The Faculty (1998)

Really Surprised!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL Don't you just hate those "friends" who belly laugh harder than anyone in the theater, and then, making conversation after the movie, you ask them, "Wow, you really enjoyed that, didn't you?" and they snap back, "What, are you nuts? That was the worst flick I've seen in years!" Well, that's definitely NOT me. Despite priding myself on usually disliking a lot of the JUNK churned out by Hollywood, after seeing the FACULTY, and looking into the depths of my soul, I must admit, begrudgingly, it is a rather entertaining movie! Fast-paced, shrewdly pressing all the viewer's buttons, in the right order, it does exactly what its producers want it to: Take you on a cinematic ride! Still, I'd like to issue TWO Brief Warnings: 1) If You're a Salma Hayek FAN.....Don't Blink! (You just might miss her altogether!) T.O.S.T. = About 4 or 5 minutes! 2) DON'T See IT a Second Time! It's like driving a car with no air in your tires! Believe me, I've tried it...Just doesn't work! ...Certainly, the first time, though, you should have some good fun! 6*...ENJOY/DISFRUUTELA! (Even if it's ONLY ONCE!) Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

Word of advice for writers, if your story idea is unoriginal then referencing that fact can give your story more credibility. However referencing how unoriginal your idea is repeatedly will only hammer home the point that we, the audience, should be watching better films.That brings us to the oddity that is The Faculty. This film is entirely a product of its time. You tell right away this film was conceived in an office somewhere to be popular with the MTV generation. The soundtrack is a hodgepodge of what you'd hear on the radio at the time. The setting the film up as a high school version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, or rather The Puppet Masters as the film is oh so willing to remind us, feels like shameless pandering. You can even see the jock vs outcast sentiment echoing through American youth at the time, the same sort of cultural sentiment which only a year later escalated into the Columbine Massacre. The film's saving grace was the fact it occurred at a time in which R rated films could be marketed to youths, because let's face it the film wouldn't have worked without the gore and the monster effects.The casting is really off here. Sure there are some great actors. There's also a rare on screen appearance by Jon Stewart. But all in all the casting choices give the film a lack of cohesion, like they just threw a bunch of random people in a movie.There are some great moments in the movie. It's probably worth a watch for the curious, but I wouldn't expect much going into it. It's basically a high school version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers where drugs are used to save the day (it sounds more interesting that it is). There is a plot twist near the end that is is predictable only because of how stupid of a twist it is. You'll be saying to yourself, "I bet... No wait, there's no set up for it.... That's too stupid." The film could have been saved a little more if it played up it's campy elements more, played more to the underlying humor of the concept. There are moments where it does this, for instance the football game where the team has signs with "kill" and the coach is moving with such cartoonishly gleeful gestures. Moments like this are great. Sadly they are few and far between. It's hard to believe Robert Rodriguez directed this.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers comes to high school in this sci-fi horror flick directed by Robert Rodriguez with a script from Kevin Williamson. The faculty at an Ohio high school are taken over by aliens and it's up to a motley crew of subverted teenage stereotypes to stop them. The 'teenage' cast is great with Josh Hartnett a standout (despite his embarrassing haircut). The actors playing the faculty members are all good and seem to be having a fun time in every scene. Most of them are recognizable names like Famke Janssen and Robert Patrick but a lesser-known one that deserves some praise is character actor Daniel von Bargen, who sadly died earlier this year. In addition to Body Snatchers, we get homages and references to many other films, including The Breakfast Club, The Thing, and Terminator 2. Solid direction from Rodriguez and a funny, self-aware script from Williamson. Both men were in their creative prime here. Good soundtrack also helps. It's a fun movie that has only gotten better over time.

One of the problems of coming up with a story is coming up with an original story . In fact there's no such thing as an original story since long before my lifetime so the problem is trying to bring an unoriginal story to the table and developing in an entirely new way . What about a new spin on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS ? How about setting it in an American high school and doing everything in a post modernist manner where the characters refer to all these alien infiltration movies ? If that isn't bad enough get Robert Rodriguez to direct it and you'll have a recipe for disaster I'm happy to report that years after THE FACULTY was produced it's far from a disaster but it suffers from two slight problems that it can't overcome . First of all the story is too overly familiar to be entirely successful . The 1978 remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS really surpassed the original and the terrifying premise was developed to its full potential and isn't a film you'll forget in a hurray . Compared to that masterpiece anything else is going to be lacking in comparison . Secondly there was a whole slew of movies in the 1990s either written by or inspired by screenwriter Kevin Williamson like SCREAM where smart ass teenagers find themselves in the same situation as other cinematic teenagers have been and feel the need to reference this . This fad died out as quickly as it appeared which means there's a very dated quality in watching these type of films almost twenty years later Not to be totally negative it is one of Rodriguez better films and he resists the temptation to bring stupid humour and unneeded gore to the movie . In fact the lack of gore makes it a strangely likable film in an era where horror films revolve around torture porn . The likability extends to the characters where even the rebellious drug dealing bad kid is a good kid at heart and seizes the opportunity to save the day . Compare this to the anti-heroes of ATTACK THE BLOCK who are total and absolute scum throughout the entire narrative and you notice the world of difference . . One thing Rodriguez could have done a bit better is bring a sense of crushing fear that seems to be missing here . That said as a sci-fi horror movie there's been a lot worse before or since this one