Well, Here's Another Nice Mess . . .

The Faculty (1998)

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez;

Written by Kevin Williamson

Something is up at Herrington High. The teachers are acting strangely different – more so than usual. It might be because the teachers at this suburban Ohio high school are being subsumed by aliens at what appears to be ground zero for their invasion of earth. Now it’s up to a small group of mismatched students to take on the invaders and win back their high school.

The Faculty has been described as: The Breakfast Club Meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers – which it, by design, kind of is. Scripted by Kevin Williamson of Scream fame, The Faculty is a meta commentary on sci-fi tropes, teen angst, and a social commentary on accepted norms viewed through stereotypes. There’s the jock (Shawn Hatosy), the deb cheerleader (Jordana Brewster), the dweeb photographer (Elijah Wood), the sci-fi fan Goth girl (Clea DuVall), the rebel without a cause (Josh Hartnett) who deals drugs and porn out of his car trunk, and the nice new girl from a Southern small town (Laura Harris.) All of them are just misunderstood. Because, of course they are. (Well, maybe not the cheerleader. She pretty much is just stuck up and pretentious.) The school staff (Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Piper Laurie, Jamke Janssen, Rodriguez regular Salma Hayek, and surprise, Jon Stewart, and others) – are equally typed: the cynical principal, asshole coach, wallflower English teacher, the history teacher who spikes his coffee just to get through the day, and so on.

Williamson script, while not presenting much in originality, keeps a good balance between character, humor, nerdy science fiction references, creepy scares, and action. Robert Rodriguez’s (El Mariachi, From Dawn to Dusk, Sin City) direction keeps the story moving at a good clip, with clean action scenes. Which, in these days of shaky cam footage and often disjointed editing, is a pleasure.

The performances are all okay with Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, and Josh Hartnett actually creating real characters out the intentional clichés. The adults are generally much under utilized – especially the wonderful Bebe Neuwirth. Jamke Janssen does though get a couple of good scenes in as the wallflower, then turned aggressive sexual predator.

The CGI is not particularly impressive. Showing the monster/creature in the last act is often ill-advised. It can lessen or destroy the illusion of the horror. The alien creature once unveiled is underwhelming. But. Considering the somewhat tongue-in-cheek, satirical vibe of the movie, it almost fits.

Wavering between plagiarism, homage, meta-commentary, humor, and thrills, The Faculty is still a lot of good fun. It is the kind of mid-budget film that does not get made much anymore. It also has that kind of playful, thrill seeking vibe that makes for a fun re-watch.

Currently it is available on the Criterion Channel.