When i first saw this movie was a few years ago because i had it on VHS.Back then i thought that the movie deserved 5/10 (Average) but i bought the DVD with good image and sound it made to give this movie a 7. The music score is excellent and the movie (instead of having some minor flaws) is very entertaining.In this film Mark Wahlberg made his debut and you can tell but he is acceptable because of his charisma&attitude.Amanda Donohoe has done the biggest role in her career in this movie.But this just my opinion.Watching this movie you'll not be disappointed because Amanda Donohoe is Bete Davis of our times.

"Gayle Richards" (Amanda Donohoe) is a successful high school teacher who comes home from work to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary with her husband. As she is preparing herself for the occasion she notices a picture of one of her female students in his jacket pocket. So, she tells her husband she has to go away for a few days to see her mother. That evening she catches him in bed with that same student. Feeling betrayed and ridiculed she ends up killing both of them and sets the entire house on fire. After that she leaves New York and drops out of sight for a year and then turns up in a small town in Minnesota under the name of "Laura Ellington". Unfortunately, she is still unable to come to terms with her past and not long afterward sleeps with one of her students named "Josh Wyatt" (Dalton James). Besides being inappropriate it also causes problems for both of them when she starts dating Josh's father, "Ben Wyatt" (Eugene Glazer). At any rate, because this film was a "made-for-television" production it goes without saying that some scenes were toned down to accommodate a general television audience. This caused the film to seem less intense than it could have been. Even so, it was still entertaining to a certain degree and probably merits an average score, all things considered.

This surprising film made for Paramount television includes some startling cinematic strokes and a phenomenal performance by Amanda Donohoe. She plays not just a good teacher but a great one. Capable to inspire her students injecting in their souls a sense of being. Discovering that her husband is cheating on her with one of her students, something inside her snaps. She kills her husband and his lover, burns the house down and disappears. We find her some time later in another school becoming a substitute teacher with a brand new identity. That's all I'm going to say, those are the first few minutes of the movie. Her new identity is not going to cover completely her self loathing. Amanda Donohoe never look so beautiful, so strong or so vulnerable. We are aware of her internal struggle between the goodness that she always nurtured and the evil that made a home inside her. The film has extraordinary moment of lyrical beauty. Some extraordinary faces and sequences filled with a strange, uncomfortable tension. Some other moments seem shot by someone else. Stiff and unconvincing. But what's good is really terrific and makes the film a worthy case for re-evaluation/ 8 out of 10

Martin Donovan directs this film with an inspired cast. Mr. Donovan has done much better work in his native Argentina. "The Substitute" seems to be a movie of the week feature that we had never seen. It was shown on a cable channel the other night and while the film doesn't even attempt to break new ground on the horror genre, it will not bore the viewer. Thankfully, it's only 87 minutes long!The best excuse for watching the movie is Amanda Donohue, an actress that has done some interesting work. Her take on the evil teacher is right on target. Ms. Donohue plays the dual role of Gayle/Laura with great style, something she has always brought to other roles. This woman is a step ahead of everyone. She is evil personified. She registers a lot of emotion without appearing ghoulish.The young supporting cast is good. Dalton James plays Josh, a young man that gets a taste of what Laura is capable of doing. Mark Wahlberg, billed as Marky Mark, doesn't much to do. He was still trying to find his way around the movie business. Natasha Gregson Wagner plays a bland Jenny, Josh's girlfriend. Finally, Eugene Robert Glazer is seen as Josh's father and the object of Laura's sudden interest.See the film with an open mind.