Harrington High is much like any high school in America. There are geeks, popular kids, jocks, bad boys, and teachers. But something else has invaded this small Ohio town. Something sinister and deadly. Now not only is the entire school in jeopardy but also the town and everthing else.

I went into this film thinking that it would be just another bad teen Scream-type flick. After all, it was written by Kevin Williamson who wrote Scream 1 & 2. Instead what I found was an entertaining sci-fi/horror movie with good effects and bad high school cliches. One thing this movie had going for it was the star-studded cast. There was a bunch of people who, back in 1998, might not have been big but are now very popular.

Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Usher Raymond, and Jon Stewart are all big time celebrities. Add to that another four or five familiar faces including one of my and BQueen's favorites, Famke Janssen, and you have a very recognizable cast.

I know that a big pet peeve of a lot of people on this site, me included, is the use of bad looking computer generated effects. I did not see much of that in this film. There were scenes that had to be done with computers but none of the effects were blatantly obvious. There was not much blood or gore because the story revolved more around the mystery of what was taking place and how to stop those involved.

The only issues I found displeasing were the stereotypical high school roles. There was a dumb jock who dated the hot, popular girl. There was a little scrawny geek who was a straight laced, straight A student. The dark goth girl who went about her business and was incapable of even a hint of a smile. And finally, the school bad boy who dealt drugs from the trunk of his car and was repeating his senior year. I'm not so old that I don't remember my high school experience and, yes, there were cliques but never to the extent that Hollywood would have you believe. Can we please change this over used and abused portrayal of high school kids?

Overall, I thought this was a solid effort with a great cast and good effects. It could have used some work with the stereotypes because Josh Hartnett driving a fast car doesn't scream bad boy to me.

6 out of 10 Hot and Headless Famkes

(1998) Robert Rodriguez, David Wechter, Bruce Kimmel

Jordana Brewster .... Delilah Profitt
Clea DuVall .... Stokely 'Stokes' Mitchell
Laura Harris .... Marybeth Louise Hutchinson
Josh Hartnett .... Zeke Tyler
Shawn Hatosy .... Stan Rosado
Elijah Wood .... Casey Connor
Salma Hayek .... Nurse Rosa Harper
Famke Janssen .... Miss Elizabeth Burke
Piper Laurie .... Mrs. Karen Olson
Christopher McDonald .... Mr. Frank Connor
Bebe Neuwirth .... Principal Valerie Drake
Usher Raymond .... Gabe Santora
Robert Patrick .... Coach Joe Willis
Jon Stewart .... Prof. Edward Furlong
Daniel von Bargen .... Mr. John Tate

The Faculty was one of the first of what I call really slick teencentric horror flicks. They're not usually very good, but they're usually entertaining.

This one's a little better than most, though, it's full of clever social commentary if you think about it. The film is about aliens, but it's really about alienation.

A group of kids who, for one reason or another, don't really fit in. Not fitting in makes them the prey of a society of absolute coformists. All this happens in school, and the primary purpose of schools isn't education, it's socialization - teaching children to join society.

And despite what movies and popular culture might let you believe, America hates the hell out of people who don't fit in. From the kids on the schoolbus up, we're encouraged to be as much like everyone else as possible. The real tragedy is that it makes being average a goal. Such is who we are, though.

Another interesting aspect is compariing this film and The Breakfast Club. The characters are nearly exact imitations, at one point I expected the jock to refer to himself to a racehorse. It's all there, nerd, jock, freak, waste, prom queen. So much so, I'm confident it was purposeful. It's a lite version, of course, no real insight into any of the characters, just a horror flick with a few high-minded ideas.

7 out of 10 times Famke Jenssen has to look for head, which is completely unrealistic