I recently watched The Faculty for the countless time. I've always been a fan of that movie. Back in 1998, I was 11, not a fan of most horror, and I didn't know shit about sci-fi outside of The X-Files. Something about The Faculty appealed to me however. Was it the cast and characters? The late '90s music? The school setting I could sort of relate to? The body snatcher scenario? These days, the last one's definitely a big part of the appeal. It adds something interesting to the movie. The main characters, high schoolers already struggling to get along due to their social differences, don't know who's an alien or who to trust.

When you read the title of this thread, you probably thought I would be talking about the Invasion of the Body Snatchers movies. Well, I am, in a moment. But I used that title because I'm not sure what else to call these movies. In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the aliens are usually referred to as pod people, but that doesn't fit something like The Faculty. That's more of a parasite. As far as I know, there isn't really a sci-fi sub-genre for this. Maybe there should be.

There are four Invasion of the Body Snatchers movies: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Body Snatchers (1993), and The Invasion (2007). They're based on the novel The Body Snatchers (1955) by Jack Finney, which I haven't read. The Faculty is of course a homage to (Invasion of) the Body Snatchers and there's even a direct reference in the dialogue.

I like the first three adaptations a lot and The Invasion is okay. They almost feel like they could be sequels that take place at the same time due to the different locations. 1956 is in the small town of Santa Mira, 1978 is in San Francisco, 1993 is at a military base in Alabama, and 2007 is in Washington, DC. Plus the lead actor from the 1956 version appears in the 1978 version playing basically the same character. There are differences that make it improbable that they're actually meant to be connected outside of their source material, but that hasn't stopped me from watching the first three together a few times before.

The Thing (1982) and its 2011 prequel could be considered body snatcher movies. Much like the other movies mentioned so far, it involves characters who don't know who's an alien. The blood test scene in the 1982 movie is well-known by now. I remember South Park spoofing it one time and I'm sure it inspired the similar test in The Faculty. I haven't seen The Thing from Another World in a long time, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve any body snatching. I also haven't read the novella the three movies are based on, Who Goes There? (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr.

The novel The Puppet Masters (1951) by Robert A. Heinlein features some body snatching. For a change, I've read the book and haven't seen the 1994 movie. In the first Men in Black, I remember the alien antagonist basically wearing a human, except the skin didn't fit correctly and sagged.

These are all the body snatcher movies that come to mind right now. I think it's a fun concept that hasn't been done to death, yet. While all the movies I mentioned involve aliens doing the body snatching, I suppose it could be another invading force. Maybe some mutated plant or insect already on Earth.

I have no doubt there are other body snatcher movies out there. Feel free to list them and any other thoughts you have about this.