i'm a dedicated fan of writer kevin williamson's work . 
he always finds a clever way to spice up old material with witty dialogue and fresh ideas that stem from his inventive brain . 
with teaching mrs . tingle , his directorial debut , williamson has reached the end of his rope . 
what used to be intelligent about his films is hopelessly stale here . 
the components are all there , including an encouraging premise that all high school students can relate to . 
but where are the thrills ? 
the laughs ? 
both are supposedly absent from this draggy exercise in elaborate revenge . 
and what a shame that is . 
i loved the scream films - heck , i even enjoyed the sci-fi goofiness of the faculty . 
kevin williamson was the reason horror films were such a big draw at the box office . 
teaching mrs . tingle , a black comedy that will leave a gaping void in his optimistic followers , may put an end to his reign . 
or perhaps it will encourage him to spend more time perfecting a script than to worry about his directing duties . 
i still have my faith , but i fear the name of kevin williamson may soon be a forgotten echo of the past . 
the title character of his pet project is a vicious , uncaring history teacher who is played deliciously over-the-top by british actress helen mirren . 
mrs . tingle is basically every student's worst nightmare : a heartless human being bent on distributing poor marks to even the most hard-working of her pupils . 
the principal ( michael mckean ) is horrified of her , and she is unanimously despised among her fellow staff members . 
i enjoyed the fact that everyone in the hallway quickly steers out of her way . 
mirren's performance is one of the very few delights in this distressingly hollow black comedy that goes down like a flat soft drink . 
in other words , it's a poor substitute for williamson's best work . 
the plot is a big problem here . 
material that could have been enjoyable is rendered totally ridiculous by poor handling on the part of the director . 
the likable katie holmes plays leigh ann , an over-achiever hoping to get a college scholarship . 
but typical mrs . tingle says her history project , which she worked on for countless hours , is laughable . 
later on while studying in the gymnasium , a classmate ( barry watson ) offers her a photo-copied duplicate of mrs . tingle's final exam . 
leigh ann's best friend ( marisa coughlan ) encourages her to use it . 
alas , the old hag herself finds the three scheming , and snatches the test , and prepares to talk to the principal in the morning . 
in the morning . . . 
how convenient ! 
the three students head to mrs . tingle's house , attempting to set the facts straight and clear leigh ann's name . 
things get out of hand , and the teacher gets knocked unconscious in a tussle . 
the plan is to tie her to a bed and try to get some reasoning out of her . 
of course , not everything goes entirely to plan . 
besides pointless sub-plots involving the football coach ( jeffrey tambor , horribly wasted ) , there is little by way of actual progress . 
there is no urgency to the situation ; little tension or laughs are involved . 
the humor is completely inconsistent . 
after many of the jokes , the theater was so silent i could have heard a fly sneeze . 
you continue to await some momentum in the story , something that could possibly revive the slow pace . 
a moment like that never arises . 
williamson also does a handsome job of wasting some of the key supporting players , including the talented mckean and larry sanders' vet tambor . 
and the beautiful vivica a . fox has one lifeless scene as a caring guidance counselor , and then williamson disposes of her character entirely . 
on the plus side , holmes and coughlan are admirable ( with the latter giving a frighteningly believable exorcism impression ) , and molly ringwald has an amusing cameo appearance as a substitute teacher . 
while everything is pretty lifeless , teaching mrs . tingle remains watchable . 
there are a few promising ideas that pop up now and again , but anything remotely interesting is squandered by the inane script . 
mirren is easily the best reason to keep watching . 
she is convincingly evil and fun to watch , but even her gifted delivery can't save individual scenes that flounder in boredom . 
if there is one word for the movie surrounding her , it would be `disappointing' . 
basically , kevin williamson is his worst enemy here . 
his uneventful direction prevents any aspects of his screenplay to be appreciated ( not that his writing here is especially good ) . 
we will see , when rookie screenwriter ehren kruger writes the third installment in the scream franchise this christmas , whether williamson is for real .