Character Spotlight- Marybeth Louise Hutchinson- The Faculty 1998

The Faculty is an excellent horror/sci-fi comedy, that's loaded with winks to some great films of the past (The Thing, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, etc.), but somehow, Marybeth managed to slip underneath everyone's radar. As a killer alien race invades a local high school, a petrified group of remaining survivors struggle to get to the bottom of the conspiracy before the aliens take over the world. Casey, Stokely, Stan, Marybeth, Delilah, and Zeke stand together as the last wall of defense against the aliens, but someone in the group is hiding a deadly secret

The mystery of the leader wasn't so easy to figure out. As the gothic outcast, is Stokely plotting her revenge against everyone, who bullied and tormented her by turning everyone into aliens, so she can take over the world? After suspiciously quitting the football team as the star player, is Stan quietly piecing together the puzzle of an alien takeover? Is Delilah deceiving everyone? After all, the glamor queen uncharacteristically takes a break from contact lenses to wear regular glasses, so she can keep up "incognito" appearances. What about Zeke? He's the bad boy rebel, so taking over the world should fit his personalty, right?  Or is Casey unleashing hell for the punishment he endured as the nerdy wimp?

Nope. It's the seemingly innocent new girl. Behind her soft voice and southern accent, Marybeth was able to conceal her identity as "The Queen."

                                


Clea DuVall did a great job of selling the shock of Marybeth's reveal. I'll never forget my first time watching The Faculty, because this twist shocked the hell out of me. Out of everyone in the main cast, Marybeth was the most unlikely suspect. And remember, there's the scene at Zeke's house where Delilah failed the scat test. After Delilah failed the test, she gave everyone a foreboding warning about the alien takeover before destroying the bulk of Zeke's scat supply, and Delilah hopped into the getaway car of an accomplice. So you could say Delilah was a logical choice for the leader before Marybeth's reveal.

Laura Harris was spot on as this quiet and harmless new kid, who was trying to fit in. Seriously, just take one look at her in the pic above. Could you picture Marybeth as a nasty alien? But Marybeth failed in her mission as The Queen to take over the world, when Casey destroyed Marybeth in her alien form with the rest of Zeke's scat. It's triumphant irony, when you stop and think about it, because the unlikely hero destroyed the unlikely villain.

Follow this link to read my spoiler review for The Faculty! http://mitchmacready.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-faculty-1998_11.html