Rating: R
Genres:
Science Fiction
Horror
Theatrical Release: 12/25/1998(USA)
Release Date: 06/29/1999
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: English
Sound: 5.1/2
Run Time: 104 min
Flags: Violence, Brief Nudity, Suitable for Children, Not For Children, Adult Language, Drug Content, Sci-Fi Violence
Distributor/Studio: Dimension
Miramax Films darlings
Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter
Kevin Williamson teamed up for a high-school alien-horror film that they described as
The Breakfast Club meets
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Dilapidated Herrington High is the location for a story about a school faculty taken over by outer-space creatures, forcing the students to take charge and kick some alien butt. School faculty members (
Robert Patrick,
Bebe Neuwirth,
Salma Hayek, and
Jon Stewart) are infested with rapidly reproducing space worms that take over their minds and bodies. But never fear, because at this school, between hazing the student body and having sex in the locker room, a
Scooby-Doo-ish group of high school students is ready to fight back. The up-and-coming acting talent includes R&B singer
Usher Raymond,
Elijah Wood,
Clea DuVall,
Josh Hartnett,
Shawn Hatosy,
Laura Harris, and
Jordanna Brewster. The story is nearly irrelevant, as the real stars are the action and lots of special effects.
~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
Essentially an attempt to do for the science-fiction/thriller genre what the author had done for the slasher film with 1996's
Scream,
Kevin Williamson's
The Faculty raised the question of where to draw the line between homage and theft. Lifting its plot directly from
Jack Finney's
The Body Snatchers and the films it inspired,
The Faculty ostensibly gets itself off the hook by mentioning Finney's story in the film itself. Was it post-modernism or plagiarism? Regardless, with
The Faculty, Williamson and director
Robert Rodriguez craft a tight, suspenseful, consistently entertaining (up to a ludicrous finale), and subversive thriller. It's this last quality that most reviews at the time seemed to overlook. The
Body Snatchers formula makes a natural fit for the film's conformity-mad high school setting and Williamson and Rodriguez make the most of pitting a band of outsiders, however photogenic and stylishly clad, against the personality-sapping forces of evil. Buried within you'll also find a not-particularly-subtle pro-drug message, an unusually unwholesome element which is at least at odds with the squeaky-clean images of high school put forth by the era's wave of teen films (
She's All That, et al.).
~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
