[7]

Robert Rodriguez directs from a script polished by Kevin Williamson in this fun high school body snatchers horror flick. Piper Laurie, Jon Stewart, Salma Hayek, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, and Famke Janssen play the title characters, members of an Ohio high school who are the first victims of a parasitic alien invasion. Once the brainwashed grownups start infecting the student body, it’s up to a motley group of teens to band together and thwart a world takeover. The young cast is a rare combination of talent and good looks that includes Clea DuVall, Elijah Wood, and Josh Hartnett. The climactic creature effects by KNB are pretty nifty.