Another Robert Rodriguez film, and another one with a cult following. You all know Rodriguez for several movies such as Sin City, Desperado, and of course, who could forget his all time classic loved by many… Spy Kids. So says IMDb scores. Anyway, this was a movie that, while mixed by critics, managed to gross over $40 million at the box office, and got a cult following. I also read a review somewhere, saying that this movie was a cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Terminator, and The Breakfast Club… If that’s the case, than I think we may have found the greatest movie of all time. So, let’s take a look at The Faculty.
So, just like Nightmare on Elm Street, The Faculty takes place in a small town in Ohio (Even though it was shot in Texas). So, the movie follows Casey Conner, who probably wins the award for Biggest Bully Bait in a Horror Movie, who gets knocked around by bullies and is the assistant to the editor-in-chief of the Newspaper Club and head cheerleader, Delilah Profitt, who also mistreats her boyfriend, Stan Rosado. Then you got the rest of the cast of characters. Zeke Tyler, the local drug dealer. Marybeth Louise Hutchinson, the transfer student, and Stokely Mitchell, the outcast. Together, they all have awkward and wacky adventures in their high school, like stopping a parasitic alien life form from taking the humans bodies and turning them into a race of aliens…… Wait, what?
So yeah, the movie is… a bit of an odd one this time around. Instead of being the typical Body Snatchers sort of film, we now get a Body Snatchers in Saved by the Bell, only a million times less nineties… but still a bit nineties. The script was rewritten from the original work in order to be more hip with the generation. I think this sort of hip this is why critics hated the movie. The aliens in this movie, in their original form, don’t look too scary. They just look like pale little worms. However, the macabre beauty of the special effects don’t start until they infect the inside of a human.
When the parasites infect a human in this movie, they just look like normal humans. It’s the typical Body Snatchers, Parasyte, and The Thing sort of concept. However, they seem to behave differently. They all try to convince the people that they are normal, even if they are acting differently. Yet whenever they are able to infect a person, they do so by shooting a parasite from their mouth and into their ear, so the parasite can attach themselves to the brain. It gets to be pretty messed up, especially when they are trying to infect the opposing football team after the school's football team has already been infect. However, like all things, these aliens too have a weakness. The Thing is weak to fire, Parasytes can’t live without a host. These aliens die from drug overdose. It turns out that drug dealer Zeke is more useful than you may think. His ecstasy-like drug is actually a very toxic sort of drug that can kill the aliens, and turn the people infected back to normal. And Ronald Reagan says drugs kill…. They do, but for once, it’s good (Note: Don’t do drugs).
But don’t you all worry. I still do have some problems…. Also, there are some things in the movie I don’t like. Like the Parasite Queen. Sure, it may look neat, and the design is nice, but it’s just in some CGI that looks pretty outdated. I mean, sure, it may have looked nice back in 1998, but nowadays… not much. And don’t say that there were limitations at the time. John Carpenter’s The Thing came out years prior, and the monsters in that movie look amazing in comparison. Mostly due to because they had make-up instead of CGI. Guess Rodriguez had to get his CGI practice somewhere before he made Spy Kids 3. I did also cringe at a few high school stereotypes. Sometimes, I was fine, but some like the child stereotypes was just…. UGH! But, I was able to let it slide… Because the movie was just so insane and entertaining, that I ended up loving it.
I already talked about how From Dusk Till Dawn, another Rodriguez movie, wasn’t the most critically acclaimed film ever, but still managed to get some enjoyment from people, and get a cult following. I think the same could be said for The Faculty. Sure, it’s not as good as From Dusk Till Dawn, and sure, it won’t be winning any awards for scariest picture anytime soon (Even though it was nominated on several accounts. No, really. This is true), I still think that, if you can handle bizarre stories, and some high school stereotypes, it’s a pretty good movie. The Thing invading The Breakfast Club? What’s not to love about that? It’s a dumb idea, but I say check it out. Take care.
Up next on October Movie Marathon: The zombie movie that started it all… And is not White Zombie.
So, just like Nightmare on Elm Street, The Faculty takes place in a small town in Ohio (Even though it was shot in Texas). So, the movie follows Casey Conner, who probably wins the award for Biggest Bully Bait in a Horror Movie, who gets knocked around by bullies and is the assistant to the editor-in-chief of the Newspaper Club and head cheerleader, Delilah Profitt, who also mistreats her boyfriend, Stan Rosado. Then you got the rest of the cast of characters. Zeke Tyler, the local drug dealer. Marybeth Louise Hutchinson, the transfer student, and Stokely Mitchell, the outcast. Together, they all have awkward and wacky adventures in their high school, like stopping a parasitic alien life form from taking the humans bodies and turning them into a race of aliens…… Wait, what?
So yeah, the movie is… a bit of an odd one this time around. Instead of being the typical Body Snatchers sort of film, we now get a Body Snatchers in Saved by the Bell, only a million times less nineties… but still a bit nineties. The script was rewritten from the original work in order to be more hip with the generation. I think this sort of hip this is why critics hated the movie. The aliens in this movie, in their original form, don’t look too scary. They just look like pale little worms. However, the macabre beauty of the special effects don’t start until they infect the inside of a human.
When the parasites infect a human in this movie, they just look like normal humans. It’s the typical Body Snatchers, Parasyte, and The Thing sort of concept. However, they seem to behave differently. They all try to convince the people that they are normal, even if they are acting differently. Yet whenever they are able to infect a person, they do so by shooting a parasite from their mouth and into their ear, so the parasite can attach themselves to the brain. It gets to be pretty messed up, especially when they are trying to infect the opposing football team after the school's football team has already been infect. However, like all things, these aliens too have a weakness. The Thing is weak to fire, Parasytes can’t live without a host. These aliens die from drug overdose. It turns out that drug dealer Zeke is more useful than you may think. His ecstasy-like drug is actually a very toxic sort of drug that can kill the aliens, and turn the people infected back to normal. And Ronald Reagan says drugs kill…. They do, but for once, it’s good (Note: Don’t do drugs).
But don’t you all worry. I still do have some problems…. Also, there are some things in the movie I don’t like. Like the Parasite Queen. Sure, it may look neat, and the design is nice, but it’s just in some CGI that looks pretty outdated. I mean, sure, it may have looked nice back in 1998, but nowadays… not much. And don’t say that there were limitations at the time. John Carpenter’s The Thing came out years prior, and the monsters in that movie look amazing in comparison. Mostly due to because they had make-up instead of CGI. Guess Rodriguez had to get his CGI practice somewhere before he made Spy Kids 3. I did also cringe at a few high school stereotypes. Sometimes, I was fine, but some like the child stereotypes was just…. UGH! But, I was able to let it slide… Because the movie was just so insane and entertaining, that I ended up loving it.
I already talked about how From Dusk Till Dawn, another Rodriguez movie, wasn’t the most critically acclaimed film ever, but still managed to get some enjoyment from people, and get a cult following. I think the same could be said for The Faculty. Sure, it’s not as good as From Dusk Till Dawn, and sure, it won’t be winning any awards for scariest picture anytime soon (Even though it was nominated on several accounts. No, really. This is true), I still think that, if you can handle bizarre stories, and some high school stereotypes, it’s a pretty good movie. The Thing invading The Breakfast Club? What’s not to love about that? It’s a dumb idea, but I say check it out. Take care.
Up next on October Movie Marathon: The zombie movie that started it all… And is not White Zombie.