The Faculty

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Few movies can take the title of being “Really Cool”. What makes them cool? Usually it’s the story, the setting, the characters and the style in which the film is shot. “Sin City” did this perfectly in 2005, but six years before then when I was 17… I drank my very first beer… no, I mean a film came out that confirmed the beliefs of every high school student in the world – you’re teacher is an Alien! Once again fitting into the teen slasher genre of that decade, “The Faculty” is not as predictable as you’d think, and rises above most of the average horror / thriller teen fare of my day. Because it’s really cool! 

Given it’s a teen film, there are still a few clichés, but each have their own twist. The story centres on a dump of a high school in Ohio, where the senior year level is as socially segregated as mine was, so I could relate. We meet six very different teens, and each gets their own introduction with their name on screen in cool writing. Observe…

Casey (Elijah Wood). The small, scrawny nerd who takes photos of butterflies and eats his lunch alone on the football field. An easy target for bullies, but man, can he run fast. 

Stokely (Clea DuVall). The loner who reads science-fiction books in the library, and hides her face behind thick black mascara. Get’s labeled as an angry lesbian, but there’s more to her than meets the eye. 

Stan (Shawn Hatosy). The Jock. Plays football well, dates the head cheerleader, but wants to change tact and stop playing sports to improve his academics. 

Delilah (Jordana Brewster) The previously mentioned head cheer leader, girlfriend to Stan and all around Bitch! She gives Stokely hell, and just isn’t very nice in general. 

Mary-Beth (Laura Harris). The new girl in school, fresh from Atlanta, with her Southern accent, bright blonde hair and happy disposition. She tries to make friends with Stokely and gets noticed by the high school rebel

Zeke (Josh Hartnett). The rebel. Spends his high school days wheeling and dealing, distributing his own home-made drug, selling pornos to nerds and outsmarting everyone in his class – including his teacher. 

Most of the time, these characters pass each other in the hall, but rarely converse or respect each other – even Stan and Delilah who are a couple. Despite their differences, this band of misfits will have to work together to stop a full blown alien invasion. 

There was a teacher at my high school that was a little different, and although he most wasn’t an alien, he reminded me a lot of the football coach from this film (played by Robert “The Liquid Metal Terminator from T2” Patrick). My teacher, was also a P.E. teacher, and he was one angry bastard. In the later years of high school, I think he went through some kind of nervous breakdown. He would protest out the front of the school in support of higher pay for teachers, but at my bureaucratic high school, he was the only one who appeared to oppose. Still, he stood there with his sign in the air in the pouring rain, and usually just as the parents were dropping off their kids. I’m sure the rest of the staff were fucking embarrassed. Then in P.E. one time, we were playing volleyball in the gym. The ball went off the court, I ran after it and kicked it back into the game. It veered severely off course and hit the teacher in the head. I might as well have just hit myself instead, as he absolutely erupted in white hot rage. He yelled something I couldn’t understand, wrote a note and sent me to the Principals office. Whoa! How extreme I thought, and my class mates were just as shocked as me. I tried telling the teacher it was an accident, but he didn’t hear a word I said, instead kicking me out of the gym. Off I went to the Principals office, and upon arrival, the Assistant Principal was there, and I said “The P.E. teacher sent me here”. I almost never got into trouble at school, so the A.P. and another teacher were surprised to see me there. I explained what happened, clearly informing it was an accident, and described the teachers reaction in detail. I remember the A.P. and other teacher just looking at each other in shock but also an understanding of sorts. This particular P.E. teacher was known for his outbursts, and once I saw The Faculty, he became the butt of many jokes my mates and I would share, referencing him as the alien high school coach from the movie. Come to think of it, maybe my teacher was an alien. 

The Faculty was the perfect combination of script and direction. Once again, Kevin Williamson oversaw writing duties (as he did on Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer) and Robert Rodriguez was calling the shots. He burst onto the scene a few years earlier directing “Desperado” and the awesome Tarantino-fuelled vampire movie “From Dusk Till Dawn” so his raw energy and visceral style suited this film well. The movie can also be attributed for launching the careers of at least a few of its stars. Elijah Wood was already a well known child star and would follow up this film by landing the biggest part of his career; Frodo in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jordana Brewster would then get her signature role two years later in “The Fast and The Furious” as Mia. And Josh Hartnett, who had already turned in a breakthrough role a year earlier with “Halloween: H20” scored even higher with this film, stealing the show as tough guy Zeke. His character was given enough space to strut his stuff and Hartnett’s performance proved he could be the leading man and pull off some kick-ass action. Of course, he would go on to star in “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down” after this film. 

This has to be one of my favourite teen movies for all, because it barely puts a foot wrong. It had a great idea, cool action and clever special effects. And of course,, what teen couldn’t relate to one of the six main characters? A one point in high school, we all had that teacher we remember, for all the wrong reasons. Either they were horribly mean to us, completely out of touch with us, or just didn’t give a shit about us. What perfect justification to know those teachers could be aliens, and better yet, you could kick their ass knowing you were stopping an alien invasion and saving the world. The stuff of adolescent dreams…. 

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