20131027: Horror Review--The Faculty

The Faculty

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 1998, rated R, 104 minutes, horror, mystery, thriller, scifi.
2. IMDB: 6.3/10.0 from 72,536 ratings.  Estimated budget, 15 million USD; aspect 1.85
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 53% on the meter; 54% liked it from 185,366 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.5/5.0 from 1,225,710 user ratings.
5. Directed by: Robert Rodriguez; written by: Kevin Williamson.
6. Starring: Salma Hayack as Nurse Rosa Harper, Jordana Brewster as Delillah Profitt, Clea Duval as Stokely Mitchell, Elijah Wood as Casey Connor, Laura Harris as Marybeth Louise Hutchinson, Josh Hartnett as Zeke Tyler, Famke Janssen as Miss Elizabeth Burke, Piper Laurie as Mrs. Karen Olson, Bebe Neuwirth as Principal Valerie Drake, Robert Patrick as Coach Joe Willis, Jon Stewart as Prof Edward Furlong, Usher Raymond as Gabe Santora.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Odd goings-on at Herrington High in Ohio, featuring an all-star cast.


2. First the faculty, then most of the students, get taken over by alien parasites.


3. A small band of outsiders among the students manage to evade the parasites.


4. The local pusher discovers that one common drug kills the infested humans.


5. Next job, taking out the faculty, and finding the 'queen' of the parasites.


6. It all goes right down to the wire.


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: How would high school students handle the faculty being replaced by aliens?
2. Four stars of five.  I highly recommend seeing an uncensored version in HD.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Quite good.


2. Sound: 10/10 No problems.


3. Acting: 6/10 Mostly fine, with a few exceptions: Laura Harris, and Usher  Raymond come to mind.  On the other hand, most of the acting was competent or better.  I enjoyed Elijah Wood, Famke Janssen, Bebe Neuwirth, Piper Laurie, Clea Duval, Robert Patrick, Jordana Brewster, and Josh Hartnett.


4. Screenplay: 8/10 Story hangs together nicely; it's well worth watching.  Some years ago, I saw this on commercial television; that version had only VHS quality and about 200 lines of dialog replaced.  I found that version annoying, and would have rated it around 5/10.  With better picture quality, zero commercials, and the original lines in place, the film is much better.