The Faculty (1998) Reviews

• Breakfast Club meets The Thing

  JimmyG1002008-01-29

  Is a rough way of putting it. And never mind those Scream rip-offs or all those other cheap alien/creature-feature films from the 90's. This is a teen horror movie that gives you everything you'd want from a teen movie and everything you'd want from a creature feature, all in one. But what else is to be expected when you got Robert Rodriguez behind the lens? Any other director and this film would be tossed aside as just a teen body snatcher movie. But Robert Rodriguez shows here that he has the style to make it more than that. Now, I've read the script to this movie before I even saw it and I kept thinking to myself, there has to be another draft of this, no way this could really work and be taken seriously... or as serious as you can take a movie like this. Yet not only was I surprised to see how much of the original script Rodriguez kept in, but I was even more surprised to see how well things actually played out. Sometimes I really love being wrong. This film delivers, just as much as any other Rodriguez picture that calls back to the good old days of the Grindhouse and makes us forget that those movies weren't even close to par with these "tribute" films that somehow manage to surpass the movies they're tributing. You get everything you want and leave wishing you could spend more time in high school... or at least at this high school. This film, to me, is the second in Rodriguez's own unofficial Sci-fi Grindhouse trilogy. Starting with From Dusk Till Dawn and ending with Planet Terror. Want to treat yourself to some fun? Watch all three back to back to back. You won't be disappointed. 7/10

• Invasion of the Breakfast Club Snatchers!!

  bob the moo2002-09-09

  Herrington High School in Ohio has the usual groups of disaffected youths – the jock, the goth, the geek, the prom-queen, the drop out etc. However they are not the only ones acting out of the ordinary – the teaching staff all seem to be acting out of the ordinary – drinking water, acting sinister. Geeky Casey has the idea that the staff have been infected, taken over by aliens using their bodies as hosts. Casey's theory spreads to a group of students who decide to take a stand. Oh my God – an enjoyable and quite clever teen movie! Something must be wrong! The plot is basically a teen twist on The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but is filled with clever references and jokes related to sci-fi. This makes it stand out from other teen movies in that it cleverly plays with the usual stereotypes and makes them feel fresh. The group itself is close to the usual group that learns to get along and accept each other (a la Breakfast Club) – except here they get along through drugs and the battle against aliens! The director is better known for his big OTT action stuff but here he does a good job with a slow build up and a real feeling of paranoia. Of course it's not as good as the actual Body Snatchers but it still has a real good feeling of fear and tension. The effects are good but Rodriguez uses them sparingly for the most part helping the mood of uncertainty and fear. The cast are all good. The teens play the stereotypes well but they are outshone by the adults who all get to ham it up in sinister roles. Many of the adults are wasted in minor roles – Hayek for one is barely in it, and MacDonald deserves more than a few minutes. Patrick is very good considering that it could have easily been his T2 role again – running in that distinctive way etc, but he is suitably sinister. Janssen is also good – transforming from a shy flower into her usual vamp. Cameos from Usher, Summer Phoenix and a seemingly pointless role for Harry Knowles (he's been bought!) don't spoil this. Overall as a sci-fi horror it's pretty good if not great – there are better films around. But as a teen movie it is head and shoulders above the rest of this rather sorry genre and has enough tension, drama and references to be very enjoyable.

• An excellent treatment of a familiar story

  london_eye2005-04-27

  Of course the story told by this film (aliens land in small Mid-West town and start taking over the humans) is very familiar but it is still a great story and this film tells it as well as any of the others (and better than most). There is a lot of humour, many very good action scenes, and some really nail-biting suspense. But what really makes this film special are the main characters: a delightful group of funny and interesting students, who have to cope with the trials of high-school life as well as the demands of defending the Earth against an insidious alien invasion. If you know the other films of Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) you will find another film which displays the same wit and assured lightness of touch that makes this director's work such a pleasure. Great Stuff!

• Great take on the Body Snatchers story

  mjw23052007-01-02

  Fun and Interesting characters and cool visual effects are the key to this Sci-Fi Thriller, which is largely based on 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers' I won't introduce the characters here, as the movie introduces (Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Jordana Brewster and Elijah Wood's characters) really well as the students at Herrington High, they each have their own individual personalities that evolve as events in the film unfold. The Faculty is littered with top names like Robert Patrick, Famke Janssen, Bebe Neuwirth and Salma Hayek who all begin to behave strangely, un-nerving the students. A small pocket of students begin to believe in a conspiracy among the teachers and it's up to them to save the world from invasion. Great performances from the cast (Josh Hartnett in particular), a fun script and a cleverly re-written story all conspire to make the Faculty a cracking 100 minutes of all out entertainment. 7/10

• They Are Taking Over the World through the Back Door

  claudio_carvalho2015-03-18

  On the Harrington High School in Ohio, the newcomer Marybeth Louise Hutchinson (Laura Harris) tries to befriend the outcast Stokely 'Stokes' Mitchell (Clea DuVall). The quarterback Stan Rosado (Shawn Hatosy) quits the football team and breaks off with his girlfriend Delilah Profitt (Jordana Brewster), who is the editor of the school newspaper and head cheerleader. Zeke Tyler (Josh Hartnett), who is repeating the senior year and sells drugs to the other students, has an argument with his teacher Elizabeth Burke (Famke Janssen). When the bullied Casey Connor (Elijah Wood) finds a weird being on the football field, he brings it to his Professor Edward Furlong (Jon Stewart) that finds that the unknown specimen lives in the water and has the ability of replicating. Later, Delilah brings Casey, who is the photographer of the newspaper and has a crush on her, to the faculty room to snoop around and find any evidence for a story, they need to hide in a closet when Coach Joe Willis (Robert Patrick) and the teacher Karen Olson (Piper Laurie) arrive. Delilah and Casey witness the coach and the teacher attacking Nurse Rosa Harper (Salma Hayek) and they stumble with the corpse of Mrs. Jessica Brummel (Susan Willis), who has recently died, in the closet. They call the police but are discredited by Principal Valerie Drake (Bebe Neuwirth). On the next morning, Casey discloses to Delilah, Stokely and Stan that he believes that aliens are taking over the planet through their high school. Zeke and Marybeth overhear the conversation and join the group. Further they discover that the aliens need water to survive and Zeke's drug is diuretic and kills them. But the problem is who can be trusted in the group? "The Faculty" is a great sci-fi with a tribute to the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". I saw this movie for the first time in the late 90's and yesterday I saw it again on DVD and it is impressive the cast joined by Robert Rodriguez in this film. The plot is mysterious, entertaining and well resolved and also supported by an excellent soundtrack. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Prova Final" ("Final Test")