Entry #2: Society
Have you ever felt like you just don't fit in with your friends, your neighbors, even your family? I'm sure we've all felt like that from time to time but Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) not only feels it all the time, he feels it in a more pronounced way, like that his isolation from the people around him is part of some greater conspiracy. Nobody listens to him on the matter, though, his parents barely even recognize hi mand his High School psychiatrist just dismisses it as youthful angst. But a series of strange incidents, as well as a fateful tape recording of his parents and sister engaged in some sort of creepy ritual, open Whitney's eyes to the fact that there is, in fact, something evil afoot in this society he lives in.
Society is one of those horror movies that's all about the build-up. Much of the film is dedicated to Bill trying his best to prove to everyone around him that there is something sinister happening around him, usually to unsuccessful results. This section of the movie is frequently fun to watch, especially in how writers Woody Keith and Ricky Fry decide to have Bill catch a glimpse of unexplainable weirdness that's creeping under the surface of the community he calls home. Weirdness just keeps on emerging in Bill's life, particularly in the presence of a woman with a vacant stare whose fixated on just eating hair. At first such sights might register as silly but they longer they linger in your mind, the more unsettling they become. Director Brian Yuzna also executes sequences where Bill is clearly being gaslit about what's actually going on with a genuinely creepy sinister air.
Nobody in a position of authority can be trusted, they're all just sources of deception. The sense that Bill is truly trapped in this town creates a truly eerie sense of dread. In addition to successfully establishing why Bill would be so on edge about everybody on his life, there's also a sense of ribald comedy to be found in Society. This section of the motion picture also contains an ever-present dose of humorously sexual double entendres, most of them coming from eventual love interest Clarissa (Devin DeVasquez). Using sunscreen as a visual representation for ejaculation isn't exactly novel comedy but the way Society's version of this gag is shot and framed does make it fresh again.
If there is a downside to the first two-thirds of Society, it's that Bill is a pretty one-note lead character to be stuck around with for such an extensive period of time. Basically a quintessential 1980's High School movie Jock, Bill is never really grating so much as he's never as interesting as the atmosphere or weird imagery happening around him not is he engaging enough as a character for one to become truly invested in his plight. Plus, using this specific archetype as the protagonist of a horror film about the wealthy and privileged members of society actually being monsters feels a bit like a mistake. Night of the Living Dead's grim ending wouldn't be so harrowing if its lead character wasn't a Black man and making the lead character of Society a member of a marginalized community as well feels like it would make the themes of the movie all the more resonant.
But themes are not what you'll walk away from Society talking about. No, what's really going to be stuck on your mind is the final twenty-five minutes. Society is a movie all about the build-up to this home stretch of the story where things just get nuts as all hell. All the members of Bill's community, including his family, reveal their true monstrous forms and engage in a sort of orgy as they consume another trapped young man. It's an utterly disturbing sequence packed to the gills with unsettling imagery that sees human skin being turned into silly putty, human bodies being turned inside and an assortment of gruesome practical effects by "Screaming Mad" George that still register as impressive in 2019.
A lengthy and bloody middle finger to the rich & powerful that will make your stomach churn, this whole sequence feels like the entire reason Society exists. Such vibrant anger at the corrupt really adds an extra live-wire sensibility to the execution of this sequence, which already oozes with plenty of imagination and creepiness, Getting there includes having to grit your teeth through some moments where the film presumes you're more invested in the character of Bill than you actually are but the destination is certainly worth the trip. It's true folks, we live in a society. What's also true is that Society is a memorable grotesque exploration of the darkness hiding in plain sight in these societies.
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