in television productions Ballet Shoes (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Mo (2010), making guest appearances on Lewis, Borgia, Endeavour, and Law & Order: UK. Boynton portrayed writer Angelica Garnett on Life in Squares, which aired on BBC. She appeared as an isolated popular girl in The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) and starred as a bold aspiring model in Sing Street (2016). She also appeared in horror films I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and Don't Knock Twice (2016).
Deborah Ann Ryan is an American actress and singer. She started acting professionally onstage at the age of seven, and was later discovered during Disney Channel's nationwide search for new talent. She had starring roles in the series The Suite Life on Deck (2008–2011), the film 16 Wishes (2010), the series Jessie (2011–2015), and the film Radio Rebel (2012). She also appeared in the drama film What If... (2010), the series Insatiable (2018–2019), the comedy films The Opening Act (2020) and Shortcomings (2023), the thriller film Night Teeth (2021), and the Jeff Baena films Horse Girl (2020) and Spin Me Round (2022).
Ana Marlene Forte Machado, better known as Marlene Forte, is a Cuban actress and producer. She is perhaps best known for her role as Carmen Ramos on the television soap opera Dallas (2012–2014). Forte also had recurring roles in Fear the Walking Dead, The Fosters and Altered Carbon. Her notable film credits including A Haunted House (2013), El Chicano (2018), Knives Out (2019), and The Way Back (2020).
Vampire Academy is a 2014 American fantasy comedy horror film directed by Mark Waters from a screenplay by Daniel Waters, based on the first book of the novel series of the same name by Richelle Mead. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Zoey Deutch as Rose Hathaway, a Dhampir, and Lucy Fry as Lissa Dragomir, her Moroi best friend, and follows their return to the St Vladimir's Academy boarding school, after being on the run for one year.
Lucy Elizabeth Fry is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying Zoey in Lightning Point, Lyla in Mako: Island of Secrets, and Lissa Dragomir in the film Vampire Academy. Fry was also cast in Hulu's eight part miniseries 11.22.63 as Marina Oswald, wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, and played the lead in the 2016 Australian horror television series Wolf Creek and Tikka in the 2017 Netflix film Bright. Since 2019, she has portrayed Stella Gigante in the Epix series Godfather of Harlem.
Bright is a 2017 American urban fantasy action film co-produced and directed by David Ayer and written by Max Landis. The film is set in an alternate present in which humans and mythical creatures co-exist and details an LAPD police officer and his orc partner confronting racism and police corruption while protecting a magic wand and the elf girl who wields it. Noomi Rapace, Édgar Ramírez, and Ike Barinholtz also star.
Jacob Andres Batalon is an American actor. Batalon achieved international recognition playing Ned Leeds in five Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films, beginning with a supporting role in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), cameos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), and further supporting roles in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), also appearing in the web series The Daily Bugle (2019–2021). He also played Keon in the Netflix film Let It Snow (2019), and the titular character in the Syfy television series Reginald the Vampire (2022–2024).
Kelvin Harrison Jr. is an American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for a British Academy Film Award, Gotham Award, an Independent Spirit Award.
Giorgia Whigham is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Kat in the first season of 13 Reasons Why, Amy Bendix in the second season of The Punisher, Beth in the third season of Scream, and Blaire in Ted.
Dracula is a horror drama television serial developed by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, loosely based on the 1897 novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. The series, consisting of three episodes, premiered on 1 January 2020 and was broadcast over three consecutive days on BBC One before releasing on Netflix. Claes Bang stars as the title character.
Critical Thinking is a 2020 American biographical drama film based on the true story of the 1998 Miami Jackson High School chess team, the first inner-city team to win the U.S. National Chess Championship.
Boogie is a 2021 American sports drama film written and directed by Eddie Huang in his directorial debut. It stars Taylor Takahashi, Taylour Paige, Pop Smoke, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. The film marks the first and only acting film appearance by Pop Smoke before his death in February 2020. It was released on March 5, 2021, by Focus Features. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $4.3 million.
Moxie, stylized as MOXiE! is a 2021 American comedy-drama film directed by Amy Poehler. Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer adapted the screenplay from the 2017 novel of the same name by Jennifer Mathieu. It stars Hadley Robinson, Alycia Pascual-Peña, Lauren Tsai, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nico Hiraga, and Poehler. The film focuses on 16-year-old Vivian, who starts a feminist zine to empower the young women in her high school, as they contend with bullying, sexual harassment, and rape. The film was released on March 3, 2021, by Netflix and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.
Horse Girl is a 2020 American psychological drama film directed and produced by Jeff Baena, from a screenplay written by Baena and Alison Brie. It stars Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon, John Ortiz, and Paul Reiser.
Trouble, also known as Dog Gone Trouble, is a 2019 animated comedy film, directed by Kevin Johnson, and starring Sean "Big Sean" Anderson, Pamela Adlon, and Lucy Hale. It was the final film role of Betty White before her death in 2021. White died on December 31, 2021, from complications following a stroke.
The Kissing Booth 3 is a 2021 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Vince Marcello and written by Marcello and Jay Arnold. The third and final installment in The Kissing Booth trilogy based on Beth Reekles' novel of the same name, the film stars Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Meganne Young and Molly Ringwald.
First Kill is an American supernatural teen drama television series created by Victoria Schwab that premiered on Netflix on June 10, 2022. The series is based on Schwab's short story of the same name. In August 2022, the series was canceled after one season.
Maya and the Three is an animated fantasy television miniseries created by Jorge R. Gutiérrez and produced by Tangent Animation.
Zoe Margaret Colletti is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the television pilot of American Men (2006) and played her first major-film role in Annie (2014). Colletti appeared in 2018 films Wildlife and Skin before garnering critical praise in the lead role of Stella Nicholls in horror film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019). She achieved further recognition and plaudits as Dakota in the sixth season of horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead (2020–2021) and the Truth Pixie in fantasy film A Boy Called Christmas (2021). In 2022 she portrayed Lucy in the second season of Only Murders in the Building. She also starred in the Netflix series Boo Bitch.
The Invitation is a 2022 American horror thriller film directed by Jessica M. Thompson and written by Blair Butler. It stars Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty. Inspired by the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, it follows a woman who, after her mother's death, meets long-lost family members and discovers the dark secrets they carry.