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Society
USA 1989
produced by Keith Walley, Keizo Kabata (executive), Terry Ogisu (executive), Paul White (executive) for Wild Street Pictures
directed by Brian Yuzna
starring Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards, Ben Meyerson, Charles Lucia, Concetta D'Agnese, Patrice Jennings, Heidi Kozak, Ben Slack, David Wiley, Tim Bartell, Brian Bremer, Maria Claire, Conan Yuzna, Jason Williams, Pamela Matheson, Rohni Lee, Michael Schipper, Chris Claridge, Amy Obrand, David Wells, Mike Diamant, Raffaella Commitante
written by Rick Fry, Woody Keith, music by Mark Ryder, Phil Davies, special efrects by Nick Benson, creatures by Guy Himber
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Bill (Billy Warlock) has always felt different from everyone else, the
Beverly Hills high society he has grown up in, his wealthy parents, his
perfect girlfriend (Heidi Kozak), the squeaky clean school he goes to ...
but nobody takes him seriously, the best thing his parents do is to send
him to a shrink (Ben Slack), who does the best to tell him that he's just
paranoid. Bill knows better - and of all people, the ex (Tim Bartell) of
his sister (Patrice Jennings) seems to have a tape that proves there's
actually something wrong with Bill's parents and sister ... but then the
guy gets killed, and the tape suddenly plays another tune. Bill is soon
invited to Ferguson's (Ben Meyerson) party, the biggest in town as
Ferguson is the school's up-and-comer, the future center of society ...
and of course a major asshole who Bill gets in a fight with - despite the
fact that he's pretty sure Ferguson sleeps with his sister. But somehow,
Bill gets quite friendly with one of Ferguson's beauties, Clarissa (Devin
DeVasquez), and even though on the outside she seems to be nothing but a
society slut, she does soon develop feelings for Bill as well. Another
lead Bill follows up on leads to a dead body, and when he later returns
home, he's dragged off to the hospital where he's declared dead - even if
nothing could be further from the truth. With the help of his best buddy
(Evan Richards), Bill ultimately crashes a society party at his folks'
house, planning to expose everything - but by no means was he prepared for
the grotesquerie he finds there, and what's worse, he's supposed to be
part of it ... Society is most certainly one of the most
underappreciated horror satires of its age, something akin to the rabid
brother of Heathers: In a way, it's a grotesque parody of series
like Beverly Hills 90210 - which was of course at that time
still in the future -, a trip to teenage lifestyle of the rich and famous,
but with an emphasis on teenage angst, and culminating in the absurd.
Stylistically, the film is of course pure 1980s - and the (somewhat off
and overly artificial) looks and fashion of that decade only work to
heighten the effect of alienation of the main character, and while for
most of the build-up the film's very subtle, the almost surreal finale
surely packs a bunch. And with all this carried by a intelligent and
darkly humourous script, you can be sure you'll be entertained!
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