10 Most Underrated High School Horror Movies
6. The Faculty (1998)
Panned by critics and cinemagoers alike upon release, The Faculty (1998) has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years, as '90s kids have developed an ever-stronger hankering for the good ol' times. Yet it still remains one of the unsung horrors of the millennial generation.
Breakfast Club meets Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Faculty is a classic monster movie wrapped up in a high school drama, with effects that belie its $15 million budget. Starring Josh Hartnett, Famke Janssen, Jordana Brewster and Elijah Wood as the students of Harrington High, this crew of future stars have to fight off an alien invasion that begins with the infected school faculty.
It stands alone as one of the few sci-fi sleepers of the era, but benefits from sharing in the meta horror humour mainlined into the mainstream by Scream (1996), which in many ways came to define this era. On top of this, it was scored by the same guy who did Scream – causing every note to strike a pleasingly familiar chord – and features a poignantly tongue-in-cheek collection of '90s post-grunge cover songs and original cuts, from artists including The Offspring, Soul Asylum and Creed.
There's no denying The Faculty is silly, ridiculous and cheesy as hell, not to mention nowhere near as original as some of its contemporaries, but there's plenty to love if you scratch the surface.