The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of my favorite sci-fi plot devices. The idea of aliens taking over earth, by appearing to be our loved ones, is a wonderfully creepy idea. In 1998 I couldn't have been a much bigger Robert Rodriguez fan, after the great start to his career with El Mariachi, Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn, I thought the guy could do no wrong behind the camera. Kevin Williamson, who'd burst onto the scene with the brilliant Scream, wrote the script. Bringing these elements together for The Faculty, was an almost ideal situation for me at the time. I remember excitedly trekking to the theater, only to be very let down by an extremely average sci-fi/horror film.

Nothing about it jumped out at me. It felt like Rodriguez had been neutered, none of his style or panache was present in The Faculty, and I lost a lot of respect for him that day. I don't know how Rodriguez felt about the film, but he seemed to take it hard as well. I think the studio system got to him, they beat his creativity down and it took three years for him to make another film. By far the longest he's gone between films, he's released almost one a year since then, sometimes two. His next film was Spy Kids, and even though it was made for children, it felt like a Rodriguez film. And although he's made some stinkers since then, some films worse than The Faculty, all of them have that Rodriguez stamp to them.

It took me 10 years to revisit The Faculty, it played on HBO during one of their free weekends, and I figured, why not? And you know what, without all those expectations I really enjoyed it. I still think it lacks a lot of that fun Rodriguez filmmaking style, the camera-work and editing is extremely static compared to most of his other films. What I enjoyed about it most, was the freedom he gives his actors.

Robert Patrick is deliciously evil as the football coach and first faculty member to be turned into an alien. Bebe Neuwirth, a veteran character actress, seems to be having a blast in this B-movie. Jon Stewart has maybe his finest acting role, which isn't saying much, as the science teacher who is incredibly excited about the new species found by his students. Salma Hayek, unfortunately doesn't have a ton to do, but stand around in the background and look hot. Famke Janssen has maybe the best role in the film, as the quiet English teacher, who turns into a femme-fatale once the aliens take over her body.

I've never been that big of a vampire fan; too many weaknesses, too much romance, too little ferociousness. Getting bit on the neck, then getting to live forever, never seemed that threatening to me. (I've always preferred werewolves, though there isn't nearly as many films about them.) My favorite vampire film has always been Near Dark, it's gritty and violent, with a little more realistic approach to them as another species. When I saw the trailer for 30 Days of Night, it conveyed a dark edge; it was the first vampire film I was stoked to see in over 10 years, since the Tarantino and Rodriguez mash-up From Dusk Till Dawn. Once it came out, I didn't hear anybody have anything good to say about it, but I still had to check it out for myself.

Since I've watched this, I've talked to a few others who also didn't like it, people I usually agree with. I honestly don't understand why people aren't enjoying 30 Days of Night. It's nowhere close to being a perfect film, but I thought it was very entertaining; full of blood, a couple of good horror scenes, a great location, nice photography and no off-putting acting. I want to recommend it to any fan of horror films, I believe that the appreciation of this film will grow in the coming years. Maybe it's ahead of it's time?

I loved the idea of staging the whole thing in Alaska just when the sun is setting for a month, it seems like the perfect place for vampires to attack. I liked how ferocious these vampires are, they cut a person down and tear them to shreds in a few seconds. None of the regular preening and posturing that goes along with a lot of these films. They also don't leave anyone alive to turn into another vampire; they're greedy about their food, don't want another mouth around to feed. I honestly thought these were the coolest vampires since Near Dark.

Josh Hartnett is decent as the small town sheriff; he does his usual silent brooding thing. Melissa George is good as his ex-girlfriend, who gets caught in Alaska against her wishes; she looks good and is still believable as she's kicking some undead ass. Ben Foster plays about his 12th psycho in a row, but he's good and entertaining at it; here he plays a human so desperate to become a vampire, that he sets a screen for them, by coming into town and acting crazy, occupying the sheriff for a while. And I was surprised to see the great character Danny Huston, he adds a bit of class, as the lead vampire Marlow.

I'm not sure what people are missing in this film. It has a very cool, comic book type look to it, not as stylized as Sin City or 300, but it's own unique blend; every frame is very well thought out. I dug the story, with the cast hiding out in a boarded up house, with their town overrun by vampires, nowhere to run and no hope of the sun coming up. Overall I was impressed with the cast; quite a few of the smaller parts are fairly memorable too, always a sign of a good film in my book. So, while most are calling this a lame duck, I really enjoyed it; it is far better directed, photographed, edited, acted, written, and designed than 90% of the crap they're calling horror films these days. I say, give it a try. - Grade: B

I like seeing movies this way. Wicker Park came out a few years back, I sort of remembered the trailer, something about a girl disappearing, but hadn't heard anybody ever say anything about it; so I went in to it really fresh. I hate knowing too much about a movie before I see it.

It's not a great film, but it's a fairly interesting one. When we meet Mathew, played by the underrated Josh Hartnett, he seems to have his life together. He's got a good job and a pretty fiancee, but when a mysterious girl passes through, his life is thrown into disarray; he stalks this unknown woman, lies to his fiancee and skips a business trip. What unveils is that this girl was once the great love of his life and the strange reasons why she disappeared.

The film is structured very nicely. The mystery is unraveled at a satisfying pace. The film jumps back and forth in time, but it's always understood where the characters are. It seems like films that have this many twists and turns get lost themselves, making it uninteresting or unsatisfying in the end. It was also nice to see a mystery about something besides murder, it's all about love and the complications that it can cause.

It's a good little film if you're in the mood for something slightly offbeat.