The Faculty
The Faculty ★★½ 1998 (R)
Nerd (Wood), beauty queen (Brewster), jock (Hatosy), new girl (Harris), rebel (Hartnett), and lovelorn girl (DuVall) come up against the greatest challenge of their lives. No, not the SATs. Parasitic aliens have nested in their high school and replaced the rumpled, frumpy staff with pleasure-seeking sexpots out for excitment. It's “The Breakfast Club” against “Them” in a battle royale! More style, less substance dictates the union between indie director Rodriguez and screenwriter Williamson. As expected, the dialogue is hip, the fashions are crisp, and kids are spunky, but pic never explains the aliens' visit. The multi-generational cast is enjoyable enough and the scares (however recycled they may be) are effective if you like icky scenes of alien projectiles sprouting from a human orifice or two. 102m/C VHS, DVD . Jon Abrahams, Elijah Wood, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Salma Hayek, Jon Stewart, Piper Laurie, Famke Janssen, Christopher McDonald, Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Usher Raymond; D: Robert Rodriguez; W: Kevin Williamson; C: Enrique Chediak; M: Marco Beltrami.