In England, Teaching Mrs. Tingle has gone directly to rental video - it did not get a cinema release over here, and I doubt it will come out on DVD either. This is a shame, as I for one think it is an enjoyably silly movie which was unfairly received by both critics and the general public.
True, it is not as skilfully plotted as Kevin Williamson's Scream movies, but the concept of the 1980 comedy classic 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin, is so brilliant that it deserved to be used again in a movie.
Helen Mirren is excellent as the cold, sneering, malevolent and ruthless Mrs. Eve Tingle - every single person who went to school has had a teacher like her! In my case, it was the terrifying Mrs. Woolhouse at my infant's school in London years ago - I know she and Mrs. Tingle would have been confidantes!
A lot of people criticised Helen Mirren for taking a role in a teen horror movie, due to her acclaim in the Prime Suspect TV drama, and her Oscar-nominated turn in The Madness of King George. Well, perhaps Mirren was desperate to do something a little less dramatic - what better than a film like Teaching Mrs. Tingle?! And to her credit, she did a great job.
Katie Holmes, who I have just seen in a brief but significant role in The Gift, is fairly likeable as the hapless Leigh Ann Watson, but it is the actress who plays Jo Lynn who steals the show. I forget her name, but she is hysterical - the scene where she acts out moments from The Exorcist to "entertain" a tied & gagged Mrs. Tingle is absolutely side-splitting stuff!
Rather like Ferris Bueller himself, Matthew Broderick, playing a dedicated teacher in Election, it's amusing to see Breakfast Club/Pretty in Pink/Sixteen Candles star Molly Ringwald play a substitute teacher in this film - a good casting decision by Kevin Williamson. But why did Vivica A. Fox have such a small part?
As well as humorous scenes, there are also moments of tenderness, particularly where Leigh Ann goes home to find her mother has fallen asleep in her bed, while the classic TV series Little House on the Prairie plays on Leigh Ann's television, featuring a sweet moment between Pa (Michael Landon) and Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert).
Teaching Mrs. Tingle is not a classic by any means, but I have watched it three times now and enjoyed it every single time. Give it a try!
