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| Frizzell |
Teaching Mrs. Tingle: (John Frizzell) Nobody ever
really considered Kevin Williamson's writing talents to be top notch,
and the reach of his effectiveness was proven in the late 1990's to be
restrained to the genre of teenage horror flicks. Yet, after writing
Scream,
I Know What You Did Last Summer and
The
Faculty (as well as being a driving force behind the "Dawson's
Creek" television series), there was much anticipation for the writer's
directorial debut,
Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Unfortunately for
Williamson, the film fell flat in so many ways that it was a
career-ending embarrassment, banishing him from the director's chair to
seek solace in the remaining years of "Dawson's Creek." His attempt to
twist the same teenage/high school atmosphere into a witty, satirical
comedy was flawed not only in its numerous written weaknesses, but also
in timing. The shootings at Columbine High School the same year prompted
the title of the film to be changed from "Killing Mrs. Tingle." No
matter its name,
Teaching Mrs. Tingle was thoroughly pounded by
critics and disappointed fans of Williamson's more famous stories. Most
of the films featuring that work had been scored by composers
accomplished in the genre, including Marco Beltrami and John Debney.
Horror veteran Christopher Young was reportedly assigned to score
Teaching Mrs. Tingle, but ultimately did not complete any work
for it. Instead, the rising, young talent John Frizzell received the
assignment. Frizzell's career had already been diversified by 1999,
though subsequent years would define the composer as an alternative
source for decent horror music on B-rate projects. Despite popular
perception,
Teaching Mrs. Tingle isn't a horror score, however,
and what makes it so difficult to appreciate is the fact that it, like
the film, really doesn't fit into any genre at all. For a film about
three high school students kidnapping their wicked teacher and trying to
decide what to do with her, the score can't decide just how much wit,
suspense, or comedy to insert at any point. It's the kind of assignment
seemingly built for the devious mind of John Ottman, though neither
Ottman nor Frizzell could likely have done much to help this doomed
project.
The style that Frizzell resurrects for
Teaching Mrs.
Tingle is obviously that of the legendary Bernard Herrmann. In tone
and performance, the string techniques in this score are vintage
Herrmann. Frizzell emulates the quivering, plucking, and nervous style
of the classic sound well enough to be recognizable, but, with little
thematic coherence or other consistent development, the use seems
forced. Alternately, several cues take on the characteristics of sleazy
jazz, addressing the appeal of the youngsters with slick, though
sometimes almost drunken saxophone. One four-note motif loosely ties the
score together, and this idea matures in "Destiny," the only truly
interesting brass-led suspense piece of any volume. A few quasi-delicate
moments of character development expose themselves on more steady
strings in "I Know You," "My Mom Has Been Very Sick," and, quite
pleasantly, "Triumph." Together, these elements don't really make much
sense. Unlike a score such as Ottman's
Goodbye Lover, which
exudes a cool character despite the larger work's problems, or a half
dozen comedic Danny Elfman scores of the era (which are saturated with
the mannerisms of the composer that help retain interest in them),
Frizzell offers no distinctive style or personality to
Teaching Mrs.
Tingle. In fact, there's really nothing remarkable about it
whatsoever. Its dry, witless, and morbid tone gives no hint that there
might be any comedic moments in the story at all, and without strong
maintenance of sub-motifs carrying over from short cue to short cue,
there is nothing that the brief, 30-minute album can do to retain your
interest. Frizzell has enough talent to keep some of the cues
interesting from the perspective of hearing an adequate interpretation
of the venerable Herrmann. That's simply not enough, however. Even the
musicians seem to have lacked inspiration when performing this score,
collecting their paycheck before heading home. The little color provided
by solo instruments like the sax and the abbreviated contributions of a
choir in two or three cues on album cannot mask the fact that this
score's performance was all function and no fun. In the end, it's hard
to place the blame for this lack of spirit squarely on Frizzell, for the
film had no idea what it was doing either.
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The insert includes a note from the director about the film and score.
