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Review of Teaching Mrs. Tingle (John Frizzell)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you love every tribute to the techniques of
Bernard Herrmann, regardless of the coherence or quality of performance
behind them.
Avoid it... if you expect John Frizzell to provide the memorable or even basically serviceable personality that he often exhibits in his more straight-forward horror works.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
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. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 30:30
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a note from the director about the film and score.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Teaching Mrs. Tingle are Copyright © 1999, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/8/99 and last updated 6/10/08. |
