157 - Disturbing Behavior

    A new student in a small community finds that the popular social clique seems to be comprised of kids who have had some behavior modification done to them.
    This came out in 1998, and it is stereotypically nineties.  There's a soundtrack packed with no-name grunge-pop-rock bands, all of which are pretty forgettable (although Harvey Danger had a hit with Flagpole Sitta).  The dialogue - particularly, the dialogue for Gavin Strick - is completely silly.  His monologue introducing all of the cliques at the school is sort of a cliche now.  Overly witty, obviously prepared remarks, and it just comes across as massively fake.
    The story itself is a variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  There are some nice twists to the formula.  First, the kids had been through a procedure, which involves some kind of an implant, along with some conditioning.  Thus, the original is still there, and there's no replacement person.  Second, the treatment doesn't result in normal behavior all the time.  They get unusually aggressive to people who haven't been modified, and they tend to flip out when they get aroused.  This is a pretty fun angle to play with, and it fits nicely into the normal horror movie tropes.
    It's not a bad watch, especially for a 90s horror movie.  I think it would make an excellent double-bill with The Faculty.  Sadly, The Faculty is much more fun, partly since it flips the idea around, and has the teachers being turned into evil beings.