Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework (1997)

Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework: Directed by Stephen Williams. With Shelley Duvall, Gregory Smith, Sheila McCarthy, Edwin Hodge. Thirteen-year-old Jesse is a typical teenager who hates his teacher, Mrs. Fink. While visiting a vintage clothing shop, Jesse sees a doll that looks exactly like his dreaded teacher, and he convinces the shopkeeper to sell it to him. When Jesse accidentally pierces the doll’s arm with a sewing needle, he is shocked to find Mrs. Fink with her arm in a sling the next day and gets spooked when a spot on the doll’s face appears, exactly where Mrs. Fink has a mole. Jesse’s worst fears are confirmed when the doll crawls out of his backpack and speaks to him. He throws the doll away, but it turns up in his room again. Jesse is desperate for help. Geneva’s friend Sol who is knowledgeable about voodoo, determines that the doll is using Mrs. Fink’s vitality to keep itself alive. Geneva and the boys plan to cast a spell to send the doll back to where it came from. Geneva warns Jesse that he must have pure intent for the spell to work, since the doll is nourished by negative energy. As a result, Jesse becomes more organized, more focused in school and more responsible around the house. As the full moon rises, Jesse performs the ceremony to restore Mrs. Fink to her rightful place and banish the doll to Shadow Zone.

“Kiddie horror? Well, if there is such a movie genre this movie would be a good example. We watched this with the kids for family movie night. I canu0026#39;t say I was very impressed, although the youngest of the kids were riveted to the screen. The older ones got bored halfway through and out came the iPads. I know how they felt. This movie boasts some pretty lame acting, even from well known actors like Shelley Duvall and especially from Margot Kidder. John Nevilleu0026#39;s turn as the mysterious shopkeeper was a treat though. The special effects were pretty rudimentary and the animatronics or puppetry or whatever it was that brought the doll to u0026#39;lifeu0026#39; were very amateurish. I suppose these days they would use CGI, although I donu0026#39;t think this movie would have warranted the trouble or expense. To top it off, the movie becomes quite mawkish in the last 15 minutes, as it moves towards its quite predictable ending.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;d like to be able to recommend this film but I really canu0026#39;t. I didnu0026#39;t hate it, but I didnu0026#39;t love it. Itu0026#39;s too silly for tweens and older and while younger kids may be engrossed, Iu0026#39;m not too sure that they should be introduced to voodoo, dark magic and questionable behavior standards (e.g. the doll states that it is empowered by the main characteru0026#39;s HATE for his teacher) at their age as a form of entertainment.”