The film starred Jay Thomas, Amy Jo Johnson, Mario Lopez, and Scott Bairstow, and was first released on DVD and VHS on March 7, 2000.

Brian Griffin is a strict high-school English teacher at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who never accepts late homework and is demanding of his students.

Fellow students in the class he is repeating include David Ruggles, Jeff Garrett, and Betsy Cline.

Mark suggests kidnapping Mr. Griffin, and convinces David, Jeff, and Betsy to join in on the plan as a way of scaring him and getting revenge because they feel he has treated them poorly.

The group decides to use Susan, who is least willing to participate in the plot, to distract Mr. Griffin by requesting a conference with him after school.

Mark's ex-girlfriend, Lana Turnboldt, has a picnic with her fiancé at the secluded place in the mountains, where they discover Mr. Griffin's medicine bottle.

Mark will face three trials, one each for the deaths of Mr. Griffin and David's grandmother, and one for the attempted murder of Susan.

She began to wonder what might happen if a charismatic teenaged psychopath were placed in a high-school setting and the young people he would attract as followers.

[10] In the letter Mr. Griffin wrote for Susan, he comments, "It is indeed the little deaths, the small daily rejections of our well-meant offerings that render the soul lifeless."

[21] Drew Stevenson, writing for School Library Journal, stated, "skillful plotting builds layers of tension that draws readers into the eye of the conflict" and the ending "is nicely handled in a manner which provides relief without removing any of the chilling implications.

"[22] Zena Sutherland from Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books commented that the "end is logical, the construction of the plot and the relationships among the well-drawn characters is solid, and the story has pace and suspense.

"[23] The New York Times's Richard Peck felt that the book's value "lies in the twisted logic of the teenagers and how easily they can justify anything", but that "the plot descends into unadulterated melodrama."

He stated, "Killing Mr. Griffin 'becomes "an easy read when it shouldn't'," although "there's veracity unto the end: the parents are the last to lose their innocence.

[25] The film starred Scott Bairstow as Mark Kinney, Amy Jo Johnson as Susan McConnell, Mario Lopez as David Ruggles, and Jay Thomas as Mr. Griffin, and was directed by Jack Bender.

She thought the story's rhythm was "disrupted by commercial-television pacing", but felt the cast, especially Johnson, delivered a strong performance.