The Faculty
The Faculty is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed and edited by Robert Rodriguez with a screenplay by Kevin Williamson, about a group of high school students who begin to suspect that their teachers are being replaced by extraterrestrials. It stars Jordana Brewster in her film debut, 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.
Plot
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 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 hide in the teachers' lounge to find a story. They witness Coach Willis and Ms. 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 his claims are dismissed.
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. 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.
Cast
Production
In 1990, David Wechter and Bruce Kimmel wrote their first draft of the script and sent it out, but there were no buyers. It was not until after the success of Scream 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. 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."
Music
The score is composed by Marco Beltrami, who had previously scored the teen-slasher-horror film, Scream, as well as Mimic. 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.Track listing
On March 7, 2023, the label Intrada released Beltrami's complete score for the movie.Release
Advertising
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 in Mr. Furlong's science class when they are looking at the "new species" in the aquarium.Home media and rights
In the United States, the film's home video releases were initially handled by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The film was first released on VHS on May 14, 1999. On June 15, 1999, the film was released on DVD and LaserDisc in the United States. It also received a Hong Kong LaserDisc release in July 1999, which was handled by ERA Home Entertainment. The film's Australian Region 4 DVD release was handled by Village Roadshow, who had an Australian distribution agreement with Miramax at the time.In 2005, Dimension was sold by the Walt Disney Company, with Disney later selling off the parent label Miramax in 2010. Miramax and the rights to the pre–October 2005 Dimension library were subsequently taken over by private equity firm Filmyard Holdings that same year. Filmyard licensed the home video rights for high-profile Dimension/Miramax titles to Lionsgate, with lower-profile titles and niche horror titles being licensed to Echo Bridge Entertainment. The film received its first U.S. Blu-ray release on September 11, 2012, through Echo Bridge. In 2014, Filmyard Holdings terminated their home video agreement with Echo Bridge, with the film receiving a U.S. Blu-ray reissue on October 7, 2014, from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The Lionsgate Blu-ray included a digital download code for the film. During Filmyard's ownership of Miramax, they had agreements with other local distributors, some of which existed during the Disney ownership era. International Blu-ray releases for The Faculty occurred in several countries: in 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; and in France on January 10, 2012, by Studio Canal. In 2011, Filmyard Holdings licensed the Miramax library and pre–October 2005 Dimension library to streamer Netflix. This deal included The Faculty, which was available on the service for five years, eventually being removed on June 1, 2016.
Filmyard Holdings sold Miramax to Qatari company beIN Media Group in March 2016. In April 2020, ViacomCBS acquired the rights to Miramax's library and Dimension's pre–October 2005 library after buying a 49% stake in Miramax from beIN. The Faculty was among the 700 titles Paramount acquired in the deal, and it has been distributed by Paramount Pictures since April 2020. As part of the deal, Paramount entered into a first-look agreement with beIN/Miramax, which allows Paramount to release any future projects based on Miramax and pre–October 2005 Dimension properties.
In late 2020, Paramount Home Entertainment began reissuing many of the Dimension/Miramax titles they had acquired, and on September 22, 2020, they released another Blu-ray edition of The Faculty. Paramount later sublicensed the home video rights for the film to Shout! Factory's horror label Scream Factory, and on December 17, 2024, Scream Factory released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the film. Home media for The Faculty, including recent releases, have not included any traditional extras provided for other Robert Rodriguez films, such as a "10-Minute Film School" feature, audio commentaries, and making-of featurettes.
On March 4, 2021, The Faculty was made available on Paramount's then-new streaming service Paramount+ as one of its inaugural launch titles. Paramount also included it on their free streaming service Pluto TV.