The Faculty

The Faculty is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed and edited by Robert Rodriguez with a screenplay by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, and Elijah Wood.
The film was theatrically released on December 25, 1998, by Miramax Films through Dimension Films. It grossed $63.2 million and has developed a cult following since its release.
One evening at Herrington High School in Ohio, teachers and Principal Drake leave after discussing the school's budget. When Drake returns to retrieve her keys, she is attacked by the school's football coach, Joe Willis. Drama teacher Mrs. Olson emotionlessly stabs Drake with scissors as she flees the school.
The following morning, the students arrive, including Casey Connor, the dedicated but perpetually harassed photographer for the school newspaper. Casey is the unappreciated assistant to spiteful Delilah Profitt, the paper's editor-in-chief and head cheerleader. Delilah's mistreated boyfriend Stan Rosado is contemplating quitting the football team to pursue academics. Zeke Tyler is an intelligent yet rebellious student repeating his senior year. Zeke sells, among other illegal items, a powdery ecstasy-like drug he distributes hidden in ballpoint pens. He is confronted by English teacher Elizabeth Burke, who expresses concern for him over his illegal activities. Naive transfer student Marybeth Louise Hutchinson befriends self-styled outcast Stokely Mitchell, who has deliberately spread rumors that she is a lesbian though she has a crush on Stan. Marybeth develops a crush on Zeke which is reciprocated.
Casey finds a strange creature on the football field and takes it to science teacher Mr. Furlong, who believes it is a new species of cephalopod-specific parasite called a mesozoan. Delilah and Casey go in the teachers' lounge to find a story when they're forced to hide in the closet. They witness Coach Willis and Mrs. Olson forcing one of the parasites into the ear of the school nurse. They also find the body of another teacher, Mrs. Brummel. Casey and Delilah flee, and Casey calls the police, but Mrs. Brummel's body has been removed, so his claims are dismissed. Casey's parents are furious over what they see as lies for attention so they punish him and say they are finding him a doctor.
The next day, Casey tells Delilah, Stan, and Stokely he believes the teachers are being controlled by aliens. After Zeke and Marybeth tease them about their theory, Mr. Furlong attempts to infect them. Zeke injects his homemade drugs into Furlong's eye, killing him. Zeke takes the five to his house, where he experiments on a specimen retrieved by Casey. He discovers it needs water to survive and can be killed by his "drug", revealed to actually be raw, powdered caffeine (as caffeine acts to dehydrate the user, and the aliens are hyper-sensitive to hydration of both themselves and their host). Zeke makes everyone take his drug to prove they are uninfected. Delilah is revealed as infected and she destroys Zeke's lab and most of his drug supply before escaping.
Acting on Stokely's speculation that killing the alien queen will revert everyone to normal, the group returns to the school, where their football team is playing and infecting opposing players. Believing Principal Drake to be the queen, they isolate her in the gym and fatally shoot her. Stan confronts the coach and team to see if the plan worked, but becomes infected himself. Zeke and Casey retrieve more of Zeke's drugs from his car. Casey leads infected students away from Zeke, who encounters Miss Burke in the parking lot and incapacitates her.
At the gym, Marybeth reveals herself to be the alien queen; earlier on, she faked taking the drug. Casey and Stokely flee to the swimming pool, where Stokely is injured and becomes infected. Zeke and Casey hide in the locker room, where Marybeth reverts to her human disguise. She explains she is taking over Earth because her planet is dying. Marybeth transforms back into her true form and hurls Zeke across the room into the lockers, knocking him out. Casey seizes the drug and traps the queen behind retracting bleachers. Just as the queen infects him, he stabs the drug into her eye, killing her and halting his infection. Casey returns to the locker room and finds Stokely and Zeke alive.
One month later, everyone has returned to normal. Stan and Stokely, who has shed her Goth girl image, are now dating. Zeke has taken Stan's place on the football team, while Miss Burke affectionately watches him practice. Delilah, no longer vindictive, is now dating Casey, who is considered a local hero as various news media reveal the attempted alien invasion is now public knowledge, even as the FBI denies it.
In 1990, David Wechter and Bruce Kimmel wrote their first draft of the script and sent it out, but there were no buyers. It wasn't until after the success of Scream (1996) that Miramax Films bought the script and rushed it into production. Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein brought in Kevin Williamson to do rewrites, keeping the basic story, but rewriting the dialogue and adding new characters to make it more "hip". Originally, Williamson was set to direct the film, but he chose not to so he could direct his self-penned script Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999). The Weinsteins brought in Robert Rodriguez to direct the film instead.
The Faculty takes place in the fictional town of Herrington, Ohio, but was shot in Austin, San Marcos, Dallas, and Lockhart, Texas. In a retrospective interview, Clea Duvall said the making of the film "was so much fun. It was mostly night shoots, so it was like we were in this alternate universe. Working all night long and making this fun sci-fi horror movie. I loved it."
The score is composed by Marco Beltrami, who had previously scored the teen-slasher-horror film, Scream, as well as Mimic (1997). Both Beltrami's score and songs by various artists used in the film were released as albums. The "music from the motion picture" album features songs by various indie and alternative rock groups.
On March 7, 2023, the label Intrada released Beltrami's complete score for the movie.
Several scenes involving an additional character named Venus, played by Kidada Jones, were shown in TV previews for the film, as well as in Tommy Hilfiger promotional commercials for the movie, but her scenes were cut from the final film. She is visible in a scene in the theatrical version, standing next to Gabe (Usher) in Mr. Furlong's (Jon Stewart) science class when they are looking at the "new species" in the aquarium.
The Faculty was released in several countries on Blu-ray, such as Canada, on October 6, 2009, by Alliance; in Australia on September 1, 2011, by Reel; in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2011, by Lionsgate, in Germany on October 6, 2011, by Studio Canal; in France on January 10, 2012, by Studio Canal; and in the United States on July 31, 2012, by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. Lionsgate re-issued the Blu-ray version in the United States on October 7, 2014, after Echo Bridge lost the rights to the Miramax films. Home media for The Faculty do not include traditional extras provided for other Robert Rodriguez films, such as a "10 Minute Film School" feature, audio commentary, and making-of featurettes.
The Faculty was viewed on 2,365 screens on its opening weekend, debuting at No. 5 in the US and making $11,633,495. Its eventual US gross was $40.3 million. Its debut below commercial expectations has been partly credited to the studio's decision to release the movie on Christmas Day, a time when audiences are likelier to watch traditional dramas or feel-good fare.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Faculty holds an approval rating of 57% based on 65 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's critics consensus called the film a "Rip-off of other sci-fi thrillers." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Positive reviews at the time praised Kevin Williamson's self-aware script and trademark meta humor that included references to iconic science-fiction films. In a review for Variety, Dennis Harvey wrote, "The Faculty works hard at mixing a canny cocktail of cineastic in-jokes, affectionate teenploitation and high-octane suspense that's as enjoyable as it is impossible to take seriously." Harvey added that Williamson and Robert Rodriguez combine to "make a complete lack of socially redeeming value seem so much fun that 'The Faculty' might well become a pulp classic". Charles Taylor of Salon called the film "subversive" and said "its honest, good-natured junkiness… feels like a relief". He appreciated the film's homages to genre movies including Carrie (1976), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and Blue Velvet (1986) while also citing the character of Stokely as the standout amongst the teen archetypes.
Michael Sauter of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of B− and expressed a wish that the film had used the faculty characters more. In contrast, Tom Sinclair, also of EW, gave the film a C+ and said Williamson has become "too invested in the earnestness of teen angst to portray it in the scathing parodistic terms a hip horror movie demands". The New York Times gave a mostly negative review but praised the cast. The Austin Chronicle awarded the film 3.5 stars and said, "While it may suffer a bit from excess character clutter (nearly 10 major characters throughout), it's nonetheless a slam-bang, sci-fi actioner, relentlessly paced and edited, with a pounding soundtrack and some ingenious aliens courtesy of Bernie Wrightson and KNB Effects."
In subsequent years, various critics have written about The Faculty's impact. Aliya Whiteley wrote, "It's all about examining the tropes of science fiction with a smart, funny angle. Half of the fun in this film is in identifying where you first came across a certain character's name or saw a particular special effect. For instance, there's a brilliant moment with a head on legs that I defy you to watch and not think of a certain John Carpenter film." Whiteley concluded, "The Faculty is very definitely a big mess of a movie. But if you love all things sci-fi, it's a good mess." Keith Phipps described the film as "a Kevin Williamson-scripted high-school variation on Invasion Of The Body Snatchers." Haleigh Foutch considered it one of the most iconic 1990s teen horror films: "Yet another win from 90s teen screenwriter in chief Kevin Williamson, The Faculty fused Williamson's knack for snappy teen drama with Robert Rodriguez's subversive camp to fantastic results. It's smart without ever taking itself too seriously and campy without ever losing its cool, drawing proudly from the tradition of classic alien invasion movies and casting them in the 90s teen tradition."
In a series of interviews, several The Faculty cast members reflected on their experiences with the film and its surprising journey to cult status. Robert Rodriguez, the director, shared that he had been drawn to The Faculty because of his love for genre-mixed films, even though he knew this would limit the movie's initial audience. He admitted that while the film did not perform as expected at the time, it had gained a strong following over the years: "I’ve never heard people talk so enthusiastically about The Faculty until the last couple of years." Rodriguez also recalled his casting process, highlighting how actors like Elijah Wood and Josh Hartnett stood out. He believed the film’s original title, The Faculty, did not resonate with younger audiences, suggesting titles like Alienated or The Others, which the studio later used for another movie.
Jordana Brewster reflected on the contrast between The Faculty and The Fast and the Furious, noting that they expected The Faculty to be a massive hit due to the success of teen movies, such as Scream, at the time. She recalled thinking it would make them huge stars: “We all thought we were gonna be these huge teen stars... but it didn’t quite work out that way.” Despite the film’s initial underperformance, she is now proud of its cult status, which she finds "cool".
Clea DuVall also discussed the film’s initial reception, noting that it did not have the impact they expected during its release, despite the popularity of Kevin Williamson’s work at the time. However, she has been pleased to see The Faculty’s lasting influence: "It’s cool to see the legs that movie has had." She acknowledged that people still recognize her as Stokely, the character she portrayed, which continues to be a huge part of her legacy: "I feel like that is the number one thing that people come up to me and say or recognize me from still." DuVall mentioned that while she does not fully understand why the film did not perform better initially, she believes that broader cultural conversations may be partly responsible for its rediscovery.
Elijah Wood described his experience on The Faculty as one of his most memorable. He said, "For all around experience, I would say The Faculty because the crew was so amazing. [Robert Rodriguez] was amazing to work with. There aren't enough adjectives to describe how cool it was working with him." He went on to emphasize the fun and unique atmosphere on set, stating, "It was so fun getting a chance to work with Robert, who had a very different approach than any other director that I'd worked with." Wood also highlighted the close-knit environment, noting, "There was a lot of love on the set. We're all really close, so it was cool."
The film has been praised for its portrayal of teenage alienation, especially within the high school environment and its system of cliques and social roles. In particular, the alien invasion through parasitized bodies has been recognized as functioning as a metaphor for those concepts, reflecting the fear of losing one's nascent individuality to a crowd. The alien queen encapsulates this by offering the heroes a world without alienation or differences, in which "everything that is both wonderful and awful about being a teenager is done away in favor of blind allegiance".
Experts also noted in The Faculty a reinvention of the fear of female sexuality often found in the horror genre. The character of Marybeth, the alien queen, is "a complex imbrication of woman, alien and power" that acts beyond the role of femme fatale. She masquerades as a virginal, unassuming girl clad in floral dresses, but at the final battle she reveals her true sexual threat, becoming nude by her alien transformation and turning confident and flirtatious. Her role as a threatening, castrating agent is underlined by the sharp teeth of her species, which evoke a vagina dentata, and their association to water, the archaic, womb-like female element. As the monstrous mother of her race, she tries to seduce the heroes by offering them a symbolic return to the womb. As Sharon Packer and Jody Pennington put it:
The character of Miss Burke precedes Marybeth in the same line, revealing her hidden sexuality only after being infected and turned into a monster. The scene of her detached, tentacled head in particular echoes the Freudian Medusa head. The monstrous feminine is therefore used in the film to reflect the teenage characters entering adult world, where they are forced to "come to terms with female sexuality and overcome their fear of its 'monstrous' aspects in order to become fully functioning adults". Casey, the male character closest to his softer, feminine side, is the final hero of the film.
The film was nominated for a total of eight awards, including an ALMA Award for director Robert Rodriguez, 2 Saturn Awards, 2 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and 3 Teen Choice Awards, but did not win any.
In January 2025, it was reported that a script for a remake was in the works by Companion (2025) writer-director Drew Hancock. Rodriguez is set to produce, along with Miramax and BoulderLight Pictures.