From the second Teacher’s Pet begins, you know that Luke Barnett’s Mr. Heller is not a good guy. The opening scene attacks you with a startling image and continues to show you images of the horror that has just transpired. If you thought from the title that Teacher’s Pet was going to be a student/teacher affair movie, you are dead wrong.

Not the same old teacher/student story

The movie’s main character is Clara (Michelle Torian), who attends a school that is full of privileged kids who do not see her as an equal. Clara has a tough home life, and you can tell by the way she carries herself that it is affecting her. Her class learns that their English teacher has passed, and now they have a new one: the aforementioned Mr. Heller. With the students feeling their teacher, Mr. Heller, wants them to use these emotions to write about their teacher. His ways are a little unconventional, but there is something about his style that intrigues Clara.

Using her curiosity and sense of not belonging, Heller selects Clara to be his assistant in the classroom and promises her that it will look good on her college applications. Again, this feels like it will become a student/teacher affair movie, but with Heller, things are more deadly than they seem. As the mentorship starts to take shape, we start to learn more about Heller and his evil ways. I won’t say much, but I wouldn’t want to deliver a pizza to his house late at night.

Wanting a Better Life

Clara, has issues at home with her family. Her mother, Sylvia (Barbara Crampton), and overpowering spouse, Jack (Kevin Makely). The duo are using Clara to collect money from social services and she does not want to be part of that plan. This situation escalates at one point while Clara is on the phone with Mr. Heller. Using her trouble at home and wanting a better life, he slowly starts weaving his way into her home and uses her family and friends to try to trap her.

The movie goes dark when it comes to how far Mr. Heller would go to keep Clara in his control. Some of these moments are intense but even more is his keepsake book. Just like Leatherface kept the skins of those he killed, Mr. Heller, also keeps mementos of those that crossed his path. Luke Barnett plays Mr. Heller with such charisma that seeing him turn on a dime is truly terrifying. Michelle Torian is fantastic as Clara and perfectly balances trying to be the perfect student but also someone who’s sadly manipulated by her peers.

Teacher’s Pet flips the teacher/student genre on its head and give us a new villain worthy of your nightmares. The film puts the audience on edge and keeps you wanting to know what happens next.

Final Thoughts: Teacher’s Pet is a great horror movie that perfectly balances serial killer vibes and psychological terror. The cast is perfect and keeps you invested until the final scene. Michelle Torian is a standout and Luke Barnett is creepy as hell.

Violence: The movie deals with a killer who preys on those around him, so there are plenty of violent moments. Some of the most gruesome ones are the ones that they don’t really show. Noam Kroll does a great job of using sounds and cutaways to get inside of the audience heads.

Kid Friendly: The movie is Rated R, and it would be up to the parent’s discretion. If your kids have seen something like, LongLegs, or Weapons, they might be ok watching this.

When brilliant but isolated high school senior Clara’s English teacher dies mysteriously, a charismatic replacement arrives who takes a disturbing interest in her academic potential. As Mr. Heller’s mentorship turns to dangerous obsession, Clara uncovers his horrifying secret identity and murderous past. Now trapped in a psychological game with a predator who’s eliminated anyone standing in his way, Clara must use her understanding of Heller’s twisted psychology against him before she becomes his next victim. Some lessons are worth dying for – others are worth killing for.