They don’t make teen horror like The Faculty  anymore. Its plot has elements of classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Blob. It’s a perfect ‘90s mix of teens distrusting adults, rebelling against expectations, and drugs saving the day, all set to never-ending stream of needle drops. 

• Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
• Written by: David Wechter. Bruce Kimmel. Kevin Williamson
• Starring: Jordana Brewster. Clea DuVall. Laura Harris

The Faculty presents us with the worst-case scenario of what a Hollywood low-income high school looks like. It’s filled with all the standard teen tropes turned up to eleven.  It has to, in order to make its central thesis. These kids are screwed, either by circumstance or their own personal choices. What helps keep this from being too over the top is that the dialogue really works. Kevin Williamson, you know, from Scream, worked on the script. I think it helped. 

The Cast

Early on, we meet a very stacked cast of characters, ranging from the nerdy outcast Casey (Elijah Wood), mean girl Delilah (Jordana Brewster), gothy outcast Stokley, frustrated superstar jock Stan, and drug-dealing slacker Zeke. The teachers include Jon Stewart, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Famke Jansen, and Salma Hayek.  This is a legit huge cast, and it’s used well. 

As far as a body-snatcher-type movie, the plot points are all fairly standard.  A select group starts to notice that things are amiss. People start behaving oddly or go missing. Of course, parents and other adults don’t believe Casey and the other kids. This allows the parasites to spread quickly. 

In between the moments of tension and sci-fi fun, there are legit teen drama moments that make these kids more than just monster-bait. They are Hollywood real, but that’s close enough. 

About the point in the movie where only the core cast is left unassimilated, the movie has found its grove and its point. Stan makes it pretty clearly in a conversation about quitting football: it’s better to be an honest failure than a revered fraud. Success and acceptance at the cost of your identity and humanity isn’t worth much. These are all impactful themes for the core audience, late ‘90s teens.  They should be impactful themes today. Everyone could use a little reminding about the dangers of giving up your identity for acceptance. 

The Good

There is so much The Faculty does right. When I talk about a well-written script, the types of decisions made here are really what I’m talking about.  Setting the script in a small town that’s dependent on football starts with an environment where there are already expectations and pressure to conform.   This could have been in any high school, after all Body Snatchers was set in San Francisco, and been, well ok. But there is something about small town pressure,  or rather, small group pressure. 

In addition to themes of rebellion and individuality, The Faculty also has some interesting things to say about the benefits of casual drug use. What can I say? It was the ‘90s. 

The Death of Individualism

There is something so interesting about Marybeth’s argument for joining the hive mind. She makes the case that she can offer Casey an existence with no fear.  She makes it sound like she is offering him courage, but it’s stagnation. Everyone will like you, because you will no longer be you, isn’t the strong closer she may have been going for. 

At least it shouldn’t be. We don’t really get a lot of movies with strong themes of individualism these days. We have a lot of media where people find acceptance, and there is a huge focus on found-family in media as of late. But finding a place in a group isn’t really the same thing as embracing your own strengths and weaknesses. 

Which is Why the End of The Faculty Sucks. 

After making a strong case for the strength of the one, the movie ends with each of these miscreants diluting their attributes to better blend with the crowd. From some reason, the chain –smoking, drug-dealing drop out becomes a football player. The goth girl wears purple and dates the former jock, and the nerd and the head cheerleader are, for some reason, dating.  Everyone is happier by being less themselves.

This undermines the entire theme of the movie. I get the temptation to resolve the teen’s seemingly unhappy lives, but this is a lazy way to do it. It’s a glaring flaw in an otherwise fun movie. 

Final Thoughts

If you are in for some fun, mildly referential, teen sci-fi nostalgia, The Faculty is worth a watch. It’s very much a product of its time, but other than a let-down of an ending, it has a lot to enjoy. If you are looking for something more philosophical or deeper, this might not be what you are looking for.

The Faculty is available on streaming.