Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Written by Livvy O’Brien
60/100
“The Faculty” follows a group of high school students at Herrington High who begin to suspect that their teachers have been taken over by alien parasites after witnessing some disturbing behavior from the staff. What starts as paranoid theorising quickly becomes a fight for survival as the infection spreads to the students and the group must figure out how to stop the aliens before the entire school and eventually the whole town gets taken over. I know objectively this movie is not a 5-star masterpiece, but honestly for a teen thriller it probably does not get any better than this. “The Faculty” is goofy and weird and sometimes confusing, but it is also smart and involving and genuinely eerie at times, and that balance is what makes it work so perfectly.
The cast is absolutely stacked, and every single person commits fully, with Josh Hartnett as the rebel, Elijah Wood as the shy photographer, Jordana Brewster as the popular girl, Clea Duvall as the goth outcast, Shawn Hatosy as the jock, Laura Harris as the new girl and even Salma Hayek and Usher showing up for a weird cameo. And can I just mention Hartnett’s hair for a second because I’m obsessed with it. People seem to think it’s one of the worst haircuts in film, but I actually love it. Definitely suits his character Zeke perfectly. The hair is part of the attitude, and it works. What really elevates “The Faculty” is Kevin Williamson’s ability to create engaging people and put them into a high concept genre story where characters are not usually this defined. Each personality gets room to breathe, and those personal tensions get incorporated into the story really well, with Clea Duvall and Elijah Wood especially good at getting across their insecurities and growing connection to the others in the group. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that is a huge strength because it is a dark comedy wrapped in a horror skin with one-liners that actually land.
“The Faculty” has this hilariously implicit pro-teen drug use message where they snort caffeine powder at regular intervals and weaponise it against the aliens, which is absurd but I loved it. The visual effects are impressive too because early on there is some wonky 90s CGI, but when it finally gets to the slimy practical effects they are solid. The plot twist genuinely surprised me even though in retrospect it was beyond obvious, but Rodriguez found a way to fool me into not paying attention. The soundtrack is pure 90s energy, opening with The Offspring and closing with Oasis. It is loud and chaotic and fun and perfectly matches the tone of the movie.
The ending does lose a bit of steam, though, and I found myself kind of bored by the final gymnasium showdown because the clever paranoia of the first two acts gets replaced by generic action and running down hallways. While it doesn’t ruin the movie, it is the weakest part. None of that takes away from what makes “The Faculty” so special. It is a movie that knows exactly what it is and embraces every ridiculous second of it. It does not try to be anything more than a fun, scary, and funny teen horror flick, and in that it succeeds completely. Sometimes that is all you need.
“The Faculty” Trailer