cv794_15868.txt

 " the faculty , " the heavily-hyped and advertised sci-fi/horror film that has teamed up director robert rodriguez ( 1995's " desperado " and 1996's " from dusk till dawn " ) and screenwriter kevin williamson ( 1996's " scream " and 1997's " scream 2 " ) , is being called a cross between " invasion of the body snatchers " and " the breakfast club , " and i don't think i could describe it any better than that . 
the film sets up the six central teenage characters who do not seem to have much in common , and then the science-fiction aspect is added , involving the fear that the faculty at herrington high school are actually aliens who are quickly transforming everyone in the town . 
the six characters , as in " the breakfast club , " can be easily labeled as a stereotype , but as they are developed , they become far more complex : casey ( elijah wood ) , the much picked upon nerd ; stokely ( clea duvall ) , a goth outcast who hides behind the false facade of being a lesbian so everyone will avoid her ; zeke ( josh hartnett ) , a drug dealer who turns out to be a science whiz ; stan ( shawn hatosy ) , the star football quarterback who is considering quitting the team to concentrate more on academics ; delilah ( jordanna brewster ) , the popular cheerleader and newspaper journalist ; and marybeth ( laura harris ) , the sweet 'n southern new girl in town . 
although the characters are only slightly connected ( i . e . 
casey is delilah's photojournalist assistant ; marybeth tries to become buddies with stokely , since they both don't have friends , etc . ) , when they all begin to suspect the teachers due to some grotesque and strange occurrences , the only people they can count on for help is each other , even though they aren't really even sure if they can trust one another . 
 " the faculty " is another smart and pop-culturally hip film from williamson , although it does not equal up to his best film , the original " scream , " and rodriguez , whose " from dusk till dawn " is still one of the more original genre films of the 90's . 
williamson and rodriguez are so assured at their professions , respectively , that the idea of teaming up together is pretty much a no-brainer . 
the plotline of " the faculty , " involving aliens taking over other people's bodies , has been done quite a lot before , from " invasion of the body snatchers , " to " the puppet masters , " to " invaders from mars , " so one of the obstacles that williamson and rodriguez had to overcome was to somehow make the idea seem fresh , and by setting the goings-on at a high school and having the protagonists be a group of teens , they were mostly successful . 
surely , the conventions of the story are still the same , and the climax was inevitable , but there were a few surprises along the way , including the question of who were the aliens , and who weren't . 
the epilogue was also a refreshing change-of-pace as it did not set up a sequel but ended on a note that probably could not have been any better . 
the performances in " the faculty " were a treat throughout , since there were so many recognizable actors in roles that were the polar opposite of what they usually do . 
one exception were the teens , who , aside from elijah wood , are not very well-known , but they all aquit themselves nicely , particularly wood ( the seasoned pro ) , clea duvall , and jordanna brewster . 
as members of the faculty , robert patrick ( " t2 : judgement day " ) was creepy as the gym coach ; piper laurie was amusing and threatening as the drama teacher ; bebe neuwirth actually was somehow able to look like an alien ; and salma hayek , as the school nurse with a bad case of the cold , was very funny in a small role . 
the standout , in my opinion , of the whole cast was famke janssen who turns in an oddly touching performance as the shy and meek english teacher who , after turning into an alien , becomes the sex bombshell . 
if there was any problem i had with the faculty , it was that some of them were given no real payoff in the climactic sequence . 
since the teenagers realize that in order to save everyone they must kill the " queen " alien , many of the faculty members disappear . 
it might have been more fun if they had to face every one of the teachers , although the finale is still pretty impressive , and includes some showstopping creature effects , especially for a relatively low 15-million-dollar budget . 
although not one of the best horror or science-fiction films i have seen , " the faculty " is still an exciting and worthy film that dimension films was smart to release around the holiday season when this type of genre offering is usually not released . 
while the story is as old as the hills , it is also , in a way , timeless , because everyone , i think , has suspected at one time or another that a certain person simply did not act right , as if they really weren't human . 
and by putting this idea in the setting of a small-town high school , it perfectly contrasts with the alienation that most teenagers usually go through when relating to adults and other peers . 
+ note : the ad and poster campaign for this film is hugely misleading , as it features r & b artist usher raymond as one of the main characters . 
in actuality , he only has a small role as one of stan's buddies who becomes quarterback after stan resigns from the team . 
if i were one of the heads from dimension , i would change this advertising at once , since it is unnecessary and rather deceiving .