The Faculty
This will forever hold a special place in my heart and remain a guilty pleasure for me. Harlie said, after we watched it, “I give that a 6/10” and I replied, “yeah that’s about right”
But I love the hell out of it. It’s not quite goofy enough to be a parody of all the things it’s clearly parodying in terms of high school drama, like Delilah and Stan’s relationship. All of the teenage archetypes are here and it’s delightful to see them work together to achieve a common goal of thwarting an alien invasion, even if the aliens seemed pretty inept at their mission. The scene of the core group walking out of Jon Stewart’s classroom and through the school and into the parking lot is perfect at capturing the paranoia of being surrounded by aliens.
Also it’s a perfect setting for a body snatcher story because who doesn’t feel a little alien in high school? (And the movie goes to great lengths to keep highlighting that point)
Some stuff doesn’t age well, sure, but I love seeing practical effects at the end with the queen bee.
It’s got a killer cast, including the immaculate Famke Janssen, who I had a big crush on back in high school (and Jordana Brewster, so it’s a two for one).
This is probably my fourth rewatch of this and I never get tired of it. It’s campy, it often makes no sense, but it takes itself seriously and the performances are committed in a way that makes this charming and utterly rewatchable.
6.6/10