Tötet Mrs. Tingle!

This isn't a dreadful film, merely insipid. The plot is deeply flawed and implausible. It tries to be a number of genres and fails at each. It fails as a comedy, as a suspense thriller and as a horror movie. It almost succeeds as science fiction. The direction is uninspired and Katie Holmes, cute cherub face that she is, should be modeling teen clothing, not acting. The only thing that keeps this movie from being a 1 out of 10 is Helen Mirren. Her performance is fabulously nefarious and is (almost) worth suffering through the rest of it. Her ability to transmute from imperious to faux sympathetic to deviously manipulate and control her prey shows masterful range. Other than Marissa Coughlin's delightful Exorcist rendition, Mirren is the only reason to see this movie. A solid 3.0.

I will have to disagree with many comments on this movie saying that it was only a bomb. I thought this movie was quite interesting, surely not a great one, but good. The high point of this movie, in fact, is Helen Mirren. I was quite impressed with her inspiring performance - it kind of reminded me of Kathy Bates in "Misery". It is quite rare to see such a great performance like Helen Mirren's in an horror/suspense movie and this is the main reason why I have decided to comment on "Teaching Mrs. Tingle".

The one actress I'm talking about is Marisa Coughlan, who played Jo Lynn. She is obviously a very talented actress and her whole exorcist scene (which had nothing to do with the movie at all, whatsoever) was awesome. Other than that, the plot was kind of weak, but the characters were very likeable and it kept me interested. It's a cute movie.

First of all, Helen Mirren alone is worth watching in this. Don't take it too seriously and watch it for what it is - a late 90s teen romp, often pretty exceting, but also pretty funny, and you'll have a good time.

I was zapping until I saw Ms. Mirren's elegant face. Damn, this woman's hot! I think I missed about the first half hour but seeing the utter crap that this film is, I certainly haven't missed much. This is just another one of those trashy teen thrillers and the only good thing about it is (obviously) Helen Mirren. I loved the way she transforms from mean to vulnerable to manipulative. The character is not the best written character (then there's a whole lot wrong with the sloppy writing let alone inconsistency, plot holes and lack of characterization) but this woman pulls it off with brilliance. Katie Holmes is one of the most uninteresting actresses and she should just stick to that snoozefest soap 'Dawson's Creek' where she continues 'advising' her co-stars. Oh wait, that's been long cancelled, hasn't it? Barry Watson and Marisa Coughlan are equally pathetic. I'm sure the director and the writer hated their teachers which is why they want to teach the kids of today that it's alright to kidnap your teacher and beat her up, no matter how mean she is in class because that will surely get you an A.