User reviews

This is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen, somewhat akin to watching a Lovecraft tale as told by John Waters. I think I liked it. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did...I guess.

Billy (Bill Warlock of soap opera fame) is nearly 18, and has spent his youth living a life of privilege with his wealthy family in Beverly Hills. However, he senses that something is wrong. He does not look like his mother, father or sister, and indeed, they treat him as though he were an outsider. Oh, they're always very pleasant and polite, but they're somewhat distant and rather cold, displaying no real emotions towards him or anyone else. Tragic news is met with blank expressions and vacant smiles. Billy's girlfriend is too busy obsessing about parties to care about Billy's mounting concerns, and his psychiatrist dismisses his worries with prescriptions. When Billy hears an audio tape recorded by his sisters' most recent dumpee, his worst fears are confirmed: something unnatural is happening, something incestuous and profane. But the dumpee disappears, the tape recording alters itself, and Billy finds himself being slowly and deliberately cornered by The Society.

For all that this film is a dark comment on the soullessness of the upper classes, it never really takes itself seriously. Indeed, if it had, this movie would have died a quick death and taken up residence in the discount PVT bin at Blockbuster Video, cursed as it is with all the hideousness of the 1980s, denim and synth music and helmets of bleached hair everywhere. But this movie is so odd and freaky with the most morbid sense of humor running all the way through it that it works, and works pretty good. The special effects look a bit dated, but they're so hilarious that you won't care. (insert "butthead" scene here.) The "shunting" scene is still difficult to watch for people like me who have a low tolerance for sadism and gore, but I've seen gorier and the concept was so innovative that I had to appreciate it.

If you ever wanted to see one of those sappy teen movies from the 80s, (preferably the ones that starred Michael J. Fox or Molly Ringwald) tortured, dismembered and publicly humiliated, then this might just be the film for you.

Billy Whitney is a troubled kid who's seeing a shrink because of his fear of loved ones and those that are close, which he has a hard time fitting in with his wealthy family as he feels he doesn't belong with them. He's also a student at Beverly Hills Academy who's running for president and is dating the head cheerleader, so things aren't all bad. Although things suddenly change for the worse when Billy's Sister's ex-boyfriend convinces him there's something strange about his family. Now Billy gets pulled into a very frightening world that's filled with surreal images and where the paranoia is finally tearing him apart. But what's to come for Billy will be more shocking than what he can comprehend.

After watching a horror-mystery the day before I decided to put my teeth into another, Yuzna's 'Society'. You'll think that Society comes across as usual pure 80's trash in the very cheesy kind. And it does look like that and actually descends into that pattern. But firstly the way it started off you might think otherwise, as it does open proceedings rather eerily with an tight prologue and then a haunting tune through the opening credits, but soon it takes a real sharp turn from its beginning and heads into familiar 80's horror territory, with the usual corny dialogue, gratuitous nudity, camp performances and over-the-top humour. Although when it comes to the final 20 minutes or so, you totally are blown off your feet and possibly are in a state of bemusement. During this stage it turns disturbing and rather disgusting, while there's classical music streaming along. I know that I was left with a bewildered impression on my face and I would be surprised if you don't get the same feeling too. Meaning it's a good idea to make sure your not eating when coming up towards the film's perverted climax.

The odd but fun story does play out like a teen flick with nice amount of mystery and yep I say it, satire. This story has more to it and that shows in the hidden agendas and subtle dialog that all seems to come together perfectly. On a second viewing you would easily pick up on these hints within the script. You got your sick in-jokes, lame pun and plain wicked tone. Back onto the satire now, which this story is an allegory on the rich looking down on the less privilege and finally screwing over the poor. These amusing pot-attacks are scattered across the story, while also worked into the mystery side of the story with Billy trying to figure what's going on and what's this 'society' is. Some moments you see have you contemplating if what he sees is a figment of his imagination. The reason why you question this is because his seeing a shrink so is it just in his head or is this nightmare for real. This is presented in a very good manner and that's because of the man behind the camera.

Brian Yuzna who produced the great 'Re-animator (1985)' makes his directorial debut here and does an extraordinary job. No real atmosphere is generated, but he paces it with such elasticity that there's no labouring about and he ups the suspense with assured handling and control. The humour and horror balance is a bit uneven, at times it felt oddly out of place, but it doesn't destroy the fun mood. Camera placement is rather sharp and well executed, with a nice eye for shots and moods. Going with it all is a likable heroine played by Billy Warlock from 'Bay watch' fame. While, the rest of the acting is nothing out of the norm for a film like this. Everyone was effective in their parts and contributed to the enjoyment that followed. The production is incredibly slick and that's evident by the locations and Screaming Mad George's mind-blowing special effects. Those messed up effects that come out of the blue are what makes this film memorable in its inevitable outcome!

There's nothing really creepy about this real jokey 80's horror flick, but when it gets to the ending credits you'll be left with one real lasting impression… I assure you!

Beverly Hills teen Bill Whitney (Baywatch's Billy Warlock) is good at sports and popular at his high school, but he feels alienated from his upper crust family. His parents are indifferent towards him while lavishing favor upon his sister. Sometimes he even feels like they're conspiring against him, but is he just paranoid?

This was Brian Yuzna's first film as director, and it's still his best. My love for this thing knows no boundaries. It's such a wonderfully unique mixture of social commentary, the 90210 lifestyle and incredibly warped horror. Oh, is the horror in Society ever warped! It's always fun showing this to first-timers and seeing their reactions to what unfolds on the screen. Horror aside, the film also works as both a joke on the rich and a scathing indictment regarding their tendency to leech off of the have-nots.

Even though it's pretty clear right from the start that things aren't what they seem, there's a great sense of paranoia present in Society. Is Bill's rich family plotting against him? Are they even human? You wouldn't expect a former Baywatch star to be an alienated sort, but in the context of the film, it works. The pitch black humor works too, though there are a few more juvenile attempts at comedy (the kids on the beach) that are admittedly lame. In a way, however, they do add to the film's bizarre tone. I used to see the weirdo mother character as another pointless attempt at low-brow humor, but the more I've thought about it, she's likely there to represent a mishap through the shunt. Former Playboy centerfold, Devin Devasquez, plays her quirky daughter, Clarissa Carlyn. She's very appealing in the role, and it's refreshing to see a rich beauty portrayed as something other than an evil vixen for a change.

The climactic scenes involving the big shunt are really something to behold. Words cannot do justice to the madness of this sequence. Spectacular, glorious madness! Nope, even those words don't do it justice. The very idea is quite perverse, and the special effects by Screaming Mad George are jaw-dropping. I'd be hard-pressed to come up with another horror film that comes close to rivaling Society's climax.

I also can't go without mentioning the sinister reworking of the "Eton Boating Song" which plays over the film's opening credits. It's pure gold, and since the Anchor Bay DVD's menu has it playing on a loop, I like to leave it on the menu for a bit after I've finished the film.

Society has a never-ending charm that's impossible for me to tire of. I'd probably rank it somewhere among my top ten personal favorite horror films if I were to make such a list. I remember trekking all over the metroplex just to find a copy back on the DVD's release date (the same day Near Dark hit DVD from what I remember). Good times!

Bill Whitney is a teenager who feels he doesn't fit in with his upper-class family. He thinks they might be hiding something evil, and though he attends therapy, it doesn't assuage his fears. One day Bill sees a strange vision of his sister transforming into a grotesque creature and- after her ex-boyfriend David gives him a cassette that seems to confirm his suspicions- he is determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. After David is murdered, Bill is thrust into a race against time, battling a force more powerful and monstrous than he could have ever imagined.

Directed by Brian Yuzna- who wrote 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'- and written by Zeph E. Daniel and Rick Fry, 'Society' is a fiendishly dark satire about the class system, containing make-up effects that rival those in John Carpenter's 'The Thing'. A bizarre, eerie journey into the hidden world of the rich and powerful, it draws inspiration from other cult classics, such as David Cronenberg's 'Videodrome' or David Lynch's 'Blue Velvet'. The narrative- though cliched in places- explores interesting themes, among them the corruption of the elite and the alienation of the outsider. Its thesis is that the rich- quite literally- feed off the poor, which is a common enough trope; though Yuzna makes good use of it.

The film has a comedic edge, and is full of fantastical body horror, as disturbing as it is inventive. The special effects and make-up from Joji Tani- known professionally as Screaming Mad George- are truly out of this world. In the latter half especially, Tani's bizarre and brilliant work is on full display, and could be seen as the real star of the show. His clever and creative effects make the film- which suffers from having a bloated first half, laden down with an unnecessary romantic sub-plot- unsettlingly unforgettable.

Matthew C. Jacobs's production design and Kelle DeForrest's art direction are similarly inspired, poking fun at the bourgeois, with their perfectly trimmed lawns and gaudy home furnishings. Additionally, Mark Ryder and Phil Davies's ironic soundtrack adds to the film's elements of parody, mocking the clichés and conventions of horror films. Furthermore, Rick Fichter's dynamic cinematography creates a contrast between the bright world of the upper class and the dark, gloomy one of the lower classes. He utilises shadows and lighting to great effect, juxtaposing the colourful with the dull, adding to the film's themes and overall message.

'Society' finds Billy Warlock starring as Bill Whitney, alongside Tim Bartell as David, Patrice Jennings as Bill's sister Jenny and Devin DeVasquez as his love interest, the mysterious Clarissa. Warlock possesses the same boyish charm that Michael J. Fox had, and delivers a witty, charismatic performance of no vanity. He endears himself to the audience immediately, and portrays Bill's confusion, fear, and anger with aplomb, as he delves deeper into a nightmare of paranoia and betrayal.

His supporting cast are a bit of a mixed bag, thanks in large part to Fry and Daniel's scant secondary characterisation. Bartell and Jennings do decent work, though it's not much to write home about. DeVasquez is a little wooden, and doesn't have much chemistry with Warlock, while Ben Meyerson's over-the-top performance as Bill's nemesis Ted Ferguson is simply irritating. The real stand out is David Wiley, in the all too small role of Judge Carter. Menacing and slimy, his work lingers in the mind long after the credits have rolled.

In closing, Brian Yuzna's 'Society' is a memorable movie, though it is far from perfect. The narrative is peppered with unnecessary sub-plots and cliches, while screenwriters Fry and Daniel's secondary characterisation leaves a lot to be desired. Conversely, its satire works well, and most of the humour lands. Moreover, the special effects from Screaming Mad George are captivatingly creepy and hard to forget, while star Billy Warlock's central performance is engaging and commendable. The production design is of a high quality, and, though 'Society' has its problems; it is definitely worth a watch for fans of the grotesque and macabre.

I know that sounds weird to say when you're writing a review. But just trust me the less you know about what happens in this movie the better.

So go watch it. And Good luck and godspeed.

The teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) feels misfit with his parents and his sister Jenny Whitney (Patrice Jennings). When his sister's boyfriend David Blanchard (Tim Bartell) bugs his family, he shows the disturbing tapes to Bill showing incest and a weird society. When Blanchard dies in a car accident, Bill decides to investigate his family and find a scary truth.

"Society" is a disturbing movie of Brian Yuzna, where the fight of classes is presented in a very original way. The surrealistic story could be much better, but it is an interesting political and economical view of Marx theories, with the upper dominant classes literally and explicitly "eating "the lower classes. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Sociedade dos Amigos do Diabo" ("The Society of the Friends of the Devil")

Note: On 18 July 2017 I saw this film again.

This is a very surreal film about social paranoia that exists within society. It oddly rings home sometimes even though it is truly strange. This is not as good as Re-Animator (1985) but better than Repo Man (1984) which it is more likened to. I did really enjoy the twists and clever use of subtle paranoid images. Even the ending, that is full of insane and barely comprehensible actions, offers an almost grounded and solid ending to the surreal snapshots throughout the earlier parts of the film. Very enjoyable but odd film.

The best film directed by Brian Yuzna (producer of Re-Animator) is this strange horror/sci-fi satire on the yuppie way of life.

Beverly Hills teen begins to suspect that there's something very wrong with his snobbish family, is he imagining it or are they... inhuman?!

Society is one original and shocking black comedy. There's never a dull moment in the engulfing plot, which starts out as a paranoia mystery then only gets increasingly weird from there on out. It all builds to a warped finale that you won't forget! It's one of those surreal and gruesome terrors that makes you wonder if you should be laughing or screaming at what you're seeing. The makeup work of Screaming Mad George (great name) is very effectively disturbing. The direction of Yuzna is well-done and the addition of the Eton Boat Song as the films theme is a clever touch.

The cast is spot on in their performances, the best being young star Billy Warlock as our perplexed and horrified hero.

Society is one of those unique genre oddities that must be seen to be fully realized. It's one very wild trip that's well deserving of a cult status.

*** out of ****

This was a disjointed mess, filled with acting that was terrible. I am not talking terrible as in The Room, where they know they are terrible. I think this group of thespians actually felt they were great actors. I get that this was a giant metaphor about how the rich eat the poor, but it was just terrible. And like all terrible things, say like a train wreck, no matter how badly I wanted to stop watching I just had to see this through to the bitter end.... Do yourself a favor, skip this.

Society (1989) is a movie that I recently watched on Shudder. The storyline follows a young man who notices his family and siblings are odd, more odd than usual. He also feels his girlfriend is acting peculiar and is obsessed with attending a socially elite party. As events of the upcoming weekend unfold the young man investigates the party where he finds his parents, his girlfriend and so many others he grew up with have a strange secret that may mean the end of his existence.

This movie is directed by Brian Yuzna (Beyond Reanimator) and stars Billy Warlock (Halloween II), Evan Richards (Twilight Zone: The Movie), Patrice Jennings (Growing Pains), Brian Bremer (Pumpkinhead) and Heidi Kozak Haddad (Slumber Party Massacre).

There's a lot to like about this movie...and most of it is at the very end. The apple opening was a bit gross. The acting and writing is average to above average until the final sequence. Then the special effects, concept and circumstances come full circle and it's a mix of shocking, tremendous gore and unreal circumstances you could never imagine. There's some classic 80s nudity and the "There's no business like show business" line always cracks me up. I may have said this already...but the ending is a lot. 😂

Overall, this is an underrated classic within the horror genre that is an absolutely must see. I would score this an 8.5-9/10 and strongly recommend it.

This just did not work for me. It's like watching a somehow more obvious They Live, a more blatant The Thing, and less entertaining From Beyond. It's a mixed bag of not only other better movies but of tone. I don't much like when a movie gets gross but then adds in comical sound effects or one liners that don't fit the rest of the film. The film obviously knows how silly the ending gets but the build up to it isn't at all. Other then some corny dialogue and one liners, most of the film is treated pretty seriously. Which is why the goofy ending comes off wrong to me. It's unpleasant in all the ways you wouldn't want this to be. That is the most disappointing aspect. It goes pretty far but it also doesn't feel confident that it can pull off how far it goes. I also don't love this story. Somehow it feels both rushed and meandering. For the first hour it's just scene after scene of something weird happening and then that being covered up. That coupled with it rushing through these moments and you have a very boring/frustrating experience. There's so many scenes of the main character confronting people and then going somewhere else and doing it again. You never feel like he is learning or uncovering anything. Things just sort of happen until they do or don't anymore. There's also a fair amount of purposeless characters. His girlfriend who literally does nothing, or his friend who is just around when things happen so he can see things happen. Needless to say, it's weird, and not just in how crazy the ending is. The whole film has a vibe of cheapness and amateurish qualities. Which is why it's weird. Most of the makeup and prosthetics don't hold up at all, the editing is jarring/distracting, most of the performances are unconvincing until the ending, and the tone is just a jumbled mess. I didn't hate the movie but it takes a lot of things that I like and twists them a bit too far.

Parts Blue Velvet and Videodrome, parts Repo Man and Braindead, this thing rocks and is surely one of the cult classics from the decade that you just have to see (forget The Warriors).

The 80's had a strange resonance. It seemed as though nothing was happening, nothing beyond spending and watching TV. It was morning again in America, but a kind of peculiarly false morning as though someone had reached out with a brush and painted false skies. You couldn't even trust it was day, much less anything else. So, something had to be happening that wasn't so clear at first sight, had to. It had to be ugly, since everything looked idyllic. It couldn't be that Watergate had been exposed and that was that.

But it couldn't be a political cinema anymore either, not in a convincing manner, since the people seemed satisfied. So Taxi Driver transformed into Videodrome. Both films are about a helpless observer of a life awash with foulness, but in the second case, he's a corporate type, and he's watching a TV broadcast, a TV broadcast that reveals something malicious in the airwaves that transmit reality that is just gnarly and insane beyond belief. Both films perceptively suggest the damage is in the retina of the mind's eye, and that damage is not a simple madness: the images madden.

This is much less strategic, of course. It was made near the end of the decade, so with enough hindsight to pass around buckets of paranoid blame. The satire is screamingly obvious, because who'd believe something so simple anyway, a conspiracy so pervasive, so blatantly evil, which is the clever little device used here: the film delivers subversive blows in the same channel as the people consumed reality on TV, the channel that played soap opera and assured life was something like it.

Watching the rich and privileged for weeks on end engage with utmost seriousness in lachrimose trifles about sex and power, is rendered here as a kind of goofy, since it was a TV lifestyle, malevolent conspiracy for sex and power over the viewer.

This alone would make the film required 80's viewing. It's a lot of fun, sunny, increasingly unhinged. It's strongly anchored on this end by having a famous TV star of the time in the role of the (paranoid) observer.

The icing on the cake is the unforgettable finale that parodies its own soap-operatic parody: the sexual games mockingly turn into an actual orgy for power. You get to see an actual 'butthead', among other slimy things.

This was so bizarro!!!! Up there with Reanimator! Wow. Ok.............. give it a whirl if you like weird horror movies. This is a top 10 on the weirdo list haha the ending is so bizarre really!!!!

Society is a bizarre horror experience, that's for sure. It works on several levels, actually. Nowhere near perfect, but certainly a great effort and an overall amusing film. The whole thing starts out as a typical teenager movie. Almost like a TV soap opera with the handsome and rebellious Billy (Billy Warlock) as the boy who's estranged from his parents and neighborhood. But Society soon changes into a mysterious thriller (in which Billy-boy tries to discover the handling and rituals of Society) before ending in a completely gore and splatter mess. The last half hour of this film goes beyond your wildest horror imaginations…while it's making no sense at all, this fairly disgusting sequence is a pure joy to observe. Society is in fact an absurd spoof that mocks the High Society of Beverly Hills tremendously. The characters are very stereotypical and the jokes are very cliché…but it works. The screenplay contains a lot of very insane and wacky dialogues and quote material. `Who do you like your tea, Billy? Cream and sugar…or do you want me to pee in it' or even stuff like `Now now honey, you know the rules…first we dine, THAN we copulate'. I'm sure Yuzna and the scriptwriters had a lot of fun. As did special effects supervisor Screaming Mad George! Society is the first film that credits Brian Yuzna as a director, but by that time, he already had his name made in the field. He was the producer of some other, terrific horror comedies like Re-Animator and From Beyond. He obviously feels at his best in this sub genre as he continued to direct and produce several more sinister spoofs with gruesome gore like the two sequels to Re-Animator and The Dentist (which is also a parody on life in the upper class, by the way). Society is certainly worth a look if your sense of humor is a bit twisted and your stomach isn't too weak.

Society might not have the most interesting characters or best script, but the ideas and concepts are daring, innovative, and unlike anything that's come before it or since. In the film, a rich teenager starts to think he has little in common with his status-obsessed family and friends and he's right, because they might be cannibalistic monsters. The special effects are out of this world and the last act is a triumph of ingenuity and darkly comic gross out gags.

A creative and unique take on the class wars that has some pacing issues until the bravura finale where Screaming Mad George pulls out all the stops with some unforgettable and gross special effects.

The concept here might be stronger than the execution, but Society does overcome several of its flaws with the wild effects-heavy final act featuring several things I hope you've never seen before.

'Society' is one of those films I wish I'd rather not have seen. Nothing about this film made any sense.

The script is weird for the sake of being weird. The acting wasn't good at all and the premise had me raising an eyebrow or two. I firmly believe the film was a result of director Brian Yuzna's fantasy, or the fantasy of writers Ricky Fry and Woody Keith.

The film could also have been a vessel for Brian Yuzna to display the cringe worthy visual effects, and I mean cringe worthy in a good way - the fact that the visuals are really creepy and good.

Apart from the visuals, nothing about this horrid film interested me in the least. They provide no explanation whatsoever for what happens, confirming my suspicions of the film being a visualization of a fantasy. There really is no point to this film. The best part of the film, was when the end credits rolled...Ugh!

Would I watch it again? NO!

I loved this much more the first time and I suppose the new Blu-ray is fine but I find the teenagers and their parents a little silly. I find that because I could never remember the amazing impossible positions orgy like sequence, the rather long school days seen so long and just no where it is going to. Because before I seen the action was paced and utterly bizarre horror not I new what was happening. Unfortunately it is not taking it away and the soap opera TV stuff is just so silly and so we can't not get as really we got onto the Society and the real social questions. Still, it is fun enough with just a little of the real worry of the rich and poor.

Look, i LOVE 80s horror. I dont mind weird story teling lbizarre creatures.

Above all, "Society" is plain right BORING. The movie slouches to tell a story about a guy who is getting aware of the situation that his family isnt what they seem to be. Its a great premise actually and is a great coming-of-age theme overall but this movie doesnt get it. The pace of the story is so slow, you could easily cut the movie down to 30mins without missing any plot lines. The great finale is just bizarre. Not shocking, bizarre. But not bizarre in a cool way.

Since the horror community seems to like that movie and i never watched it before i was very excited to discover a new gem of movie history... boy i was wrong.

Honestly, the movie is so bad and boring, its a criteria to judge a person if i like him/her or not. Cant trust anyone who truly likes this movie.

SAFE YOUR VALUABLE TIME. DONT WATCH IT. THERE IS NOTHING ENTERTAINING ABOUT THIS MOVIE.