THOUGH directed by Robert Rodriguez - the maverick Texan semi-genius responsible for El Mariachi and Desperado - The Faculty is, in essence, a Scream 3 in all but name, with a bonus blitz of sci-fi special effects.

Its script, as even those unforewarned could deduce within a couple of scenes, flows from the pen of Scream creator Kevin Williamson, the pre-eminent screenwriter of the gogglebox-geek generation, whose frighteningly cine-literate scripts lead me to suspect that he's watched more movies than Quentin Tarantino. Totally unoriginal, and immensely enjoyable for precisely that reason, The Faculty overflows throughout with in-jokey movie references, milks every scene for all the cheesy suspense factor it can muster, and - crucially - takes itself none too seriously, to the point where it practically doubles as a comedy.

The action takes place in the fictional Herrington High School - which is indistinguishable from the one frequented by the Scream gang - and the students are the usual mixture of handy identikit stereotypes that have featured in practically every American high-school movie of the last few decades. There's the jock star quarterback, the bitchy cheerleader, the geeky nerd, the alienated punkette loner, the drug-ridden *cool dude*, the flowery Southern babe - all cliches are present and correct. The one novel twist - and I'm not exactly giving the game away here - is that the school's staff are literally aliens from another planet, with evil on their minds and hilariously malevolent expressions on their faces.

Meanwhile, the film incorporates (albeit skilfully) ideas and dramatic devices from a million other movies, most notably Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. To his credit, Williamson is openly honest about Faculty's debt to Body Snatchers, and the film hardly suffers for it, while the acting - without exception - is hugely entertaining. The pick of the bunch is undoubtedly Jordana Brewster (the next Neve Campbell) who portrays the manipulative, heartless prom-queen, but there are equally promising turns from Josh Hartnett (the school dope-peddler) and Shawn Hatosy (the football star).

The special effects, though undeniably grotesque, are a feast for the eyes and a joy forever, while the film is suffused with a playful sense of humour that, for a horror flick, verges on the good-natured.

It may not pass the $100m mark at the box-office, but it's every inch the equal of anything Rodriguez or Williamson has put their name to before, and well worth two hours of your time.