Faculty
The infathomable skills of director Robert Rodriguez are as such that he could probably make a film adapted from the phone book and it would wind up being fun, wild, and entertaining. To show what he could do with someone else’s material, he took this script from credited writer Kevin (Scream) Williamson that could best be described as Invasion Of The Body Snatchers meets The Breakfast Club and came up with this 1998 release that embodies everything RIGHT that should be done with a b science fiction story, right from the getgo with the tremendous energy shown in the presentation including a fast pace, a kick ass soundtrack (mostly consisting of 90s cover versions of classic teen rebellion rock songs), and a superb all star cast. The basic plot concerns a parasitic alien species that slowly but surely infests all the teachers and administrators at a small town suburban high school before setting its sights on the students and presumably, the world. Banded together to stop it are six students, all from different social classes, forming an unlikely and unwieldy bond to defeat the menace before it takes over everything. They include the school geek (Elijah Wood) who has become used to his daily beatings; the gorgeous head cheerleader (Jordana Brewster); the school rich kid / resident drug dealer (Josh Hartnett); the cute but lonely and angry Goth outcast (Clea DuVall); the star high school quarterback (Shawn Hatosy) having a crisis of conscience about still wanting to be a jock; and the new girl in town (Laura Harris) who carries a sweet, sunny disposition about her as she tries to fit in at her new school. Of the six leads, only Hatosy fails to bring the proper charisma or presence to his role, but the others all do a wonderful job bringing their archetypical characters to life and making them likable, engaging, and easy to root for against the imposing menace. As said though, this was an all star cast, and the other (mostly infected) actors include Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie (extra creepy), Christopher McDonald, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick (getting a LOT of effective screen time as the football coach), Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, Daniel Von Bargen, Danny Masterson, Wiley Wiggins, and even Harry Knowles. The film does suffer from some bad plot holes including a decapitated character who survives with little to no explanation along with writer Williamson’s tendency (as he did with Scream) to make his characters self aware of the similarities between the events of the story they’re in, and of films and stories from the past (like…you guessed it, Body Snatchers) which, while it was cute in Scream, wears out its welcome awful fast here. But for all the big name actors here, the real star is undoubtedly Rodriguez himself, keeping the action moving at a nice clip no matter how improbable the events may be, and throwing everything in from a scene that’s a direct homage to Carpenter’s The Thing to an unnamed teenage couple who wander into the film every now and then solely to be shown loudly arguing with each other and unleashing a slew of profanities to hilarious effect, plus a final twist that works so well it opens things up to multiple viewings. As a result, both the comedy and horror elements mix rather well, and it’s that factor, along with Rodriguez’s masterful skill as a director on full display, that allows this movie to still hold up well fifteen years since its release as one of the best popcorn films of its era…
8/10