What is in this late-nineties feature that “guarantees to jack you up!!” for you?
Another weird sci-fi horror film with a motley crew of high-school students attempting to save their city from an invasion of body-snatching parasites. But what is not so random about this film is its director, ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, who is known for his world-famous ‘EL MARIACHI’ (1992), and screenwriter, KEVIN WILLIAMSON, who has credits on series like DAWSON’S CREEK, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, STALKER, and others.
The R-rated ‘THE FACULTY,’ which premiered in 1998, depicts a typical late-90s high-school milieu in which careless kids and their teachers try to focus viewers’ attention on their mundane lives. They fail miserably, as is customary! But do not fear; ‘the slithering parasitic aliens’ are in charge of this work, and they do it quite well.
With the creepiness creeping in slowly, this film becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. The background music is reminiscent of the film “INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS,” which is based on JACK FINNEY’s novel “THE BODY SNATCHERS.”
The first eight minutes of the film set the tone for the rest of the film, with the principal, Miss Drake (BEBE NEUWIRTH), and the football coach, Joe Willis (ROBERT PATRICK), engaging in a deadly dash and chase across the school grounds.
Rodriguez, the father of the cult film, manages to carve out a sophisticated, edgy monster thriller tale with a satisfying ending. So, let us get started on the autopsy of this teen horror, but before, we are sure you will not want to miss out on the other ‘drastic hell reigning creatures and their reign of terror’ related movies that we have here on ‘MARVELOUS VIDEOS.’ Are you not smart enough to understand what we are saying?! Please do your part, and we will do ours as well!!
The chronicles of the brain-altering Alien
The actual movie gears up when Casey (ELIJAH WOOD), also known for playing Frodo Baggins in LORD OF THE RINGS, the school newspaper photographer, is seen isolating himself on the football field on one of the plank seats. As he starts to leave the field, he stumbles over something that appeared like a blurry twig.
As soon as he starts examining it, he is faced by coach Willis who shuts him off from the ground. Casey after leaving makes it straight to Mr. Furlong (JON STEWART), the biology professor, where the class analyses the twig-like organism. When released in water it comes to life, outgrows itself and develops fangs and teeth, and also replicates.
The story moves forward with Stan (SHAWN HATOSY), the quarterback of the football team, showering in the boy’s locker room and his horrific experience with Jessica Brummel (SUSAN WILLIS) one of the staff teachers, in the shower.
Casey and Delilah (JORDANA BREWSTER) the editor-in-chief of Hornet Weekly and also the cheerleader-girlfriend of Herrington’s football captain, struggle to find a lead story for their newspaper.
They encounter something extremely petrifying in the Faculty Lounge while hiding inside the closet, where Casey proves his crush on the ‘bangs-girl.’ While in an attempt to escape from the lounge accompanied by coach Willis and another teacher, Karen Olson (PIPER LAURIE), they run into Principal Drake and Professor Tate (DANIEL VON BARGEN).
They soon realize that they would be of no help and that all of them were collectively a sign of huge danger. Amongst this chaos, heat waves are gushing between Stokely (Clea DuVall) the goth outcast, Stan in the classroom, and Zeke (JOSH HARTNETT) the senior year repeater/drug-dealer and Marybeth (LAURA HARRIS) the newcomer from Atlanta.
Is there a certain tradition in Atlanta to address yourself with your full-length name to everyone until you become familiar enough??
Away in the library, Casey and Stokely break the ‘QUIET PLEASE’ rule by arguing over the alien invasion, the possibility of it being very real. They also discuss the writer JACK FINNEY and his books on a similar topic and that “the aliens are getting at us through the fiction.”
As they try searching for the missing puzzle pieces through the theory of ‘PUPPET MASTERS’ they end up in the lab with the rest of the team. Here they find that the unknown species found by Casey has gone missing. In the journey to find the answers to their queries, they are faced with Mr. Furlong who turns out to be an alien infected human.
He is killed when Zeke stabs him in the eye with one of his ‘drug pens’, making his earlier wish of ‘putting a pen in his eye’ come true. Confirming an end to their flight, they land in Zeke’s affluent house which comes with a well-equipped attested lab. This kid is certainly the ‘Bachelor of Science’ with a filthy amount of wealth up his sleeve. Inspecting and studying the crimson-colored thumb-sized creature obtained after slashing the fingers of Furlong (which fall off like sausages), they come to the conclusion that it is a parasite and needs water for survival.
The drug is a diuretic, dries it out, and kills it. Stokely the sci-fi nerd extinguishes the remaining fire of curiosity by quoting “they are just turning us into mindless slaves they can control.” And to finish this disaster they have to end the ‘Queen Bee’ and there’s one amongst them, hiding under human skin. The only way to circle the odd one out is by taking ‘the SCAT test.’
Everyone waits for the results while tweaking and hallucinating till the moment Delilah’s face starts bursting with absurd rolling creatures after which she flees the spot. To save the football town, they have to isolate and kill the Queen and they don’t even have the slightest idea as to who the Queen is. Unless of course, it is Principal Drake, as she is the head of the school!
I can bet these bunch of funky freaky teenagers would make it into something like the HARDY BOYS. And if asked to be named, precisely nothing more than ‘DAREDEVIL MYSTERY SLEUTHS’ will suit the pack. But the daredevil-ing doesn’t come easy and neither the luck with it. Even after reducing the principal to ashes and fumes, it turns out that the plague hasn’t been eradicated from the rest of the state.
And above all they lost Stan to the parasite army. They have also been running out of their only weapon: the stash. Delivering a bit of a road-rash scene in the last half hour, Zeke manages to get the last traces of his ‘stash’, only with a huge unsettling scene flashing in front of his eyes.
Can anything be creepier than this half a minute clip? This will hold its place tightly in the accounts of the dirtiest bizarre horror scenes! Miss Burke is placing her decapitated head on her own body like she’s crowning herself the winner of some beauty pageant!
Back in the auditorium, Marybeth talks to Stokely about being an outsider and that it was getting tiresome to live a pretentious life. She was exhausted by this for a long time until the second she puts an end to her false identity and acquires her original form- “THE MASTER ALIEN, THE F***ING QUEEN BEE!!”
Alas! They finally discovered the Queen. And now she’s chasing Stokely and Casey, who is running in the air (running as fast as their legs could carry them) for their lives. They are later joined by Zeke who’s somewhat floating in between his human friends and the gross alien doppelganger.
Zeke is ambushed, leaving a wobbly and pale Casey against the room capturing a giant, vigorous, tentacled, large-headed snatcher-alien with a grossly roaring body. After a long communicable run and chase (suggestion: pursuit), Casey finally marks the instantaneous end to the alien’s empire by stabbing him, similar to the way the others were skewered.
By the looks of it, he seems to have developed some sort of a connection or sympathy for the alien as he states “you wouldn’t have liked it here anyway”; he understands what it means to be cornered and left out. Over a month later, life returns to normal at Herrington High where coach Willis is seen spitting out shitty words of wisdom to his respectable ‘Hornets’ like in the very beginning of the film.
But what remains is the question of whether Marybeth was a human transferred from Atlanta who was infected by the alien queen or had the head alien just shape-shifted into its ‘alter ego’ that was assigned to her by her now non-existent planet. Or whether like ‘super-cousins’ she was ported to the Earth by her ancestors to survive and rule her kingdom here.
I guess some mysteries are only meant to meet their end with its character and not be resolved; to leave us with numerous imaginative theories so that we can satisfy our thirst according to our comfort!
The ‘MENTICIDE’ parasitic aliens: brainwashing agents of Ohio
Sharing its physical identity with that of ‘The Watcher’ from THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, they first appeared in Ohio in the city of Herrington among The Faculty. They infect the host (mainly the human body) and then gain control over their bodies by entering the ear canal and taking over their brains. The aliens are natives of the Ocean-covered planets.
They are born swimmers, as their staple habitat is water where they multiply rapidly. Like other arthropods, they have a QUEEN which is hugely monstrous in appearance and possesses ‘immense physical & colossal strength’.
If she is targeted then all the other aliens would be unable to survive. Also, they host shape-shifting abilities which prove to be a huge benefit in delivering numerous baby aliens simultaneously. Their progenies are small enough to be compared to a fish-tadpole-like structured body with tentacles, head occupied with mandibles, and sharp-toothed mouths.
When they take over the mental facilities of their host, the subject’s personality is reversed from their natural state. They also reproduce asexually through ‘Regeneration’ as seen in the scene where a piece of the tadpole resembling a creature is separated from its body and then fuses itself inside the lab rat and grows into a whole.
They are fragile inside old-disoriented and dehydrated host bodies and the diuretic drugs make them feeble and insubstantial. That’s the reason why they were unable to thrive in Mrs. Brummel’s body!
Alien’s history and its ride to Earth
Theories and viewpoints suggest that these parasitic aliens might have originated on Mars which had an abundance of water on its surface. A ‘huge asteroid shower’ resulted in ‘cataclysmic destruction’ or deluge which eroded all the life forms on the planet by taking the form of a tsunami, hence engulfing all its inhabitants.
But this theory fails to prove the points responsible for the foundation of the whole existence and nativity of The Aliens.
As a result of a known tsunami, the planet’s conditions would have been the exact opposite of what they called a ‘dry out.’ Furthermore, it would have been more lavishing and fuller of life, that the creatures wouldn’t have to escape their home planet and strike terror on Earth.
Burrowing our heads deep, we might find the alternate ending of the same destruction which would have led to the evacuation of their planet.
An increment in the heat level along with Oxygen bonded with Iron will not allow water to recondense, resulting in hydrogen combining with carbon which will eventually lead to violent rates of global warming and greenhouse effects, ending the existence of the alien’s native home.
On the contrary, Earth seems to be the ideal and ‘next to clone’ habitat to raise their expiring realm as it has approximately 70% of water resources which is just enough to support their existence. Also, the aliens might’ve thought that they would be able to help humankind with their depressive and agitated survival menaces by setting them free from their ‘mind trap’.
It is evident when an alien influenced Stan says “it is so much better. There’s no fear or pain, it’s beautiful. And you’ll be beautiful. No problems or worries.” They could contribute to this world by unchaining people from their humane limitations. Thereby migrating to a football town and starting by absorbing the souls of the teachers in a local school.
WHY WATCH ‘THE FACULTY’?
Originally titled ‘The Feelers’, here’s why you should be watching this alien invasion trip to Earth.
for the 90’s high-school teen lives. The current sophomores and freshmen are the mirror image to the former, with contrasting traits. Honking roads with berserk teenagers snatching each other’s lives. Corridors packed with mad couples swearing on top of their lungs.
A false rumored shunned ‘violent lesbian’ who uses the tag as her security against people (*Clea DuVall is a lesbian American actress who appeared in 99’s popular drama-centered movie GIRL, INTERRUPTED).
The usual jock cheerleader pair who just tries to fit in and figure out their days ahead. An awkward introvert photographer who turns out to be the shining star as the credits roll. A newcomer girl with a sweet and delicate essence who tries hard to be a part of the new crowd and a mystery lady.
A brilliant drop-out stoner who owns a 1970 Pontiac GTO and a Colt Detective Special. And obviously for Usher’s film debut, the old lazy messy setup of the school with unsatisfied and wonky faculty.
The ‘Easter Eggs’ in this movie include SUMMER PHOENIX (the f***-you girl) the ‘JOKER’s real-life sibling, TINA RODRIGUEZ (the tattooed girl on the stairs) director Robert Rodriguez’s sister, HARRY KNOWLES (Mr. Knowles) famous for his “AIN’T IT COOL NEWS” movie news website, SALMA HAYEK (nurse Harper) who also shared the big screen with Elijah Wood in CHAIN OF FOOLS and SPY KIDS 3-D, and USHER (as Gabe), the successful pop-R&B artist of early 21st century.
Rodriguez’s films are highly appreciated for their soundtracks and this movie is laced with MARCO BELTRAMI’s sinister and nostalgic indie music, who has contributed his talent to movies like SCORE, FEAR STREET TRILOGY, VENOM, A QUIET PLACE, which speaks for themselves!
Fleshing the layers of suspense with light-hearted moments made the end much more acceptable and sleeky.
And the rest is for the sci-fi geeks and their terrific stories/theories which come to life on screen. You have gotten a fair idea by now about the rotating axis of this movie.
Also, it wouldn’t be fair if we already untangle all the knots for you, be a sage, and give yourself a bumpy ride around Herrington to unleash the finesse plotted throughout the movie. Peace out until the next monster-movie update!!