Review of The Faculty (1998) by Yasmin O — 01 Sep 2011

A disarmingly clever, subversive sci-fi/actioner, The Faculty nonetheless is burdened a bit by being caught in Scream's overwhelming shadow. As some critics have noted, Kevin Williamson's constant dismantling of whatever genre he's operating in offers plenty of surprises at the actual textual level, but on the whole it's easy to look at one of his movies and expect lots of metahumor and self-parody. Thus, The Faculty may catch a few viewers unawares (as it did with me, since I didn't know Williamson wrote it at the time), but anyone familiar with his distinctive brand might be a little less impressed.

This doesn't do much, however, to discount the absolutely insane premise - is Hollywood legitimizing drug use as a way of seeing "the truth"? - and the fun performances, as well as some kicky scenes of sci-fi brutality. As a sort of Invasion of the Body Snatchers as envisioned amongst high school students, it's extremely perceptive, not at all the "rip off" that some critics seem to write it off as. Definitely worth revisiting.