This is a very good film. It is dominated by the stunning performance of Helen Mirren as Mrs Tingle. Mrs Tingle is a psychopathic tyrant with a hint of class and a sharp tongue always ready for a witty put down of the weaknesses of students. She meets a student she finds similar to her younger herself,attractive, intelligent wanting to go to a top university as way out of a hum drum small town existence and instead of helping her goes out of her way to throw obstacles in her path out of sheer vindictiveness to make her suffer the same fate. The most amusing part of the film is the versatility of Mrs Tingle, when the kids rebel against her, she changes from sexy temptress to violent psychopath in an instant, as what she sees is an elaborate chess game to ruin each other's lives.

This movie is so great! Helen Mirren is sensational, she show that even that the most horrible times, she can still manipulate even the most smartest people. Katie Holmes is great and her being close from my home town she is a great actress with awesome abilities as a person. Jo Lynn (Coughlan) was phenomenal she made me laugh so hard when she did the exorcist scene, well done! Barry Watson (Tambor) was great as well! But look deep in yourselves haven't we all had a teacher that we would just like to tell her what we think of her!! A little bit of humor and situations that keep the characters getting deeper and deeper into trouble is only half of what drives this movie. the other half is Helen Mirren and her portrayal of the evil teacher. While the other actors in the film are great, it is certainly Mrs. Mirren that steals the show. Although, I would have liked to have seen more of her evil, it still worked out well. Not even close to horror, only vaguely comedy, this is a roller coaster teen drama that doesn't stop until the final credits. The real problem with this movie is that writer director Kevin Williamson made a poor choice to tie the films best feature to a bedpost and leave her there motionless for most of the film. To fill in the missing action, the story had to slither into its side stories which unfortunately revolve around tedious adolescent dramas. I guess he made a choice to do a humorous parody on the Exorcist, yet this very choice placed the film on an endless downward trajectory, it peters out, flat-lines, and once it does it never recovers. It creates an maddening film experience in that it starts off so promising only to lose all its bubbles and go flat. I mostly recommend this to teens, adults might not find it as interesting as teens.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle is a wonderful film... by far my most favorite comedy/drama film. It is a indie film (meaning it is not low budget but it is not sold in stores or not noticed or heard about much) but it is a wonderful and funny movie to watch. It has very good music and a very good story line. The artwork on the cover tells it all, the main cast members all black and white with a really red apple lol. I really suggest everyone to rent or buy this movie. Great Cast members Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek, Batman begins) Barry Watson (7th Heaven) Marrisa Coughlan (Freddy Got Fingered) and Helen Mirren (The Queen, National Treasure 2)

I've heard bad things about this movie, but I saw nothing truly terrible about it except the fear someone will try to copy what took place.It's just a fantasy! Many high school kids have dreamed of doing such a thing to their teachers. I was surprised, given the film's original title, that Mrs. Tingle didn't die right away when the kids first attacked her. But that would have made this an entirely different film.And we would have missed yet another outstanding performance by the great Helen Mirren. Okay, in my case, I'm not sure I ever saw her before this. But right from her very first lines, I knew Mrs. Tingle was going to be a villain I truly enjoyed watching. Not a campy villain, but someone who was a real pleasure to watch. Not someone to hate because you would normally be on the side of good, but a character to take pleasure in as she tortures or humiliates all around her. Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor and Larry Hagman's J. R. Ewing come to mind.This woman showed no fear or vulnerability (except when she was faking being seriously hurt), even though those kids might have killed her at any time. But she apparently knew they weren't capable of such a thing. When she almost died, it was an accident. The one teen was threatening her, true, but somehow none of these kids seemed capable of doing such a thing.The actors playing the teens were pretty good too. Not in a league with their co-star, but not bad either. Jeffrey Tambor impressed as well with a campy appearance. So someone like this CAN have a boyfriend!The teens went through many the moral and ethical considerations. As the revised title suggests, they taught Mrs. Tingle a lesson (or did they?), and learned lessons themselves. They didn't just get away with it. Or did they? Some may be shocked at the ending. Although I know of one character we all wanted to see get what he/she deserved, and that did happen.It was a good film overall.