The Tooth Fairy (2005)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Feature: D

 

 

The slice-and-dice slasher film that began in the 1970s and really started to kick in by the end of that decade are beyond played out in form, but the idea of taking child-friendly icons and/or holidays and putting a killer on the loose is not finished yet.  P.J. Soles joins a cast of unknowns in Stephen J. Cannell’s awful production of The Tooth Fairy, a 2005 film from director Chuck Bowman that starts out dumb and gets progressively worse.

 

The murder scenes are of the quasi-snuff variety, badly lit, executed, done with no suspense and just an excuse to mutilate people.  The child-in-jeopardy bit is lame and the whole thing gets amazingly worse after bottoming out very early in the game.  Soles is there to legitimize the whole thing, but you’d be better off rewatching Carpenter’s Halloween yet again.  Bowman’s lack of suspense is embarrassing and the cast is indistinctive.  It’s as bad as a tooth ache!

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image has good color in spots, but detail and darker scenes are always a problem.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surround is almost as good as the weak Dolby 5.1 mix, with an only sometimes aggressive mix that is still weak in dialogue and other sound effects more often than expected.  Extras include a making of featurette, trailer and commentary in surround (???) with Cannell, Bowman and star Jesse Hutch.  It has to be heard to be believed, but is better skipped like this whole project.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo