Society (1989)
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A teenager in Beverly Hills begins to suspect that his wealthy parents are part of a gruesome cult of social elites.
The story
Bill lives with his parents and sister in a mansion in Beverly Hills, California. He tells his therapist Dr. Cleveland that he does not trust his rich family. When his sister's ex-boyfriend David gives him a surreptitiously recorded audio tape of what sounds like his family engaged in a murderous orgy, Bill begins to suspect that his feelings are justified. Bill gives the tape to Dr. Cleveland, but when he later plays it back, the audio has changed to his sister's debutante party. When Bill attempts to meet David to obtain another copy, he finds an ambulance and police officers gathered around David's crashed van.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Bill lives in a Beverly Hills mansion and suspects his wealthy family is involved in a cult. After receiving a recording of a possible murderous orgy, he investigates and discovers his friend David's car crashed and a body removed. At a party hosted by classmate Ted Ferguson, Bill learns the first tape was real. After confronting his family and discovering David's corpse may be fake, Bill is drugged by his family and Dr. Cleveland. He awakens in a hospital only to be taken back to his home, where a large formal party is occurring. Dr. Cleveland reveals that Bill's family and their friends are an entirely different species; Bill was adopted and is not part of their bloodline. To demonstrate, they bring in a still-living David as a human sacrifice. The guests begin 'shunting,' physically deforming their bodies to meld into an amorphous mass of flesh while feasting on David's nutrients. They intend to do the same to Bill, but he escapes. During a fight with Ted, Bill manages to kill Ted by reaching inside his body mid-shunt and pulling it inside out. Bill escapes with the help of Milo and Clarissa, who is also of the other species but has betrayed them for love.
- First release year
- 1989
- Runtime (minutes)
- 99
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Brian Yuzna
- Writers
- Woody Keith · writer; Rick Fry · writer
- Cast and characters
- Billy Warlock · a teenager; Devin DeVasquez; Evan Richards; Ben Meyerson
- Genres
- body horror; comedy horror; satirical; monster; exploitation; teen horror
- Themes
- paranoia; satire; social class; cannibalism; human sacrifice; body horror
- Tone and mood
- paranoid; black humor; satirical; gory; pretentious; obnoxious
- Premise and plot tags
- body horror; social elite; shapeshifting; cult; human sacrifice; adoption
- Franchise connections
- Society
- Content notes
- gore
- Reception
- The film was a critical success in Europe but failed commercially in the United States. It has since garnered a cult following and is regarded as influential in body horror.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 67% · review count: 15
- Production trivia
- The film was originally conceived as a more conventional slasher.; The 'shunting' sequence was inspired by a Salvador Dalí painting.; The film was shot in California in 1988.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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