Brian Yuzna instantly became known to genre fans in 1985 when he produced Stuart Gordon’s Lovecraftian masterpiece of splatter Re-Animator. The film was (and still is!) a triumph of demented horror and black comedy and was successful enough to earn Yunza a number of other producing gigs (namely From Beyond and Dolls), making him a respected player in the independent fright field. When it came time to try his hand at wielding the directorial megaphone, Yuzna stumbled upon an original screenplay by Woody Keith and Rick Fry – a terrifically satirical tale about paranoia and social incest - and managed to create one of the most underrated horror films of the 1980s.
THE LOWDOWN: In the snobbish, wealthy neighborhood of Beverly Hills California, popular rich boy Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) appears to have it all; a beautiful girlfriend, a sporting reputation, the captainship of his classmates and yet something in his life remains discontented. Despite his advantages Billy can’t seem to fit in amongst his own family and feels a constant discomfort and alienation from them and their socialist hijinks. He makes regular visits to a psychiatrist (Ben Slack) in an attempt to discuss his growing anxieties, all the while being swayed to believe that his mounting paranoia is simply a case of teenage angst.
When seemingly looney classmate Blanchard (Tim Bartell) confronts Billy with a disturbing audio tape recording of a bizarre sex act involving Billy’s family and several other unknown individuals, the young teen embarks on a horrifying quest to uncover the truth behind his relatives’ secret lives and their curious connection to a grand communal dynasty.
THE TERROR TALE & ITS TIMING: The complexity of teenage anxiety and feelings of estrangement toward one’s own family unit are not only commonplace for most of us but are virtually inevitable at some point in our early years. Whether we think our parent’s are aliens or just plain weird, there’s something inside all of us that signals some level of detachment from those that birthed, feed and raised us. But Society’s gleefully ironic take on family fear represents only one of its many targets: the other being the rich upper class and their guiltless exploitation of the common man. The first act plays much like a standard paranoia thriller with Billy’s fears isolated to him alone and not shared by those around him. But it isn’t until the second and third acts (most notably the infamous ‘shunting’ sequence) that the themes and metaphors Society establishes so unapologetically early on are materialized visually, creating some of the most gleefully disturbing images ever to come out of Beverly Hills.
Keith and Fry’s screenplay, while occasionally diverting from the main conceit of the story, unfolds piece by piece in a slow burn tale that depicts the rich as the ultimate bloodsuckers of society (both figuratively and literally). Much like in real life the rich smuggers are arrogant, deceitful and untrustworthy, making them comparable to almost any villain in the horror pantheon. When the truth about their wretched aristocracy is finally revealed, the crude revelation is a true display of surrealistic depravity and makes the film’s evils all the more wild and poignant. I for one have always harbored a certain amount of distain for those that consider themselves ‘worthier’ or more sophisticated than the everyday Joe. Perhaps it is this central idea that I respond to so much each time I watch the movie…and why it’s so damn enjoyable as well.
THE LOOK OF FEAR: It goes without saying that Society’s most obvious visual strength is its absurdly flamboyant but highly impressive makeup effects, designed and executed by Japanese maestro Screaming Mad George. When the story reaches its climax and all narrative logic is abandoned, the film’s perverse sexual implications reach their physical limits in an amazing display of twisted foam latex and silicone rubber gags. More importantly, Screaming Mad generates a metamorphosis nightmare that also serves the story, rather than a blatant excuse for cool movie magic. The shunting is further heightened through Rick Fichter’s crimson lighting and humid colour scheme, making the orgiastic frenzy all the more slimy and claustrophobic.
THE SOUND OF FRIGHT: Given the colorful nature of the story the filmmakers are left to revel in a realm beyond realism, pulling off a soundscape fuelled by all things wet and squishy. Again the film shines in the finale when the landed gentry absorb their victims in a synthesis of slime, at times reminiscant of insects in a feeding frenzy. Another highlight is the film’s main title theme – an eerily sweet melody that plays much like a children’s nursery rhyme.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Although dated by some 80s cheese and occasionally falling victim to its own wild conceit, Society is a truly underestimated black comedy that delivers both in its irony and its shocks. Perhaps it was the film’s barefaced illustration of taboo themes and eagerness to take the genre in a different direction that divided critics at the time. But with a little luck (and guts) this cleverly demented gem may soon acquire the audience it deserves.
Dir: Bryan Yuzna
Writer: Rick Fry & Woody Keith
Cast: Billy Warlock, Denise Danese, Ben Slack, Even Richards, Practice Jennings
Country: USA
Run Time: 99min
Rated: M+
Happy i stumbled across your blog, good review, i remember renting this on VHS when it first came out whilst i was at High School, will have to track down a copy now!
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