Teaching Mrs. Tingle

REVIEW
After penning two of the best teen horror films in recent years (Scream and its sequel), Williamson follows with this disappointing directorial debut. Technically more of a black comedy than a horror film, Teaching Mrs. Tingle tells the tale of a straight A student (flyweight actress Holmes) who is in danger of losing her academic scholarship if her hated history teacher -- Mrs. Tingle -- gives her the F she's threatened to. Holmes ends up holding the evil educator hostage until she changes her mind. A not-bad premise is chucked in favor of juvenile dramatics and pandering humor, and a wasted good performance by Mirren. The "moral" of the story is actually offensive in that there is no moral -- everything is excused in the selfish pursuit of one's own happiness. Only Mirren and the occasional cute aside (Ringwald as the school secretary, a running gag about the definition of the word irony) keep this from being a complete snoorer.