The Faculty-1998

**Updated Review- Original Review in 2017**

Director Robert Rodriguez

Starring Josh Hartnett, Jordanna Brewster, Clea Duvall

Scott’s Review #1,227

Reviewed February 5, 2022

Grade: B

The Faculty (1998) was released during the late 1990s horror film renaissance.

Wisely, it cast film veterans who enhanced its merit, along with young rising stars who were bankable at the box office.

The film was only a moderate success but has become a cult classic over the years.

With a teacher/student dynamic that incorporates all the standard clichés that go with it, it mixes classic horror with a direct ode to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It is enjoyable, though hardly worthy of regular viewings.

Instead, it can be part of a 1990s nostalgia night or taken out as an opening act for the comparison film Scream (1996), a similar vehicle also released by Dimension Films. The sunny yet somber high school setting is nearly identical in both films.

The Faculty is a sheer delight for teenage audiences or even twenty-somethings who can relate to the idea of their teachers being otherworldly or some such alien beings.

Stars Josh Hartnett, who had just jumped into the horror circle with Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998), along with attractive, similarly aged Jordanna Brewster and Elijah Wood, lead the pack.

Piper Laurie, Robert Patrick, and Bebe Neuwirth appear in supporting roles as part of the faculty.

The setting is midwestern Ohio, where the students at Harrington High find Principal Drake (Neuwirth) and her gang of teachers a bit odd. Wacky under the best of circumstances, suddenly they become controlled by a parasite and attempt to infect the students one by one.

Cheerleader Delilah (Jordana Brewster), football player Stan (Shawn Hatosy), drug dealer Zeke (Hartnett), and new girl Marybeth (Laura Harris) team up with other classmates to fight back against the invaders.

But is one of the students the ringleader and in control of the faculty?

The horror standardizing one by one is intelligently mixed up in The Faculty. Rather than a maniac brandishing a hatchet and chopping the students to bits, they are instead infected by more subtle means.

The fun is finding out who will become an alien next and enjoying the staff’s weird behavior.

And who hasn’t imagined one of their teachers writhing around in a sports car, coquettishly toying with the hunky high school football players?

Yes, there are some plot holes to contend with and some stale attempts to pair the teens romantically. Predictably, the standard jock, cheerleader, nerd, and outcast stereotypes abound, as well as perceptions of what a school nurse, math teacher, and drama teacher look and sound like.

For good measure, one of the faculty (Salma Hayek) is ‘hot’.

There is much fun in the film and perhaps some truth, and that’s what director Robert Rodriguez showcases throughout. He doesn’t take himself or his characters too seriously, as inside jokes and role interplay in high school make for a playful, light experience.

Rodriguez is the best friend and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, but The Faculty holds no Tarantino influence whatsoever.

My favorite line may be when Casey says to snooty Delilah Profitt, “You’re pretty cool when you’re not being a bitch”.

The film isn’t really about students versus teachers or the faculty getting their comeuppance. The target audience is the teen crowd, and they will have a marvelous time experiencing The Faculty.

Times may change, but the same teenage angst is shared across generations. The film is a good outlet for that.

Any fan of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, either the 1950s version or the 1970s remake, will notice some familiar territory.

The pods become fish, and the explanation of taking over planet Earth because another planet is dying is intentionally (hopefully!) silly with a science-fiction edge.

The film ends happily ever after, which is satisfying for the level of seriousness one must take while watching.

Borrowing heavily from other horror films near and dear to it, The Faculty (1998) carves out enough originality in the science fiction genre to warrant some props.

It’s not a measured success, but it evenly distributes pacing and entertainment.

And the big stars add a nice touch.

The Faculty-1998

Director Robert Rodriguez

Starring Josh Hartnett, Piper Laurie, Salma Hayek

Scott’s Review #648

Reviewed June 4, 2017

Grade: B

Having watched The Faculty, a  teenage horror/science fiction flick,  at the time of release in 1998 (now almost twenty years ago!), I fondly remember sitting in the movie theater watching this soon-to-be cult classic take hold of its audience.

Despite some now-dated (in 2017) special effects, the story holds up well, and what a treat to see some “stars of tomorrow” mixed in with some venerable veterans, take center stage.

The Faculty stirs up a strange hybrid of classic films (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, and The Breakfast Club) to create a fun and gory horror film.

The action takes place in a small town said to be somewhere in Ohio, though the film is shot in Texas. A football town and home to the Hornets, sports are central to Herrington High School- both to students and faculty.

It becomes immediately evident that some of the staff are not “right” after two of the teachers stab Principal Valerie Drake (Bebe Neuwirth) with a pencil and scissors and flee with no emotions late one night after a faculty meeting.

Later, student Casey Connors (Elijah Wood) confesses to his group of friends that he believes aliens are controlling the teachers.

Naturally, they are skeptical until strange events among the staff begin to take shape once the students watch the staff’s activities closely.

The film then turns into a clever whodunit as one student after another is revealed to be infected and therefore an alien.

A highlight of The Faculty is its stellar casting- there is the younger set of actors, who share great chemistry- Josh Hartnett (Zeke), Wood (Casey), Jordana Brewster (Delilah), Clea Duvall (Stokes), Laura Harris (Marybeth), and Shawn Hatosy (Stan) all make up the troupe of characters thrown together due to unlikely circumstances to figure out the big mystery- who amongst the staff is an alien and where they come from?

All of the students are from different social classes, which makes their antics unique: Zeke, the rebel; Stan, the jock; Stokes, the “weirdo”; and Casey, the nerd. In this way, the film reminds me of The Breakfast Club, a mid-1980s “coming of age” high school film.

Additionally, the staff comprises some of the best in the business- stalwart Piper Laurie appears as the drama teacher, luscious Salma Hayek as the sexy school nurse, comic Jon Stewart as the science teacher, and rugged Robert Patrick as Coach Willis.

What a treat for film fans to watch a film such as The Faculty to see a bevy of popular film and television stars amongst the cast.

Director Robert Rodriguez, best known for creative left-of-center work such as Machete (2010) and Sin City (2005), and for being a frequent collaborator with Quentin Tarantino on his edgy collection of films, helms a rather mainstream piece in The Faculty.

The film is targeted at your typical mainstream audience, with the right blend of clever quirks.

Delicious is an ode to the classic science fiction film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978), only set in a suburban high school. Clever still is the revelation of the teachers as the robotic “pod people” or aliens from outer space.

This cute reference, in 1998, and still today, is an innocent knock on authority figures as the high school kids slowly get their comeuppance against some of the staff.

There comes a point in the film when nearly everyone is an alien, and it runs out of gas. However, the final scene is wonderfully constructed as the film ends as just another day in the life of a small-town high school- life goes on, and all is well.

The Faculty (1998) is a treat to watch in present times as a “trip down memory lane experience.