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Society

 A retrospective by Forrest Humphrey

Society is not a movie for those with weak stomachs, or for those who harbor positive feelings for the social elite. Filmed in 1989 and released in 1992 by Brian Yuzna, with special effects by Screaming Mad George and starring Billy Warlock (son of veteran stuntman Dick Warlock), its a very strange movie, a satirical horror flick remembered mostly for its finale. Not undeserved mind you, but the whole movie is quite solid. 

Our plot is quite simple. Billy Warlock plays Bill Whitney, the child of a rich family in Beverly Hills, and he doesn't really fit in. His parents are more interested in his sister's achievements and he regularly visits a psychiatrist regarding feelings of not being valued by his family and a general paranoia about something being “off” about the society his family lives in. And since this is a horror film, you know he turns out to be so very correct. What at first begins with simple gas-lighting and conspiracy theories gives way to proper cult behavior with a truly disgusting end goal.  

While the film takes its time to build up to its now infamous, body horror finale, making for a tense experience, one thing Society is not, is subtle. It wastes no time in portraying the rich and powerful as an utterly bizarre and of touch group of people with no sense of proper priorities at best, and outright evil monsters quite literally sucking the poor dry to sustain themselves by the end. Funny how a movie more than thirty years old feels more relevant than ever today. 

The practical effects by Screaming Mad George get to go wild in the finale, which I don't want to spoil but I will say there is a good reason the man is held in such high regard by many, best described as “surreal gore”. If you're a fan of body horror, the film might be worth checking out for the finale alone though as I said I feel the whole film is worth seeing for its strange atmosphere and great buildup, as well as solid performances all around with every member of the cast devouring the scenery at any given opportunity, with many hilarious and over the top moments to be had. 

I will say there are a couple of points where the plot lost me a bit, a few sequences where I wasn't clear on what was going on, but Society is otherwise a fine piece of schlock horror to spend time with on an October night. While “eat the rich” is a popular call to action, especially these days, sometimes, well sometimes its the other way around. 



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