{"id":14349,"date":"2023-10-08T15:28:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T14:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/?p=2037797"},"modified":"2023-10-08T15:28:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T14:28:36","slug":"the-faculty-future-stars-held-back-in-mediocre-b-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/08\/the-faculty-future-stars-held-back-in-mediocre-b-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Faculty\u2019 \u2013 Future Stars Held Back in Mediocre B-Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Rodriguez\u2019s \u201cThe Faculty\u201d (1998) is to the horror genre what \u201cYoung Guns\u201d (1988) is to the western.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Its youthful, sometimes very fun and overly familiar and it plays the same notes we\u2019ve heard many times before.<\/p>\n

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A group of very-’90s teens led by Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood, become aware that the teachers at their high school are behaving in bizarre, unfathomable ways.<\/p>\n

Everything that made these no-nonsense teachers intimidating before is now elevated, as the gym teacher (Robert Patrick, visibly having a blast) is now an even more pronounced bully, the mousy Miss Burke (Famke Janssen) turns aggressive and the principal (Bebe Neuwirth) takes on an ice cold stare.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve seen John Carpenter\u2019s \u201cThe Thing\u201d (1982) or Abel Ferrera\u2019s \u201cBody Snatchers\u201d (1993), then you\u2019ve not only watched the superior version of this but could ably reference all the moments from those movies that get fully ripped off here. Rodriguez gives this the R.L. Stine kick it needs to succeed on its own terms but the expected excitement from his \u201cEl Mariachi\u201d (1992) and \u201cDesperado\u201d (1995) are absent.<\/p>\n

The kinetic energy you\u2019d expect from Rodriguez just isn\u2019t here.<\/p>\n

Once it finally cuts loose in the third act and fully invests in becoming an all-out creature feature, \u201cThe Faculty\u201d belatedly delivers on its promise. Otherwise, the mix of gore, cheeky humor teen posturing is uneasy.<\/p>\n

With scenes of teens shooting and attacking their teachers (because they\u2019re aliens\u2026they think), \u201cThe Faculty\u201d could only have been released a year before the Columbine school massacre.<\/p>\n

In fact, this was the last hurrah for the Dimension annual Kevin Williamson\/Christmas horror movie. The screenwriter’s momentum from Wes Craven\u2019s \u201cScream\u201d (1996) and \u201cScream 2\u201d (1997) and “The Faculty” came to a halt with the 1999 release of the idiotic \u201cTeaching Mrs. Tingle.”<\/p>\n

As in Williamson\u2019s \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek,\u201d the dialog is often too showy and literate to come from the mouths of teens this dopey.<\/p>\n

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Most of the conversations are crass and ugly, with a lesbian subtext it doesn\u2019t know what to do with but an exploration of high school movie cliches that go into overdrive. For example, the \u201ctest\u201d scene from \u201cThe Thing\u201d becomes the ultimate confrontation of peer pressure here.<\/p>\n

The whole conformist vs. outsider teens gets the expected extraterrestrial spin, but the most unique angle here is that, as evidenced from the opening scene, the teachers are full of as much angst as their students.<\/p>\n

The large ensemble cast isn\u2019t properly utilized, as it feels like Patrick, Laurie and Neuwirth are absent from too much of the second and third act. Meanwhile, Hartnett has too much screen time and Wood seems like he was belatedly made the film\u2019s lead (the awful closing scene reeks of a reshoot and seems to confirm a possible test screening repositioning of Wood\u2019s stature).<\/p>\n

Most of the teens are unlikable, with Wood and Laura Harris being the biggest exceptions. The killer teachers are best, with Patrick absolutely terrific (the scenes of him standing ominously outside in the way of sprinklers is hilarious).<\/p>\n

Until it finally goes full tilt in the last reel, \u201cThe Faculty\u201d is too hit and miss to be as good as you\u2019d hope, but the best scenes are impressive. Even the obvious CGI somehow works because the monster concept is so impressively gross.<\/p>\n

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#TriviaTuesday<\/a>: The Faculty (1998) was Usher's first film. pic.twitter.com\/5vPODvKzkq<\/a><\/p>\n

— AF_ElijahWood (@AF_ElijahWood) November 24, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n