UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Horror >

The Faculty

The Faculty (1998)

December. 25,1998
|
6.6
|
R
| Horror Science Fiction Mystery

When some very creepy things start happening around school, the kids at Herrington High make the chilling discovery that confirms their worst suspicions: their teachers really are from another planet!

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Python Hyena
1998/12/25

The Faculty (1998): Dir: Robert Rodriguez / Cast: Elijah Wood, Jordana Brewster, Josh Hartnett, Laura Harris, Clea DuVall: Suppose to represent false identities where aliens poise as teachers for no real reason other than these films love picking on teenagers. It feels like an attack on teachers and authority with the students retaliating at these aliens poised as teachers. Why don't the aliens just stick to the old fashion stealing of the lunch money? These aliens constantly drink water as their source of life. Somebody needs to get them drunk. That ought to screw with their world domination plan. Elijah Wood plays a wiz kid who senses that something is wrong. Laura Harris plays a sunny girl who tries desperately to fit in. Josh Hartnett sells illegal items. Jordana Brewster rounds out the cast discovering a body in an office closet. Lame plot followed by routine hack fest where teenagers become cafeteria food to aliens. It is as juvenile as a horror film can get and contains as much stupidity as the screenwriter can pack in. Directed by Robert Rodriguez who applies the same graphic action that ran rampant throughout his From Dusk Till Dawn, with fine visual effects but acting is bad. For a superior recommendation I recommend the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which was much more fun and inventive. Pointless blood and guts should be avoided by everyone, including aliens. Score: 3 / 10

More
Scott LeBrun
1998/12/26

An unlikely group of high school students must band together when they become convinced that the staff at their school have become alien slaves. They each fit a common stereotype: The Loser (Elijah Wood), The Outcast (Clea DuVall), The Stoner (Josh Hartnett), The Jock (Shawn Hatosy), The Cheerleader (Jordana Brewster), etc.As could be expected with a Robert Rodriguez venture, there was clearly some fun had with the casting choices. How would YOU like to have Santanico Pandemonium (a.k.a. Salma Hayek) as your nurse, The T-1000 (a.k.a. Robert Patrick) as your coach, Lillith Sternin Crane (a.k.a. Bebe Neuwirth) as your principal, and Margaret White (a.k.a. Piper Laurie) as one of the teachers?The script is by "Scream" creator Kevin Williamson, based on a story by David Wechter and Bruce Kimmel, and that can be either a selling point or a turnoff for the prospective viewer. Not surprisingly, the script gets annoyingly self-referential, with sci-fi stories like "The Puppet Masters" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" getting a shout out. Rodriguez is a John Carpenter fan, and that's evident in the way that "The Faculty" plays out, as it hits a number of the same beats as Carpenters' "The Thing" - including a pivotal "testing" sequence and a severed head gag. This is all just a little too self-consciously "hip" for its own good, right down to the soundtrack.The effects are a combination of some practical work and a fair amount of CGI, a lot of it rather ropey. Still, the monster design is pretty fun.The attractive young cast inhabit their roles reasonably well, and are supported by a superb bunch of veterans - also among them are Christopher McDonald are Woods' father, and Daniel von Bargen. Jon Stewart plays the science teacher! In small roles are Danny Masterson, Harry Jay Knowles, and Duane Martin.As youth-oriented genre fare in the post-"Scream" era goes, this is fairly entertaining stuff.One could take a drink of water every time a reference is made to water in this movie, but you'd probably have to go to the bathroom before long.Six out of 10.

More
NateWatchesCoolMovies
1998/12/27

Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty is a spectacularly funny gross out horror trash fest that has been a bit forgotten these days. It's a fun, lighthearted yet dangerous piece that plays like Dazed And Confused meets the Body Snatchers. In sleepy Midwest America, a deadly alien parasite attaches itself to the brain stem of a high school teacher, with the sole purpose of converting every human in town into a soulless vessel for these extraterrestrial hosts. The sassy, usually diverse bunch of high school jocks, nerds, weirdos, bimbos and social rejects are tasked with assassinating their whole faculty who has become infected. The effects are appropriately slimy, the performances are knowingly cunning, and the script, penned by Scream's Kevin Williamson, is a deftly comic 'scream' heh heh. Josh Hartnett makes a likeably sleazy lead as the local dealer who figures out the aliens weakness (I won't spoil the hilarious surprise). Clea Duvall, Shawn Hatosy, Jordana Brewster, Usher and a twitchy Elijah Wood are great as the students. Robert Patrick has a ball as the short tempered football coach moron, Bebe Neurith makes a silky, nasty villainess, and Jon Stewart, Salma Hayek, Piper Laurie, Daniel Von Bargen and shooter mcgavin himself all show up in memorable supporting turns. The film has knows how violent and nasty it should be to get that bite, but at the same time knows how to have fun, and be a unique, highly entertaining entry into the 'sarcastic teens vs. otherworldly monsters with a glib, self parodying script' subgenre.

More
Claudio Carvalho
1998/12/28

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")

More