The Faculty may only look like some teenage crappy movie, but I assure you it’s not. What could be better than a high school comedy with high production values, an excellent cast, and a tight script? Well, a high school comedy with high production values, an excellent cast, a tight script, and fucking monsters! This movie is just so damn entertaining and juicy. The special effects look fucking amazing as the CGI was finally starting to become the norm. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer the practical effects but I have nothing against this quality of special effects.
Directed by the almighty Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Machete, Hobo with a Shotgun) and starring an ensemble of now very familiar faces, The Faculty truly deserves the cult status that it has. I could practically list the whole cast and I’m sure you would know most of them. Even the fucking Famke Janssen is in this thing, I mean how did they know that I have a crush on her? And I’m not even going to mention Jordana Brewster in her first role ever. I mean, did she nail it or what?
The plot thickens in the first five minutes generating tension that’s going to sustain this blend of science fiction, horror and comedy for ninety minutes. The characters are stereotypical but well developed and have great chemistry with each other. It just seems that everybody had fun while making The Faculty. Since I was still in high school when I first saw it, it holds a special place in my heart. However, after all these years, it has a certain nostalgic charm to it.
Herrington High School in Ohio is about to become the place that’s going to decide the faith of the entire planet. One day, a student is going to bring a strange new creature to his science teacher Mr. Furlong for further inspection. It will turn out that the creature is still alive and previously unknown to science. However, what they don’t know is that the infestation has already begun.
Connections with Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and The Thing are subtle and well explained. I mean, we all know this isn’t the most original movie of all time but at least it’s entertaining as fuck. The Faculty does not take itself seriously, leaving room for jokes and funny one-liners. The special effects are fucking phenomenal and they still hold up after all this time. I just wish there were more creature scenes.
Following in the footsteps of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Craft, this is a big production that achieved all its goals. If you’re looking for more modern movies like The Faculty, I recommend you check out Freaks of Nature, Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and Freaky. I also must add to this Deathgasm, a hilarious horror/comedy coming from New Zealand. Finally, if you found the creature here fascinating, as I did, do take a look at Life, an excellent science fiction horror movie in the vein of Alien.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writers: David Wechter, Bruce Kimmel, Kevin Williamson
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, Elijah Wood
Fun Stuff: Harry Jay Knowles found out on the set of this movie that there’s a new Lord of the Rings adaptation in works and urged Elijah Wood to go for it. The rest is history.
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IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133751/
