Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: 80s!

About the Author: Parker Simpson is a writer and podcaster focusing on cult films and their social impacts. They currently cohost Where Is My Mind, a podcast focusing on underappreciated films from a variety of genres and countries. They have also held panels, chartered local organizations, and written articles to their blog. When not writing or studying, they like to spend time with their pets and go outside. Check out the podcast Linktree and blog.

Note: I wrote this in early September. This has been edited accordingly to make it seem like I watched it recently.

It’s not every day you see a mass walk out of a film over one scene. Or seeing those who stay have their jaws permanently agape. Or those same people become increasingly sweaty and anxiety ridden as time passes. It’s rather funny, really. I would highly recommend the experience.

This is an accurate summary of my local drive-in’s screening of Society, which they decided to double-bill with Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I don’t know how they keep getting copies of cult horror films to show in small town America, but I respect it and will keep forking over my money to them (you should, too). Seriously, last weekend they screened Lamberto Bava’s Demons with Return of the Living Dead, and next week is a two-night event including Girls Nite Out, Madman, Re-Animator, Spider Baby, and Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things. What is in the water here?

Society is a film known more for its ending (I will try to not spoil too much) than what precedes it. Its timely imagery of the rich literally eating the poor has aged just as well as the special effects Brian Yuzna got the plot from. Despite the continual citing of his and collaborator Stuart Gordon’s influence in recent efforts (see: The Substance), his directorial career is rather bumpy, ranging from extremely amusing (Faust: Love of the Damned) to awful (Beyond Re-Animator). This is his high point: if you ask me, he hit it out of the park with Society and should have done more with social commentaries instead of basing his career on getting ideas from Screaming Mad George. Then again, I shouldn’t curse the man who holds the rights to my favorite franchise.

What makes this stand out from the rest of Yuzna’s filmography is not the melding of naked bodies and human beings turned inside out – it’s the elaborate pacing and making the most of its surroundings. By the time the late 80s rolled around, the popular landscape was more interested in making money than engaging the general public. Culture had shifted away from the organic roots of the 60s and 70s, being redirected to malls and television. It may have been a sign of economic prosperity, but it signaled a cultural downfall we are still feeling the effects of. Setting Society in the wealthy area of Beverly Hills only amplifies this bubble we often see in films of the time – gone are the seedy streets of the inner city, in come the gentrified suburbs. 

However, in the spirit of Blue Velvet, there must be something lying underneath the glimmery surface. Enter the Whitney family, composed of parents Nan and Jim, daughter Jenny, and son Bill. Bill is the black sheep – there is clearly a rift between him and the rest of the family. He knows something is wrong, but he can’t put his finger on it. It’s only when his friend (and sister’s ex) bug the family’s car that he finds out about Jenny’s “coming out” party – something his parents also did, and which features a murderous orgy. Not the sort of thing you want to hear anyone participating in, let alone your immediate family. Only from there does the rift continue to grow, culminating in the now infamous shunting sequence. What could be taken as cheesy teenage angst turns into a genuine feeling of paranoia; while Bill is never really part of his family (he suspects he was adopted), he’s never really able to escape them. He finds their influence extends to the furthest corners of Beverly Hills, as seemingly everyone within a 50-mile radius plots against him. It all culminates in a feast of bodies merging into one another as liquor (and honey?) pours over a sickly orange lighting, a visual you will never really forget. Films primarily based on special effects don’t always work, and while they don’t get to shine until the final 20 minutes, Society may be the one exception.

I could write on and on about this, truly. But it is something you must witness with your own two eyes, an experience you will never forget no matter how or where you watch it. I cannot give this a higher possible recommendation. Just make yourself a nice cup of tea and see it.

(this is my last piece for the month. Thank you to Sam for letting me write for the site and to anyone who has been reading both my pieces and any of the other contributors’ pieces!)