12. The Faculty (1998)
Original: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) The classic paranoia-infested McCarthy-era sci-fi/horror, Invasion of the Body Snatchers directed by Don Siegel, has gone through a number of incarnations, though one that isnt often mentioned is Robert Rodriguez 1998 effort, The Faculty. The first remake starring Donald Sutherland, came in 1978 and shared the same name as the original. The 1993 update went by just Body Snatchers and the 2007 remake with Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman was simply titled The Invasion. Now granted The Faculty doesnt include the words invasion or body snatchers in the title but dont be fooled its a lot smarter at hiding its emotions than it seems. The central conceit in the paranoia-inflected 50 original was that ordinary people were becoming pod people. Otherworldly plantlike pods were cloning the populous causing them to become, well, not themselves. Despite the communist undertones shifting, the 1978 version adopted largely the same mantle, the other was taking over and there was little that could be done other than to run. In 1998 Rodriguez smart update took the well-trodden formula and moved it into a high school, a place of modern day paranoia, for kids anyway. A place where social status is defined yet ultimately adults rule, parents make kids go, teachers tell kids what to do, how oppressive.
Rarely do the sci-fi and high school combine, so when they did, as they do in The Faculty, Rodriguez wastes little time and threat, the invasion, rapidly grows. Using the exact broad archetypes as a certain 80s high school movie, this really could have been called Invasion of the Breakfast Club. Less concerned with characterization Rodriguez goes for the jugular in an ultimately quite silly climax, but its a pretty fun ride. In fact, if Rodriguez had been asked to make The Breakfast Club, he would have just made this anyway, this is his Breakfast Club. Someone like Rodriguez would surely freely cite Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a key inspiration for The Faculty. Perhaps The Faculty isnt a direct rip-off of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, though it damn sure wouldnt exist without it.