Society

[MichaelB]

IT’S ALL ABOUT FITTING IN

After producing Stuart Gordon’s hit Re-Animator, Brian Yuzna (Bride of Re-Animator, Return of the Living Dead III) turned his hand to directing with 1989’s Society, and gave birth to one of the ickiest, most original body horror shockers of all time.

Teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) has always felt like the odd one out in his wealthy, upper-class Beverly Hills family. For some reason, he just doesn’t seem to fit in. But his sense of alienation takes a sinister turn when he overhears a surreptitious audio recording of his sister’s coming-out party, which seems to implicate his family and others in a bizarre, ritualistic orgy. And then there are the strange things he’s been seeing – glimpses of people with their bodies contorted impossibly out of shape... Is Billy going mad or is there something seriously amiss in his neighbourhood?

Packing stomach-churning grue and thought-provoking social commentary in equal measure, Society is a biting horror satire which culminates in one of the most leftfield, gag-inducing “climaxes” in all of horror history – just don’t eat beforehand!

Special Features:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New Audio Commentary with Director Brian Yuzna
• Governor Of Society with Brian Yuzna
• The Masters Of The Hunt with stars Billy Warlock, Devin Devasquez, Ben Meyerson and Tim Bartell
• The Champions Of The Shunt with FX Artists Screaming Mad George, David Grasso and Nick Benson
• Screaming Mad George music video
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Region: Free
Rating: 18
Duration: 99 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Stereo
Colour
Discs: 2
Cat No: FCD1105
Barcode: 5027035012735
UK
RRP: £24.99
Release Date: 18 May 2015
USA
MSRP: $39.95
Release Date: 19 May 2015

[Adam X]

Given this appears to be a replication of the intended Second Sight release, on-disc extras-wise, it's nice to see Arrow were able to work something out with them, given all the work they'd put in. Looking forward to this.
Once Arrow are done with this and Bride, it'd be great to see a release of Yuzna's only other truly great film, Return of the Living Dead 3, if at all possible.

[EddieLarkin]

I sort of feel bad asking for such a crap film, but Return of the Living Dead 2, with its original soundtrack intact (it was completely missing from the DVD), would be appreciated.

Assuming Bride of Re-Animator will get a stateside release from Arrow as well, I wonder what is to become of the 4K transfer of Re-Animator that is available in the UK and Germany, when it comes to American distribution. Would Arrow really turn it down if it meant not being able to release their own version in the UK (I hope not!)? Perhaps they didn't announce Bride for May because they're planning a double feature set, or even a trilogy...!

Speaking of Bride, if anyone at Arrow working on it is reading, something must be done about the audio. I don't know if the people doing the restoration goofed or what, but there is an audible hiss that is present whenever a character speaks, and it causes the dialogue to become muffled. It's easier to hear with Pro-Logic engaged, as the hiss is isolated to the rears. I couldn't finish my Capelight copy it was so bad. There is further discussion, with links to samples comparing the audio to the DVD, on this page.

While I'm at it, just in case, a section of the opening credits to Re-Animator were never finished during the restoration. Torsten Kaiser said they run out of time. There are details here. It would be nice to see them as intended on any future release.

[MichaelB]

Second Sight has the UK rights to ReAnimator, so there's no chance of an Arrow release for at least the next few years.

[Adam X]

I thought I'd read that Second Sight re-inserted that restored section into their release of Re-Animator.

[colinr0380]

For completeness here is the Moviedrome introduction by Mark Cousins from when Society was premiered on UK television back in 1997 (in the second half of a 'body horror' double bill coming after the remake of The Fly!)

[antnield]

Beaver.

[David M.]

For completeness here is the Moviedrome introduction by Mark Cousins from when Society was premiered on UK television back in 1997 (in the second half of a 'body horror' double bill coming after the remake of The Fly!)

Oh whoah! Look at the limited color spectrum that's been transferred in the movie clips! That is tube-tastic!

[MichaelB]

Specs announced for non-limited edition:

SOCIETY (Amaray edition)

Release Date: 7th September 2015
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards
Directed by: Brian Yuzna

Pre-order here.

IT IS A MATTER OF GOOD BREEDING. REALLY.

After producing Stuart Gordon’s hit Re-Animator, Brian Yuzna (Bride of Re-Animator, Return of the Living Dead III) turned his hand to directing with 1989’s Society, and gave birth to one of the ickiest, most original body horror shockers of all time.

Teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) has always felt like the odd one out in his wealthy, upper-class Beverly Hills family. For some reason, he just doesn’t seem to fit in. But his sense of alienation takes a sinister turn when he hears an audio recording of his sister’s coming-out party, which seems to implicate his family and others in a bizarre, ritualistic orgy. And then there are the strange things he’s been seeing – glimpses of people with their bodies contorted impossibly out of shape… Is Bill going mad or is there something seriously amiss in his neighborhood?

Packing stomach-churning grue and thought-provoking social commentary in equal measure, Society is a biting horror satire which culminates in one of the most gag-inducing “climaxes”’ in all of horror history.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

• Newly remastered 2K digital transfer of the film, approved by director Brian Yuzna
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
• Original Stereo 2.0 audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by Yuzna
• Governor of Society – a brand new interview with Yuzna
• The Masters of the Hunt – a brand new featurette including interviews with stars Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Ben Meyerson and Tim Bartell
• The Champion of the Shunt – new featurette with FX artists Screaming Mad George, David Grasso and Nick Benson
• 2014 Q&A with Yuzna, recorded at Celluloid Screams Festival
• Brian Yuzna in conversation backstage at the Society world premiere
• ‘Persecution Mania’ – Screaming Mad George music video
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Nick Percival
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Alan Jones, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

DETAILS:

Region: Free
Rating: 18
Cat No: FCD1143
Duration: 99 mins
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Stereo 2.0
Discs: 2
Colour

[swo17]

So it looks like the exclusive elements of the limited edition are the fancier packaging and this:

Society: Party Animal [Limited Edition Exclusive] – the official comic sequel to Society, reproduced in its entirety in a perfect-bound book

[domino harvey]

Arrow put a lot of work into this release (and they know their target market of horror fans will love the icky packaging) but I was pretty underwhelmed with the film itself. Like a lot of horror movies from the 80s, it starts with a compelling premise (here that the rich act like they're different than everyone else because they literally are) and some weird special effects (scrappily low rent in a similar fashion to the Stuff or Street Trash) and then doesn't do much with either save for a few errant "shock" moments that aren't nearly fun enough to justify the whole endeavor. I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did, and while it's not a bad film, being a mediocre one with all these component parts working in its favor is a real shame.

[zedz]

Arrow put a lot of work into this release (and they know their target market of horror fans will love the icky packaging) but I was pretty underwhelmed with the film itself. Like a lot of horror movies from the 80s, it starts with a compelling premise (here that the rich act like they're different than everyone else because they literally are) and some weird special effects (scrappily low rent in a similar fashion to the Stuff or Street Trash) and then doesn't do much with either save for a few errant "shock" moments that aren't nearly fun enough to justify the whole endeavor. I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did, and while it's not a bad film, being a mediocre one with all these component parts working in its favor is a real shame.

I'd agree with that as well: a promising premise and some goofily inspired ideas (particularly in terms of those special effects), but totally mediocre on a technical level, with ugly standardized 80s lighting and plotting that's by turns jerky (quick! we have to get from A to D!) and plodding (we all know where this is heading, but we need to vamp for another ten minutes while the characters catch up and we get this thing to a decent runtime). There's also a weird air of unconsummated archness that feels like it either needed to be played up (and given several more jolts of wit than are actually in the script) or played down. As it is, the really obvious satire just sits there on the surface, unexplored and too vague and generalized for any of its blows to really land.

[swo17]

I like the film more as a kind of indictment of bad teen hangout/romance movies of the era, which the lazier elements of the script and the hammy acting play into to some extent. All of these films have the same ending (some stomach-churning inevitable life lesson learned). Society simply literalizes this.

That being said, I don't love the icky packaging.

[domino harvey]

The UK Limited Edition is now out of print

[DarkImbecile]

Catching up with entries on the S+S list I haven’t seen yet:

OK, yes — that is some crazy shit. But for as powerfully nightmarish as most of the effects in last twenty minutes are, I can’t in good conscience give the script, performances, and direction throughout a complete pass, whether some of it is intended to be reflexively satirical or not. 

The scene where our hero clumsily pulls an inflatable sex doll with the name of the girl he just cheated with the night before out of his Jeep in front of his girlfriend at least earned a laugh, intentionally or not; a lot of the rest is just interminable wheel-spinning until the aforementioned crazy shit gets going. The little crumbs of Freudian psychosexual anxiety — as when the protagonist gets sunscreen ejaculated onto his face by the school vixen, or when he stares horrified at the wrongness of his sister’s naked shape through fogged shower glass  — aren’t nearly enough to adequately keep one’s interest for 80 minutes ahead of the grand finale. 

Still, I will give Society this — I can pretty much guarantee I will never see anywhere else a high school rivalry plot with a rich bully resolved in this particular fashion.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Is Society in the S&S list? Crikey! It's definitely one of my favourite horror films and I reckon it's probably had some critical rehabilitation in recent years, but I'd be amazed if it polled that well amongst critics/directors!

[DarkImbecile]

No, just kidding; I happened to watch it the same week as everyone else was trying to catch up with, like, Au hasard Balthazar and Shoah

[M Sanderson]

Always regarded the film very highly and valued it above even Stuart Gordon’s horrors (which I’ve eventually come around to). The film for me is a fine precursor to Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers in using beautiful blank people for the purpose of satire. It has also helped me to find genuine worth in some of Yuzna’s less valued films - gave me a reason to persevere with even less promising material.

Glad it’s achieving recognition but I’m concerned that it’s being suddenly valued due to the excessively politicised times that we live in.

[The Curious Sofa]

I only saw Society at its release but felt the entire movie was constructed around its climactic effects set piece, barely held together by some of the least subtle satire on class ever. Later I always thought it was a bad sign when a horror franchise got to the Directed by Brian Yuzna stage.

[M Sanderson]

I only saw Society at its release but felt the entire movie was constructed around its climactic effects set piece, barely held together by some of the least subtle satire on class ever. Later I always thought it was a bad sign when a horror franchise got to the Directed by Brian Yuzna stage.

I’ve found a great deal to like in Bride of Re-animator, ROTLD 3 and Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation. The Fifth Silent Night: The Toy Maker, feels like a Yuzna film via proxy & I spotted a couple of Society alumni in this surprisingly fun film.

[colinr0380]

Also it was wonderful to find out that Yuzna co-wrote with Stuart Gordon Honey, I Shrunk The Kids! Which I guess means that the series of films takes place in the same From Beyond universe of crazed mad scientists!