In actuality, The Faculty is a classic and quintessential 90's movie (1998, to be exact). Remember when the first Scream was unique because it sort of parodied itself by toying with the rules of the slasher movie, while at the same time rebooting the genre for a new generation? The Faculty has similar goals, as it combines heavy high school angst with the paranoia of an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style alien takeover. I would describe it as The Thing meets The Breakfast Club. A group of high school stereotypes -- the jock, the geek, the outcast, the cheerleader, the new girl, and the junkie -- discover that the high school faculty, and the community, is steadily being controlled by aliens, and they have to band together to save the town.
Netflix: Does the pope shit in his hat?
Viewer: Dish Soap
First off, let me just say that The Faculty is a great combination of familiar faces that you'd never expect on the same screen. The cast includes Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster, Usher, Salma Hayek, Jon Stewart, and several others. In fact, fifteen years later, the high school setting resonates even more when you see this group of youngsters that is now all grown up. Like looking in a yearbook, you say "well, he went on to Lord of the Rings, she does Fast and Furious, that guy is a famous singer, whatever happened to her".
Which brings me to my main point: what I love about the story is how relatable it ends up being. First off, you have characters that, even though they are all high school archetypes, are multi-dimensional personalities. Each one is hiding a part of his or her self. The junkie is actually a brilliant chemist, the jock wants to quit sports and focus on his studies, etc. And in high school, who hasn't hid their true identity from everyone else, for fear of what others might think of them? It is an unwritten high school rule that you either conform to a cliche, or be cast out. It's interesting, in the open scenes, how we get a view of the high school setting that seems a bit extreme, but when you think about it, is pretty accurate. Characters calling each other names for bumping into each other in the hallway. A couple that is violently arguing every time we see them, but remain together for no reason. As the junkie, played by Josh Hartnett, is selling his new drug to some goons in a bathroom stall, the geek (Elijah Wood) is crying in the stall next to them after being bullied.
And as for the faculty being aliens. What high school student (although I probably felt this way more in middle school) hasn't wondered if his teachers, or even the other students, are all a bunch of aliens plotting against him. That is the period in your life when no amount of friends can make you feel less alone and awkward, trying to understand the thoughts and motivations of the people around you. This movie perfectly exemplifies that fear and paranoia, only instead of being a teenager's nightmare, it's real.
That's the beauty of The Faculty. The premise is of course one of science fiction, but you can't help but throw yourself into their shoes, because in your mind it's pretty much what high school was like. The director is Robert Rodriguez, which I did not know until looking it up just now. He is known for Sin City and the Desperado series (oh, and Spy Kids. What?). So it may come without saying that the movie occasionally gets rather bloody and violent (I did say it was like The Thing), but it isn't very excessive, and it adds plenty of scares.
All in all, I definitely recommend this one. Chances are, you already caught bits of it a decade ago when it was frequently on TV. But it's worth a revisit, if not to conjure up all those uncomfortable high school memories, then at least to get a good scare. You don't really need to drink to enjoy it, but hell, it couldn't hurt.
Beer rating: 1.5/10
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