The Faculty

Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Written by Kevin Williamson

Starring...
Elijah Wood - Robert Patrick - Josh Hartnett
Clea DuVall - Laura Harris - Shawn Wayne Hatosy
Jordana Brewster - Bebe Neuwirth - Jon Stewart

Rated R
4 stars out of 5 (****)

Reviewed by Steve Kuhn
(Author's note: Excuse me if I suck, I'm no journalist. -Steve)

1998 was not a very good year for the horror genre. Audiences were fed crap like Disturbing Behavior, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Halloween: H20, Urban Legend, John Carpenter's Vampires, the list is virtually endless. And to top off the fact that all of these movies sucked, they were all so bad that even horror fans like myself couldn't find any reason to enjoy them.

To round off the year, Dimension released The Faculty, an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-type story where a small town in Ohio is invaded by worm-like aliens who need human hosts. The aliens first take out the faculty at the local high school, and slowly spread into the entire town population. The concept isn't all that original, and doesn't make the movie a must-see in any way.

But put a guy like Robert Rodriguez at the helm and I'll kill for a front-row seat.

Also, to sweeten the deal, we're told that Kevin Williamson, well known for his screenplays for Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, wrote it, ensuring that even more people push and shove to get into the theater.

So what we have here is a pretty bad concept, with some A-List names attached. The result is a very good movie.

Now I'm pretty mixed on my opinion of Kevin Williamson. The guy has talent, but his scripts can get pretty annoying. His dialogue is sometimes VERY fake and VERY lame, but he has a knack for setting up really elaborate scenes that always seem to boil down to a cat-and-mouse chase. I get really annoyed at the way he always does a "mini-movie" before the real movie, that's usually the first 10 minutes or so of the film. In The Faculty the mini-movie is very unnecessary and very stupid. I felt the same way about his mini-movie in Scream 2 and I never stopped complaining. But I'll stop complaining about this one because this movie has far too many good qualities to overlook.

Now on to the real reason I wanted to see this flick. Robert Rodriguez. Well known for El Mariachi, Desperado, and his most recent film (and his first horror) From Dusk Till Dawn. A Rodriguez film can be recognized by its wild use of color, and Raimi-style sweeping camera movements. Not to mention the super-tight editing and excellent use of music. All of these qualities show in The Faculty in a BIG way. The camera is tossed around with extreme precision and skill, always capturing the "perfect" shot. The editing is fast and keeps the action flowing and the blood pumping. And the music keeps the pace steady, especially in a particular scene that showcases all of Rodriguez's skills at a football game, blaring Pink Floyd in the background.

As for the performances, some are good, some are bad. Elijah Wood shows a lot of flexibility, really demonstrating his skills as an actor here. He was the highlight. As for the rest of the performances, none of them stood out, except when they were BAD. I had trouble watching Clea DuVall and Laura Harris on the screen. Both certainly were 100 notches above the so-called "acting" you see in a high school play, but neither ever conveyed a solid sense of realism. This is why Elijah Wood is so good. He shows an enormous range in his acting, and never once did I think of him as an actor. Kudos to Elijah!

And as for fun stuff, this puppy is loaded. Internet geeks will recognize a cameo by Harry Knowles, comedy fans will enjoy the small but important part by Jon Stewart, movie fans will enjoy seeing Robert Patrick being a bad-ass again instead of a pussy-foot (like in Striptease), and who wouldn't enjoy the always-good Salma Hayek? As for Usher... stick to your music, buddy.

So overall this is a very good movie. The WONDERFUL direction by Robert Rodriguez keeps a lighting-speed pace, extraordinary cinematography, and a sense of style that is just too good. The flaws are fairly minor and insignificant. The poor dialogue, rip-off script (the script manages to rip off John Carpenter's The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, and even The X-Files all at once!) and super-cheesy product placement are noticeable but forgivable. The story evolves well, keeping it fairly low-key at first then kicking it into 5th-gear for the second half. And the plot twists are really, really sweet.

For horror fans, especially fans of From Dusk Till Dawn, this may come as a disappointment. The gore is very minimal, and there is never a good blood-bath scene. But don't let this drive you away, this one is a must-see, especially for horror fans. When I saw this I had spent the day watching the Evil Dead trilogy, so I had "HORROR" embedded into my brain. I found myself sighing many times wishing for some Raimi-style gore or maybe a nice lawnmower bloodbath, but I couldn't help but enjoy this flick in every way.

This is a very, very fun film. Go see it.

Back to 4 boxes