Movie Review #43: The Faculty (1998)

 

I decided to take a break from re-watching some reviled sequels from famous horror franchises and I decided to discuss a 1990s horror film. or well horror/sci fi film. This is one of my favorite things about the horror genre is that it works so well with other genres so well. You can easily have horror comedy. horror action. horror sci fi. horror period pieces. Like the only period pieces that I can think of that I honestly enjoy watching are horror films. You know like Dracula and shit. The horror/sci fi movie that I decided to talk about was 1998s The Faculty.

It amazes me and saddens me that this movie wasn't a big enough hit to get a sequel. I literally wanted an entire series of these movies. I loved this flick so much. I want them to make a sequel now. I mean if we have to take 12,000 remakes of things that really do not need to be remakes. Give us a sequel to something that could easily make a sequel of. As you can tell from me who want's a sequel so badly that this is a movie I really love. This movie has so many likable characters and entertaining comedians and character actors as the teachers. I love that George Costanza's boss from the last few seasons of Seinfeld is in this movie. Just seeing that guy makes me smile. 

So it turns out that an alien has come to earth and is using parasites to take over the Faculty and then student body of a local high school in a small town in Ohio. It's then up to a small group of six kids to stop the alien queen and turn everyone back into each other. I kinda love how all of the characters in this movie are kinda dickheads to each other. It's really quite amusing to me honestly. Several of the characters do not like each other and have to work together to stop the alien queen.

I also like how this movie homages other stuff like the scene where they have to take the drug that Josh Hartnett's character makes to prove that they aren't an alien, which is pretty much like the scene from The Thing but with a lot of goofy "Oh lol im high now" acting from Elijah Wood and that guy who's name I forget but I swear was in a ton of stuff around this time. The acting in this movie is really good, all the characters feel like they are real people, like George Costanza's boss wife has left him and he is totally de-moralized and doesn't care at all anymore. 

I do call bullshit on Jon Stewart's character surviving though. Aint no way that dude's getting out of that situation with just having to wear an eye patch as they show in the ending credits. Is that canon? Has any really annoying fan asked Kevin Williamson or anyone who wrote the movie that question? I would like to know.

FINAL VERDICT: Anyway, I'm having a great time revisiting these movies to talk to you about for the Great Fantastic Cool Good Time Sensual and Fun and Great Halloween Spooktacular Super Spectacular. I hope you are enjoying it! Watch this damn movie if you haven't!