The Faculty (1998)

When Casey Connor, Herrington High School's newspaper photographer, witnesses the murder of a nurse and sees her alive again, she decides to investigate the bizarre happenings.

Director:

Robert Rodriguez

Writers:

David Wechter (story), Bruce Kimmel (story)

Stars:

Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris

11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jordana Brewster	...	Delilah Profitt
Clea DuVall	...	Stokely 'Stokes' Mitchell
Laura Harris	...	Marybeth Louise Hutchinson
Josh Hartnett	...	Zeke Tyler
Shawn Hatosy	...	Stan Rosado
Salma Hayek	...	Nurse Rosa Harper
Famke Janssen	...	Miss Elizabeth Burke
Piper Laurie	...	Mrs. Karen Olson
Christopher McDonald	...	Mr. Frank Connor (as Chris McDonald)
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Principal Valerie Drake
Robert Patrick	...	Coach Joe Willis
Usher	...	Gabe Santora (as Usher Raymond)
Jon Stewart	...	Prof. Edward Furlong
Daniel von Bargen	...	Mr. John Tate
Elijah Wood	...	Casey Connor

Storyline

On the Harrington High School in Ohio, the newcomer Marybeth Louise Hutchinson tries to befriend the outcast Stokely 'Stokes' Mitchell. The quarterback Stan Rosado quits the football team and breaks off with his girlfriend Delilah Profitt, who is the editor of the school newspaper and head cheerleader. Zeke Tyler, who is repeating the senior year and sells drugs to the other students, has an argument with his teacher Elizabeth Burke. When the bullied Casey Connor finds a weird being on the football field, he brings it to his Professor Edward Furlong that finds that the unknown specimen lives in the water and has the ability of replicating. Later, Delilah brings Casey, who is the photographer of the newspaper and has a crush on her, to the faculty room to snoop around and find any evidence for a story, they need to hide in a closet when Coach Joe Willis and the teacher Karen Olson arrive. Delilah and Casey witness the coach and the teacher attacking Nurse Rosa Harper and they stumble ...

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Plot Keywords:

female rear nudity | breasts | campus politics | police roadblock | reference to sigourney weaver | 

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Taglines:

The students at Herrington high will not only question authority... they'll have to destroy it.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence/gore, strong language, drug use and some nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jon Stewart plays Prof. Edward Furlong in this movie. Actor Edward Furlong played John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), chased by the T-1000 Terminator played by Robert Patrick (Coach Joe Willis).

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Goofs

(at around 21 mins) When Casey shows Mr. Furlong the new species, Casey always has his backpack slung across his chest, but towards the beginning of the discussion of the new species, Casey doesn't have anything slung across his chest. The next shot of him and future shots all have him with the backpack slung across his chest.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Coach Willis: You got to pick up the line. God damn it! Get off the fucking field you limp ass blow jobs!

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Crazy Credits

The female teacher who was decapitated only to have her alien-controlled head rejoin her body, is seen (also very much alive) wearing a scarf around her neck, presumably to hide the scar.

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Alternate Versions

In the TV version most of the foul language and objectionable phrases were dubbed out (Most notably in scenes involving the fighting couple, Mr. Furlong says "Phooey" instead of the F word, etc.) but for some scenes different versions were shot including the one where Casey's dad finds the porno and instead of "No more bopping the bishop" he actually says "No more fantasy sessions." And in the locker room scene where Casey says "It must really blow to be you" it is seen from a different angle and Casey says "It must be a show to be you."

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Connections

References The X-Files (1993)

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Soundtracks

Medication
Written by Garbage
Performed by Garbage
Courtesy of Almo Sounds, Inc. (for North America), Mushroom Records B.V. (for World excluding North America)

User Reviews

positive review with caveats

It's a Robert Rodriguez film. It's a Kevin Williamson screenplay. You already know that it's in the same vein as'Bodysnatchers,' etc. Anybody who *doesn't* know this but saw and enjoyed the Scream flicks or the "I Know ..." movies is likely to enjoy this.

No, it doesn't really have the same underlying Red Scare theme of the original Bodysnatchers (or Arthur Miller's Crucible), although it *is* about what every modern high school movie seems to be about: how much their presumed roles imposed on teens makes their lives painful, and how great it is to unleash those strictures. Sure, it's not Bergman, but who really expects haute couture from a sci-fi horror flick? Oh, and any 'homophobia' attributed to the movie (as opposed to some of its high school student characters, just as occurs in real life) is questionable at best.

"The Faculty" is no more and no less than another entry in 'new geek cinema,' slightly more intelligent and self-referential than your standard SCI-FI Network fare. Appreciated on its own terms, or anything close to them, it's a lot of fun!

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Feelers

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,633,495, 27 December 1998

Gross USA:

$40,283,321

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,283,321

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Los Hooligans Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1