The Faculty (1998)

This film fuses elements of the Breakfast Club with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Robert Rodrigues makes entertaining films, and does so consistently. The Faculty is no exception, though the formula is radically different from his standard approach. In place of large guns, spectacular stunt choreography and a silly soundtrack, Rodrigues made "The Faculty" with a classy ensemble cast and some awesome special effects. The script is also very good, featuring strong characterization and interesting dialog. All of these elements make The Faculty a very watchable film, and make up for the completely unoriginal and not very coherent plot.

The film begins as a paranoiac comedy about a typical high school where the students and faculty see each other as alien species. Ho hum. However, after about 20 minutes of set-up, the faculty really starts to become an alien species, as they are assimilated by water-loving parasites with very bad attitudes and a kind of group consciousness straight out of Invasion of The Body Snatchers and Star Trek's Borg. Six kids, very unlikely team-mates representing the archetypal teenage personalities of the postmodern world, team up to try to save the world, once they realize that the aliens can be driven off by, of all things, caffeine. Especially impressive are Elijah Wood, Piper Laurie, Robert Patrick, Josh Hartnett and Clea DuVall.

Like most of Rodrigues' films, The Faculty never loses its sense of humor, and pulls off its own absurdity with artful visualization and a tight, driving pace. Unlike many of Rodrigues' films, however, The Faculty is disposable - it's not really meant to be viewed more than once. See it if you're a Rodrigues fan, or somebody who enjoys the obscure but growing genre of horror-comedy.

Fmovies: This is pretty much the typical slasher, with just one twist. It's also helped by the fact that there's other things going on than just a bunch of killings; there are conflicts between the characters from the very beginning, before the killing starts. This is pretty unique for a slasher, and it definitely helps the film become more interesting. The plot is interesting, well, more interesting than slasher plots usually are. The acting is pretty much all very good, the actors nearly all give top-notch performances. The special effects are good, and mostly pretty convincing. I've heard a lot of people complain that this movie is a ripoff of the Carpenter classic "The Thing". While that film is the better of the two, this is by no means a simple ripoff. The plot in this is not the same, there are just a few striking similarities. I would rather think of it as a reference, something to honor Carpenter's abilities - Rodriguez was inspired by Carpenter, after all. I would recommend this to pretty much anyone who enjoys slasher movies, sci-fi flicks, or crossovers of the two genres. It's very enjoyable; the only thing I hated was that they had casted Elijah "babyface" Wood in one of the leads... oh well. You can't always enjoy all aspects of a film. 7/10

I remember first seeing this movie when I was young and I really liked it. I watched it again last night and nothing has changed. The idea is a fresh new twist on a common story and it has a great cast. Probably the best cast of any sci-fi horror that comes to mind.Its entertaining but not that scary.

This movie is about a group of students that attend high school. Everything goes along as normal until one day they start noticing their teachers acting very strange. After witnessing the teachers attack another teacher they reason the teachers have been taken over by aliens and the students are next.

This movie was actually pretty good even the monster that looked pretty cheesy didn't take anything away from this. Definitely a fun movie and entertaining watch.

The Faculty fmovies. The Faculty is an amazing film. Well-directed by Robert Rodriguez, this film will keep the viewer riveted to the screen. With a good, edgy story line laced with humor and with solid performances given by the stellar cast, the film will hit its mark with those who enjoy well made sci-fi films. Starring Clea DuVall, Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster and Elijah Wood those actors make this movie both thrilling and hilarious. This movie brings together six kids from different high school cliques: Casey the geek, Stockly the goth, Delilah the cheerleader, Marybeth the new girl, Zeek the juvenile, and Stan the jock. The plot of the movie is Some aliens take over all the faculty from a school and then try to start taking over the students as well. The queen alien was very scary looking. This film may not be Oscar worthy but it's definitely entertaining, This movie could of used a sequel.

It's a Robert Rodriguez film. It's a Kevin Williamson screenplay. You already know that it's in the same vein as'Bodysnatchers,' etc. Anybody who *doesn't* know this but saw and enjoyed the Scream flicks or the "I Know ..." movies is likely to enjoy this.

No, it doesn't really have the same underlying Red Scare theme of the original Bodysnatchers (or Arthur Miller's Crucible), although it *is* about what every modern high school movie seems to be about: how much their presumed roles imposed on teens makes their lives painful, and how great it is to unleash those strictures. Sure, it's not Bergman, but who really expects haute couture from a sci-fi horror flick? Oh, and any 'homophobia' attributed to the movie (as opposed to some of its high school student characters, just as occurs in real life) is questionable at best.

"The Faculty" is no more and no less than another entry in 'new geek cinema,' slightly more intelligent and self-referential than your standard SCI-FI Network fare. Appreciated on its own terms, or anything close to them, it's a lot of fun!

This is one of those films that you will love if you enjoy sci fi films. It is a satire of one of the best there is out there. Satires are only appreciated by a certain audience. If you didn't like "Heathers", "Scream" or "Shaun of the Dead", then don't bother watching this unless sci-fi comedies is your thing. This isn't just a comedy, it is shocking and has great twists and thrills along the ride. At times it is down right scary. Even sexy (nudity)! It is all around entertaining with some pretty good acting. My personal favorite is the couple that is always fighting, watch out for them! If you loved at least one of the FOUR film versions of "Invasion of The Body Snatchers" then you will truly enjoy the satire of this film, and how much it truly honors previous classics in the way that "Scream" did. Now some say this film is for Teenagers who don't know any better than to think this is a great sci-fi film, but the biggest fan of this film that I know is my 63 year old mother, and I am surely not a teenager anymore.

This film is a classic, and yes, it does feature teenagers as the main cast (not the actors.) But the adult characters make a great performance, and even Jon Stewart is pretty entertaining as the science teacher.

One film that you should stay for the cast credits just for Jon's appearance!