Released: December 25, 1998
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Screenplay: Kevin Williamson
Tagline: "And you thought YOUR teachers were weird..."
Cast:
Elijah Wood as Casey Connor
Josh Hartnett as Zeke Taylor
Clea DuVall as Stokely "Stokes" Mitchell
Jordana Brewster as Delilah Profitt
Laura Harris as Marybeth Louise Hutchinson
Shawn Hatosy as Stan Rosado
Robert Patrick as Coach Willis
Fawke Janssen as Miss Burke
Bebe Neuwirth as Principal Drake
Piper Laurie as Mrs. Olson
Daniel von Bargen as Mr. Tate
Usher Raymond as Gabe Santora
Jon Stewart as Mr. Furlong
Salma Hayek as Nurse Harper
At Herrington High School in Ohio, several teachers begin acting strangely. Or rather, stranger than usual. It's not long before the odd mannerisms of a few staff begin to spread among the student body as well, with only a select few pupils, led by Elijah Wood's Casey, noticing the subtle shifts and sensing that their school, and their world, are in terrible danger. That's the set-up of The Faculty, the sci-fi/horror mashup penned by Scream's Kevin Williamson and directed by From Dusk Till Dawn's Robert Rodriguez. It's a campy, fun ride that still brings in the violence and tension one expects from a good ole monster flick. Rodriguez's direction combined with Williamson's script help elevate both the characters and the story above the mindless tropes that so many high school-set horror films had fallen into by the late 90's.
The dialogue, in particular, is praise-worthy for managing to both create a unique, believable world populated by fleshed out characters and poking fun at the alien invasion cliches that the film inevitably uses to advance the plot. The assembled ragtag crew of students, all from different cliques and social circles, are all likable and rise above what their appearance suggests they might be; this allows the viewer to get taken in, giving a pass to an otherwise goofy story we might write off because we want to see what happens to these characters. The titular faculty are all great as well, with some great genre talent committing fully to their alien-possessed personalities.
Sure, the CGI is dated, but there's a healthy use of practical effects as well, which prevents the film from reading as cheesy. Like Scream, Williamson's story is self-aware, nodding to the great alien invasion films of the past like The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Thing. The characters admit that the idea of aliens taking over the bodies of their teachers is absurd, and some resist the idea entirely. While being meta, this also allows room for humor, making The Faculty stand out as one of the few 90's films focusing on teenagers that doesn't take itself too seriously while still delivering decent scares and playful gore.
The Faculty is clever, funny, and packed with a great cast who manage a balanced story of mystery and farce. In a rarity for the era in which it came, it was never franchised or sequeled to death. I think that helps add to the charm that the movie still carries today. Like a memory of senior year, heartwarming and just a little bit icky. Class dismissed.
The Faculty
5 - Totally Terrifying
4 - Crazy Creepy
3 - Fairly Frightening
2 - Slightly Scary
1 - Hardly Horror
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