The Faculty
Dimension Films | Release Date: December 25, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
7
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
A smart, lively and unpretentious exploitation picture...Consistently funny and clever. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis Harvey
Results may not be Nobel Prize material, but they're zesty and cogent. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Rodriguez's unironic directing brings out the complexity of characters painfully aware of the stereotypes they represent and allows this gripping, scary, and romantic movie to offer more than factoids about other movies the filmmakers have seen too many times. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
A tight blend of self-awareness, humor and fear. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A slam-bang, sci-fi actioner, relentlessly paced and edited, with a pounding soundtrack and some ingenious aliens courtesy of Berni Wrightson and KNB Effects. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
Sly and very savvy. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsDave Kehr
This alien high school sci-fi tale has clever wit, clever FX.
70
Film ThreatRon Wells
It looks like Williamson threw five old scripts in the air and Rodriguez shot the first 90 pages he picked up. I'd like a little more meat on my burger because all I can taste is the cheese. Read full review
70
SalonCharles Taylor
It's an awfully enjoyable, hip little B-movie. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Fine lowbrow entertainment, a fast, funny pastiche of science-fiction, horror, and teen-movie archetypes that is, aside from the original Scream, perhaps the most entertaining, fully realized film of the current postmodern horror/sci-fi cycle. Read full review
60
Village VoiceGary Dauphin
Since the codes of science fiction are different from horror's cant, the patented Williamson method doesn't make a perfect fit with the material; Faculty's fun, but less fun than it could be. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
In a strange way the Williamson of "Dawson's Creek" is now at odds with the sophisticated joker who wrote "Scream." Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerAllan Ulrich
The Faculty deserves a week of detention, not so much for missing the point as for blunting it. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Exactly the kind of sporadically clever, button-pushing fright-fest that keeps genre fans hanging on until something more fulfilling comes along. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMonica Eng
All the young actors, especially Joshua Hartnett as the misunderstood drug dealer, deliver fine performances in their diverse group, which forms a kind of horror film equivalent of "The Breakfast Club." [25 Dec 1998]
50
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
This mediocre sci-fi horror film about an Ohio high school being taken over by thirsty space aliens intent on world domination breaks no new ground. But it has an engaging cast. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A lazy and mediocre movie, a sort of tepid parody blend of "The Breakfast Club" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
One could easily argue that, like many Ed Wood-type bad movies, The Faculty might be headed for the cult classic shelf in the video store. Unfortunately, it's not campy enough, and, worse, it seems to think it's being hip when it's just being dumb. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Creepy. Read full review
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