Starring: Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards, Ben Meyerson, Charles Lucia, Connie Danese.
Director: Brian Yuzna.
For a long time now I've heard and read about Society but, blessedly since I'm about to watch it, with very little details about actual content. I had never gotten around to it, due to it being somewhat hard to find but now it has a brand new shiny blu-ray release and I can finally watch this madness in the privacy of my own home and report my findings to you: the three people who read this blog.
I have no idea what's going on during this credits sequence, but I see that Screaming Mad George is behind it so...mission accomplished?
I can relate to the main character and his fear of everyone being something horrible. I can also be totally jealous about his hair, man. Holy crap, he is not kidding around with that hair.
Man, am I getting the feeling that I am in for something here. Granted, it's been pretty subtle for now, even a bit goofy and filled with certain stereotypes...but just the weird inverted-body shower scene thing that occurred and the strange social order being established are just promising some strange stuff.
Is Billy being gaslighted or is he nuts? I'm assuming they're really up to weird shit, but I enjoy the device of asking that question. Billy could be having some sort of psychotic break-it's certainly been somewhat established that he's cracking, he's going to a psychiatrist and generally having a tough time with things-but I would think that there's a conspiracy going on and it's focused on keeping Billy in the dark. I think he actually is adopted, for the record. Calling that one now.
Billy and I...man, I feel for this guy. I feel like this all the time. Especially the incredulity to banal responses to upsetting or troubling news. Actually, since I've been having a hard time finding a place to actually start dissecting this film, I might as well start with Billy. The character is certainly working for me, he hasn't shown himself to be extremely capable (yet, anyway, I have a feeling he's going to crack some skulls later) but there's a nice everyman quality to him. Warlock is giving a decent performance. It's a little dopey at times, but that's working for him, too.
Considering that this film is coming from the guy (behind the guy) responsible for Re-Animator I can't say I'm surprised at the strange sexual overtones permeating the film. There's some obvious incestuous things going on with his sister, characters outright discuss sexuality offhand...'How do you like your Tea: cream, sugar, or do you want me to pee in it?" might be one of my favorite line reads ever. Then the weird but subtle hint at Jenny and her Parents doing some weird-ass stuff together, and Billy's sex scenes with Clarissa. I'm considering the blow-up doll in his car a warning and not a prank, though.
Not sure if the body-horror stuff or the baffling behaviors and reactions of the characters are the weirder side of this flick. Even Billy doesn't have the most appropriate reactions to events.
Holy crap, Clarissa's outfit! Acid wash jeans, denim jacket covered in rhinestones and patches...and tassles...it might be the greatest outfit ever.
Look at her there in the back. I mean, my god, I would marry any Woman who dressed like that right now. |
I feel like I'm just reacting to this movie and not providing any analysis. I've been considering waiting to write this until after I've watched and absorbed the movie. But timing is a big deal. I dunno. Been mulling it over. This is a movie to be reacted to, though: its narrative is admittedly very staccato and maybe just a little jumbled, so it doesn't really feel like totally engrossing. It's interesting, and a bit creepy, but its story beat to story beat, plot device to plot device.
Guess I was wrong about the doll being a warning. Foreshadowing, maybe, but not a warning.
Pretty sure we're headed into the last act, and I can safely say I have no idea what to expect. By this point I would have expected more body-horror tip-offs and hallucinations but it's mostly been paranoia-based stuff, which isn't bad at all. Pretty sure shit is about to go nuts, though. But I literally don't know what's happening: is Clarissa on his side or one of them? She seemed pretty upset when he showed up crazed and warned him not to go home... Is there a "them" or is Billy just losing it?
Guess I have my answers. Poor Billy. Billy actually is suffering one of my worst nightmares: everyone you know is in on it except you. Of course, it gets worse...I mean...a lot worse. I mean, there is also the obvious (almost painfully so) allegory (the guy literally says: "Don't you know, the rich has always sucked off of the poor") of the class system...but hey, the visuals are so enormously insane that I can forgive an overwrought metaphor.
Wow. This shit gets...I mean...I'd seen some photos but...
I don't know if I needed the overstated fight scene set piece, It feels a bit tacked on and a little emotionally unearned: his rivalry with the guy isn't nearly pronounced enough to provide satisfaction to any of it...but hey, Billy ripping the guy inside out was kinda worth it.
Huh. Interesting use of a non-ending. They just let Billy and his friends escape? No specific discussion on Clarissa being of whatever-the-hell-species these guys are? Okay. I mean, sure, I can handle that.
Final Thoughts: Well. That was something. The visual effects might number among the best I've ever come across in my time-and that's saying something-and were suitably weird. Even fascinating and very arresting. Maybe a little gross. Beyond that, though, there are a lot of weaknesses from Society: character beats really never suitably land (if Clarissa loves Billy, maybe some more bonding between them might be a good thing?), the plot kind of drifts aimlessly from plot beat to plot beat and the lack of resolution, while providing a sense of "life goes on as it always has", is still not the best foot to place forward. That said: this movie mostly falls under the header of "fun" and, in the end, analysis might be somewhat unwelcome and unfounded when discussing it.
Final Rating: Gonna go ahead with a Four Star rating. Weaknesses or no, I cannot say that I did not like Society.
No comments:
Post a Comment