So, guys. This stupid pandemic is still going on. Yes, still. Luckily, there are so many fun movies out in the world to help pass the time, and this is absolutely one of them.
The Faculty is an absurd teen sci-fi cult movie from director Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, Alita: Battle Angel, Sin City) about a group of teens who one day begin to assume that their teachers are aliens. Of course, this brings with it a joke within itself: all teenagers believe their teachers are aliens or robots set to bring hell to earth at one point in their lives or another, right? Long story short, some very strange occurrences begin to unfold on the school’s grounds, and it’s up to a small group of them to figure out exactly what is going on.
Before we begin I’d just like to say, Robert Rodriguez serving early Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scream vibes… plus Famke Janssen? Here. For. It.
While we’re on the topic of the ensemble cast, watching The Faculty was basically like a fun game of “spot the now A List star”. Usher, Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Clea DuVall, Jordana Brewster, Bebe Neuwirth… Even if the film was terrible, you’d have a good time playing at least.
With its uber-nineties soundtrack, campy dialogue and humour, and typical high school tropes, this was right up my alley. No, it’s clearly not as good as Scream, but it’s so damn fun and I’m not sorry to admit that. What we need right now are nonsensical, ridiculous films like this. Let it fill that void for you.
The script itself is a little wishy washy at times and could do with a tighter focus, the CGI/effects make up is obviously dated, and Rodriguez has clearly made better films… But I don’t care. I miss films like this, where everything was a little less polished and more rough around the edges. Nowadays, teen films are bubblegum pop perfection; everything is glossy, smooth, and typically ‘pretty’. But not nineties teen films. The Faculty captures that grainy, low budget cult movie style so convincingly. Much better and more original than most teen horror you’ll see coming out of Hollywood today.
Too long? Yes. Super cheesy? Absolutely. Kinda lame? Definitely. But damn, it’s so fun. And all the movie references to Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, Alien and the like were brilliant too.
If anyone can recommend any movies similar to this please send them my way!
The Faculty is available to stream on Sky Cinema and Now TV in the UK.
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Overall Rating: ½ (Look! A half symbol appears! Honestly, it’s about time.)
The Quayside Review 