Movie Review: The Faculty 1998 (Throwback)
You already know where I stand with horror movies. I adore them. Last week I went back in time to look for a movie that has a serious cult following and I found The Faculty. How have I not seen this all these years?
I know why.
We often joke about hating our teachers or teasing how they act like they’re from another planet. Turns out these teachers were from another planet.
Movie Synopsis
After a new student transfers to the school, mysterious things start to happen with all the faculty members acting really weird. Six students form an alliance to figure out what the issue is and put an end to it once and for all.
At first we meet the main characters of the movie.
Zeke, the walking contradiction. He’s the cook and junkie of the school, but also the smartest person in the school. There’s nothing he doesn’t know, but has failed senior year twice. Yeah. walking contradiction.
Casey the school photographer and bully target of the school. Alias what they call a loser. He has a crush on the cheerleader captain and was the key in figuring out what was happening to the teachers and students.
Stokly is the dark mood of the school. Always in black and always alone. She in turn has a crush on teh captain of the football team. Sounds off, right? The gothic queen with the captain. Not what you would expect, but it worked.
Delilah the cheerleader and just like her name suggests, she is a typical cheerleader who is only with the captain because of rank. She was among the first set of students to be turned.
Stan the captain who wishes for a normal life and for everyone to treat him like a regular kid. He wants to earn his way to college and not depend on a football scholarship. The director really wanted to throw people off with this one. This captain wasn’t a duche bag and didn’t like the idea of not earning his grades.
Marybeth the new girl who just wants to make friends.
The intense plot at the beginning where the principal tried to get away from one insane teacher only to run into another was just enough to keep me glued.
I’ve always wanted to do that.
Now I see where Johnny Walker got their phrase.
Just kidding.
The story is that of an alien species that flees from her dying planet to seek habitation on earth. You read it right. She. From the beginning I started guessing who the alien bug was, and I had two options. When the first one didn’t click, I knew it was the new girl. Yeah. The innocent new girl whom Zeke was falling for was the alien bug queen and to think they kissed.
Eww!
It’s funny how Zeke’s product was the cure. The drugs he peddled would be teh one thing that kept them safe and alive.
Guess who Casey is.
My precious.
No, not Smigul, Frodo. This was before his Lord of The Rings days of course. His eyes are so beautiful and he looked so young. Casey, the loser, would be the one to save them from the queen after they realise the alien are deathly allergic to Zeke’s drugs.
Usher Raymond didn’t have a main part in this movie so I wonder why he is on teh poster and not Stan. Stan, teh cheerleader is missing is almost every poster I searched for. I wonder why? Was it to appease teh demographic or maybe Usher was already a household name by then? Hmm.
I loved loved it. The scenes were intense and unpredictable. You didn’t know who was human and who was normal unless they sniffed the drugs.
A particular scene was so messed up. One of the infected teachers lost her head, and the head developed tails to search for teh body and attach itself. That scene will remain with me for a while.
Phew!
This has gone on for too long. The movie was good. It will still outdoor many mediocre horror movies of present time. Awesome watch.