THE TEACHER

Ralph (Anthony James) is an ugly fucker but has a fine set of teeth. We know this from the offset, as the film opens with him smiling like a rapist in a brothel.

He’s happy because he’s spying on the object of his obsession, schoolteacher Diane (Angel Tompkins) as she finishes her day job and heads home. A quick change, and she’s back out of the house and off again in her car – followed by Ralph who, for no apparent reason, drives a large white hearse.

Aware of her stalker, Diane drives to a nearby boatyard and boards her eponymous motorboat, taking it out to sea and sunbathing topless for Ralph to ogle through binoculars from high in an abandoned building opposite.

The fun turns to shit when Ralph’s brother Lou (Rudy Herrera Jr) and his mate Sean (Jay North) turn up on a motorcycle.

"Bastards!" screams Ralph as he attacks the pair with a bayonet (not so smiley now eh, freak?). This culminates in Lou falling to his death and Sean fleeing the scene when Ralph begins pointing the finger of blame at him.

Sean is understandably upset by the time he returns home but manages to hide the truth from his concerned parents – even when the local sheriff calls in with news of Lou’s demise. Still, Sean’s mother being the sensitive type, she begins to encourage him to spend more time with seemingly friendly teacher Diane.

This idea has a couple of major flaws. Firstly, it seems that Diane is not so innocent after all and – as Lou had earlier predicted – has the hots for young Sean. Secondly, Ralph is still watching. And he’s growing steadily demented as time draws on …

Don’t let Jackie Ward’s twee theme song mislead you, THE TEACHER is a 1970s exploitation flick through and through, from its gratuitous nudity and air of impending violence, right down to its array of gleefully sweaty characters.

The film isn’t well-shot and doesn’t boast any career-making performances. Even if it did, the pulpy nature of writer-director Howard Avedis’ script wouldn’t allow for them to shine. Rather, this is a vehicle for Tompkins (fresh from appearing opposite Lee Marvin in the excellent PRIME CUT) to show off her wares and for everyone around her to gradually lose the plot.

Ahem. What little plot there is, that is.

The film has a vaguely sleazy vibe to it throughout, although never enough to push it beyond its R-rating parameters. But a combination of its low budget, politically incorrect content and badly acted mania help make THE TEACHER a satisfyingly odd B-movie experience.

Cheezy Flicks’ DVD is region free. That’s the good news.

However, the transfer isn’t the best. In fact, THE TEACHER looks fairly lousy in this 1.33:1 presentation. The picture is noticeably cropped, while colours are muted throughout and there is a softness to images which is distinctly VHS-like. There are sharper, brighter 16x9 renditions of the film out there …

English audio is generally okay, but some background noise is evident on occasion.

The disc itself is similarly basic. It opens to a static main menu page, which in turn leads to a static text scene-selection menu allowing access to the film via 20 chapters.

We only get one extra. Although listed as "bios", we’re treated to just one page of text about Tompkins. Needless to say, it won’t be giving Wikipedia’s page on the actress any sleepless nights.

THE TEACHER is trashy fun with an unexpectedly dark edge. It comes as recommended viewing. But BCI/Eclipse’s "Grindhouse Double Bill" DVD of this and PICK-UP is a much better buy.

Review by Stuart Willis