Pay Attention! A Rogue's Gallery of Bad Teachers

Roger Corman's 1979 cult classic valentine to timeless punk band The Ramones stars P.J. Soles as Riff Randell, the ultimate Ramones fan. When iron-fisted, rock-music-hating principal Togar (Mary Woronov) vows to end the "godforsaken noise" and burn a pile of rock records, the rebellious teens recruit The Ramones to defy Togar -- and blow up the school in the process.

Get 'Rock N' Roll High School'

Mark Harmon and Kirstie Alley star in this 1987 comedy that casts Mark as a laid-back high school gym teacher whose big summer plans in Hawaii are dashed when he's forced to teach English to a group of misfit students. Seriously lacking in teaching skills, the bad teacher (with good intentions) turns good deeds outside of the classroom into life lessons for his students.

'Get Summer School'

Based on the true tale Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, Jim Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, a brilliant-but-poor student hoping to win a scholarship to Harvard Med School. His fortunes change overnight when he reluctantly agrees to join a secret group of M.I.T. students -- masterminded by math professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) -- who teaches them to count cards and make a killing playing blackjack in Vegas. Rosa could be your best friend or your worst enemy, and when Ben crosses him, there's hell to pay.

Get '21'

Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes face off in this satire from 'Scream' and "Dawson's Creek" creator Kevin Williamson. Katie's character, Leigh Ann, is willing to do anything to become Valedictorian and get a scholarship to Harvard, even if it means murdering the one person who stands in her way, Mrs. Tingle (Mirren). The cutthroat history teacher has no sympathy for Leigh Ann, and her mind games lead to a deadly confrontation between teacher and student.

Get 'Teaching Mrs. Tingle'

In this 1984 comedy-drama, the teachers of inner city JFK High School have all but given up on their unruly students. Teachers doze off in their own class, fight against one another, sleep with students, and fail to notice that one of their own (Richard Mulligan) is an outpatient from a mental institution accidentally put in charge of a U.S. History class. Nick Nolte is a jaded social studies teacher who finds new inspiration when idealistic teacher JoBeth Williams enters the picture. Together, they try to get through to their kids and risk their jobs to buck the system. But at what cost?

Get 'Teachers'

Bad teacher, or bad students? The 1982 comedy classic from writer Cameron Crowe follows a group of high school teens as they make their way through the school year. The strictest teacher in the school, hands down, has to be Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), who faces off against Sean Penn's surfer dude Jeff Spicoli and makes his life miserable in order for him to learn a lesson or two in life.

Get 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'

"What is so dangerous about a character like Ferris Bueller is he gives good kids bad ideas." The John Hughes '80s classic follows ultra-popular high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), who decides to call in sick (or, shall we say, barf up a lung?) and go on a downtown Chicago adventure with girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) and best bud Cameron (Alan Ruck). But Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) knows that Ferris has to be up to no good, and he leaves school grounds to doggedly pursue Bueller and expose him for the fraud he thinks he is.

Get 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

In director Alexander Payne's stinging 1999 high school satire, Matthew Broderick plays the seemingly perfect teacher Jim McAllister. After watching his colleague's life fall apart following an illicit affair with goody goody student Tracey Flick (a pitch-perfect Reese Witherspoon), McAllister chooses to rig the school presidential election to exact revenge against Flick. Of course, nothing ever goes quite as planned…

Get 'Election'

Inside the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his pals have seen their share of bad teachers, including Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers as Quirinus Quirell (Ian Hart), Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh) and Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton). But arguably the worst teacher is Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), who has seemingly worked extra hard to make Harry's life miserable at Hogwarts from the very beginning and **spoiler alert** ultimately reveals himself to be an ally to Harry's arch-nemesis, Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

Get 'Harry Potter' Years 1-6