SHADOW ZONE: My Teacher Ate My Homework (1997) REVIEW | Duvall the Doll

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:01][bell] [music] >> Hello and hey, Goolash here and welcome to another entry of well, Goolash.

[00:00:14]Previously I covered Shadow Zone The Undead Express, the Showtime Network's 1996 attempt at adapting a volume in the Shadow Zone series of YA horror books that were basically knockoffs of Goosebumps.

[00:00:26]Without me they would not know the [music] pleasures of our world. The Undead Express was surprisingly decent but too dark and ponderous to really resonate with its core audience of tweens and younger though, sporting a PG-13 rating no less.

[00:00:41]>> [screaming] >> So it feels like when Showtime decided to make a follow-up Shadow Zone movie, they understandably chose to pivot to a lighter story that was more Goosebumps-like, adapting the 11th book in the Shadow Zone series, My Teacher Ate My Homework, with a film translation releasing in October 1997 and sporting a softer PG rating.

[00:01:02]I should also mention that Ryan, aka Super Shay, a fan and Patreon supporter, requested a video of this Shadow Zone movie specifically, even sending Doc a VHS copy of it to us. Thanks for the support, Ryan. Steven Williams, the director of The Undead Express, returned to direct this second Shadow Zone film.

[00:01:18]And Williams actually went on to have a successful TV career after these movies, producing Lost and directing episodes of Watchmen and Fallout. Your report, please. More notably, the late Shelley Duvall stars in the second Shadow Zone movie as its titular teacher. Duvall previously produced and starred in a few kids shows for Showtime like Fairy Tale Theater.

[00:01:38]>> Since I was a child, I've been in love with the heroes and villains, the magic and the morals of fairy tales.

[00:01:43]>> Though you wouldn't know Shelley Duvall is in My Teacher Ate My Homework if you looked at its official DVD cover, which features a shitty Photoshop of a random teacher and kids.

[00:01:51]>> Oh, my grandfather got a nail in his head. This is our event. My Teacher Ate My Homework was the second Shadow Zone film but also the last, and you can probably guess why. Here's my review.

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[00:02:22]>> [laughter] >> LIKE THE FIRST SHADOW ZONE FILM, My Teacher Ate My Homework is introduced by the Reaper, Showtime's legally distinct version of HBO's Cryptkeeper, but they recast the Reaper, who sounded like a constipated Darth Vader in the first film. The Shadow Zone can exist anywhere. Now he sounds like a constipated Tim Curry in the second film. A little touch of evil. The host in this setting this time feel toned down from the first movie, which was a pretty intense and threatening way to start this series off, but the Reaper, true to his nature, still carries the threat of death. It's implied he caged and starved a child in his Shadow Zone classroom. Tommy, I'm sorry we couldn't [music] find you a playmate. It's it it's okay. Maybe next time. So yeah, don't [ __ ] with this guy if he's trying to tell you a story. I wonder if he'll graduate [music] or if he'll stay here like little Tommy.

[00:03:17]Speaking of which, the Reaper tells the tale of Jesse Hackett, who starts his story off chained up in his bed and being scolded by a giant Shelley Duvall.

[00:03:25]>> You're late again.

[00:03:28]Uh uh uh I think this was an erotic dream I had last night. Good morning, Mr. Hackett.

[00:03:35]Jesse has found himself with a lot more responsibilities as his parents have opened up a restaurant.

[00:03:40]>> When we opened the restaurant, we all agreed we'd pitch in. Remember you were going to fix my dollhouse? I just did.

[00:03:45]>> Leaving Jesse in charge of keeping up with the house and taking care of his little sister. Where's my milk?

[00:03:51]And it's made Jesse behind on his school work, but nobody gives Jesse a break.

[00:03:55]His best friend Cody gives Jesse a hard time for showing up late so much.

[00:03:59]>> See, I like my things orderly, on schedule, and simple. You like confusion.

[00:04:04]>> And his teacher, Mrs. Fink, played by Shelley Duvall, singles out Jesse in front of the class over a missing homework assignment. And you still came to class today without your homework again? Cody says that Jesse needs to manage his time better.

[00:04:17]>> The homework, the chores, it seems like I'm always behind. Time management, that's [music] the key. But Jesse's only ever shown in his spare time cooking for his sister and cleaning the house. Jesse's never really shown goofing off, but even the reaper says that Jesse is lazy. He's a lazy boy. And [ __ ] this kid is dealing with a lot of [ __ ] He's clearly burned out from all the work. But they act like the lesson of the story is that you need to manage your time better. But these YA stories always need to have a lesson, even when the lesson doesn't make sense and is cruel.

[00:04:47]>> You are such a big help.

[00:04:48]Yeah, that's what I am.

[00:04:50]One big help. Speaking of cruelty though, Mrs. Fink over here hears Jesse airing his frustrations over her to Cody. Mrs. Fink is just she's pure evil.

[00:04:59]I wish she would just get get out of our lives, you know, just forever.

[00:05:02]>> And Duvall's response is truly a heartbreaking moment that's the real core of this movie. Hey Mrs. Fink.

[00:05:12]Facing that somebody you've built up in your head as a monster to be hated is really a human being with feelings. I mean, she didn't hear that, did you?

[00:05:20]The story takes a turn when Jesse goes on a trip with his buddy Cody and Cody's, I guess, stoned sister Geneva.

[00:05:26]They all sing to each other when they talk. Did you know that?

[00:05:30]Cool. I should mention that Cody was played by Edwin Hodge, who played Dante Bishop in the Purge movies. And Geneva was played by the same actress who played the teen girl in Side Field, who's annoyed when George invites himself over to her family's apartment to watch the copy of Breakfast at Tiffany's they rented so George can cheat on his book club reading assignment.

[00:05:48]>> I was I was I was sitting there. Come on. You didn't save it.

[00:05:51]>> [laughter] >> That was a pretty good episode.

[00:05:54]>> Come on, scoot up.

[00:05:56]>> [laughter] >> ANYWAY, JESSE, CODY, AND GENEVA MAKE A stop along the way to wherever the hell they were going to do some antique shopping in a mysterious store called Shadow Land. This place sure does have a lot of Cheech & Chong masks. How much are these earrings? $14.95 The owner of the store, played by John Neville, was actually the lead actor in the Terry Gilliam film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. I'm Baron Munchausen. That sounds nasty. Inside the shop, Jesse finds a doll he's convinced looks just like Mrs. Fink.

[00:06:28]>> Does it remind you of anybody? Is it supposed to? Mrs. Fink? And I'm getting more of a Miranda Cosgrove vibe from it.

[00:06:34]>> That is not for sale. Give it to me. I just want to look. Jesse insists on owning the doll despite the shopkeeper's pleas.

[00:06:40]>> You really want it?

[00:06:41]Then take it. And, you know, Jesse probably should have taken this guy's scary laughter as a sign the doll is evil and haunted. But, you know, the kid's got a lot of [ __ ] going on in his LIFE RIGHT NOW.

[00:06:51]>> [laughter] >> AND, YEAH, THE DOLL IS EVIL AND HAUNTED, which you might take as a rip-off of Chucky or Slappy the Dummy from the Goosebumps books. And it kind of is, but this Shadow Zone movie has a twist on the premise. The doll gradually transforms into the person that its owner hates most, namely Jesse's teacher Mrs. Fink. But this living doll doubles as a voodoo doll. Any damage inflicted on the doll is pain inflicted on the real Mrs. Fink.

[00:07:18]>> I uh broke my arm this morning, rather badly it seems. To the point where the teacher is briefly hospitalized for a concussion.

[00:07:30]With the doll eventually revealing itself to be alive to Jesse, fully dripped out in Shelley Duvall swag. I'm a friend, a friend that can help you with your heart's desires. But, of course, Cody doesn't believe Jesse when he insists the doll's alive. All right, it's really it's alive. Get the thing away from me. But Cody should be more concerned over his best friend seemingly crafting a doll that looks just like their teacher. What was that you just put in your locker, Mr. Hackel? Oh. Cody starts believing Jesse when the doll attacks the real Mrs. Fink. It's like looking in a mirror, ISN'T IT?

[00:08:03]POOR SHELLEY Duvall does the best she can pretending a doll is attacking her.

[00:08:07]With the teacher ending up double concussed and in the hospital long-term.

[00:08:10]And it's implied that the doll is harnessing Mrs. Fink's life force to be alive. And man, Shelley Duvall on life support in this movie is a genuinely upsetting image. Jesse, please.

[00:08:21]The first Shadow Zone movie seemed to be working with a decent budget for what it was. And it seems like Showtime lost faith in their bet on adapting the Shadow Zone books because the second movie looks a lot lower budgeted.

[00:08:31]Especially evident by the Mrs. Fink doll at the core of this film. Yeah. Yeah, but nothing. There's a price for everything, Jesse. It's kind of creepy, but the puppet can barely move its mouth in sync with Duvall's dialogue.

[00:08:44]>> We're in this together. Forever? And it seems like only one of the doll's hands can move at a time. Just sort of flailing around.

[00:08:52]No.

[00:08:54]Later. Yes. The doll is also significantly smaller than Chucky. So it's just even harder to take it seriously as a threat. Jesse easily dispatches it and throws it out, but it just comes back. And the boy can't destroy the annoying doll because then Mrs. Fink would die. Hit me and Mrs. Fink suffers. So Jesse's forced to just let the thing manage his whole life until a solution can be found. Which, you know, sounds like a frustrating situation, but it isn't really scary until the movie goes into Chucky territory when the doll decides to randomly attack Jesse's mom, hospitalizing the mother of two. YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER. She should have used the ladder. Which bumps Jesse out a bit, but the doll really crosses a line when Jesse trusts it to give him feedback on his homework.

[00:09:37]>> Your homework assignment? I could check it for you. I know what Mrs. Fink would say about it.

[00:09:42]>> And the [ __ ] [ __ ] EATS IT.

[00:09:48]WELL, THE teacher ate my homework certainly lives up to its title and only took 70 minutes to happen. What? No! You locked me up. You forget, I'm the boss here. Yeah, the second Shadow Zone movie suffers from the same problem of the first. It's 90 minutes, but there's not enough story to sustain 90 minutes. So, it's really padded out with unnecessary scenes, repeating a lot of the same beats over and over again. There could have been a solid 45-minute special here, but a movie is pushing it, especially when it's just a tame version of the Child's Play films.

[00:10:20]>> handle this alone. No, I don't know anything about this stuff.

[00:10:23]>> Well, let's just chat about the movie's ending. Do you believe us? Of course.

[00:10:27]Because she's already so [ __ ] weird, Cody's sister Geneva instantly believes the boy's story about the doll being alive before even seeing it alive herself. And searching for a solution, Geneva enlists help from an unlikely source. Good evening, Saul.

[00:10:42]Is it?

[00:10:43]>> Margot Kidder, playing a bookstore owner who's really [ __ ] strange, even by bookstore owner standards. Ow!

[00:10:49]Voodoo, voodoo. Snatch your soul, take control. Margot Kidder, much like Shelley Duvall, unfortunately suffered through career setbacks and mental health problems. With Kidder having endured a particularly traumatic manic episode the year before she shot this Shadow Zone film. Trouble with voodoo is real trouble. Kidder probably only did this cameo to help her get back on her feet. But, Kidder would eventually appear in an actual R.L. Stine series, an episode of The Haunting Hour, for which she won an Emmy. Time's getting close, Geneva. With Margot Kidder's help, Geneva figures out the spell that must be cast to destroy the doll before the real Mrs. Fink is killed. But, making matters more difficult, the doll kidnaps Jesse's little sister, Annabelle.

[00:11:34]What? Annabelle's gone. The doll's got her.

[00:11:36]>> And it's kind of ironic that there's a human character named Annabelle in a movie about an evil doll. Jesse and Cody go through with their satanic spell to vanquish the doll. Don't do this, Jesse.

[00:11:46]But the doll uses its force powers to try to convince Jesse not to [ __ ] kill it. Think how much better your life is with me. But when that doesn't work, the doll threatens to kill Jesse's sister if he doesn't spare the doll.

[00:11:58]>> Maybe I'll stop her from taking a [music] swim. And honestly, what older brother wouldn't pass up the opportunity to have their annoying younger sibling horribly drowned to death falling off a pier? NO!

[00:12:09]BUT THAT DOLL'S a bit more annoying. So, Jesse goes through with the ritual anyway, burning the [ __ ] out of that goddamn little [ __ ] and saving this other little [ __ ] in the process. And for the sake of making the ending quick and simple, the real Mrs. Fink arrives out of nowhere, free from the doll's spell. Mr. Hackett, where are we? And the entire gang enjoys the complimentary blankets the police give you after fighting off a killer doll. How would you like it if he went home with you? But Mrs. Fink tries to give Jesse another living toy, and it's kind of flirty.

[00:12:42]Shadow Zone: The Teacher Ate My Homework is a lot lighter than the first Shadow Zone movie, and while it does still enter dark territory, it's mostly just silly. It never really gets scary at all. It felt like they were still trying to figure out the right amount of horror and comedy to replicate Goosebumps' success. But Showtime didn't give the makers of these Shadow Zone movies another shot after the second. The Teacher Ate My Homework is a lot cheaper and more derivative than The Undead Express, but the second film's a lot livelier and fun with a better cast to work with. Still, the movie just doesn't have enough material to sustain attention for 90 minutes, especially when its premise feels so familiar. Bad stuff.

[00:13:21]Bad stuff.

[00:13:22]>> But Shelley Duvall did a great job performing in this film. Her voice was working overtime to sell this shitty puppet as an actual character. I'm the one in control now. I give Shadow Zone the Teacher Ate My Homework three bad DVD covers out of five. You can't scare me. You can't buy me off. You can't One last time, I want to thank Super Shag, aka Ryan, for leading us to these wonderfully weird, obscure kids horror movies. Thanks again, Ryan.

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[00:14:30]Thanks for watching. Dr. Wolfy La signing out.