Society (1992) - Blu-ray Review

Details: By Loron Hays; 12 September 2015

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Society - Blu-ray Review

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The directorial debut from Brian Yuzna simply will not be silenced. It is, at once, disgusting and gratuitous and demented; however, its message about wealth and excess expands out beyond the yuppie influence of its origins and speaks volumes here in the golden age of inequality. Society, after all, is pretty damn cold. With effects by Screaming Mad George (Predator, Big Trouble in Little China), Society is a horror film for anyone who feels (or has felt before) as though they just don’t fit in with life as they know it. It gets a premiere upgrade for its blu-ray debut courtesy of Arrow Video.

Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) has it made. He’s born into wealth, captain of the football and debate team, and shags the head cheerleader on a regular basis. His black jeep is always spotless and his hair is perfectly in place. You could say that his trajectory always points up. And yet this high school senior can’t shake the feeling that there is something pretty damn strange going on inside his family. All the delusions and therapy pays off when his sister’s former boyfriend (Tim Bartell) shares with him some pretty damn frightful information about Jenny (Patrice Jennings). Turns out, Jenny likes to get really freaky with Mom and Dad. Bill’s world is about to get really bent in an orgy of wet gelatinous entrails and images you’d never known possible …

Co-starring Devin DeVasquez (House II: The Second Story) and Heidi Kozak (Slumber Party Massacre II), Society is rich satire on a level of the grotesque that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The rich literally feed off of the poor through an act of vile absorption in which pores become grotesque vacuums resulting in bizarre scenes of limbs spread in one continuous orgy of demons as they feed upon flesh. The film is notorious for highly-charged scenes of explicit sexual acts that can barely be stomached as heads shoot up buttholes and feet become hands and all sorts of explicit whatnots enter elitist vajayjay.

This is definitely NOT a film for mainstream audiences. And, I promise you, once seen, Society can never be forgotten. The effects are wicked; the voyeuristic scenes are memorable. And the whole thing – from script to direction – works in a way that it absolutely shouldn’t. It is both humorous and revolting. It doesn’t try to be anything but both of this things. Sometimes all at once. A standard shower scene gets literally turned on its head when audiences become aware that the female (distorted by the shower’s glass door) has boobs in places where she shouldn’t. It’s this unsettling nature that guides the film to its wickedly irreverent climax.

Released three years after it was originally made (in 1989), Society was bound to be ignored here in the United States. Europeans perhaps more fully aware of the lie inherit in trickle-down economics, however, ate it up. In the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the current presidential race full of surging outsiders, Society and its scouring of the 1% feels fresh even though the fashions of the era do not.

Arrow Video, using a newly remastered 2K digital transfer of the film, presents Society in all its guts and glory in a director-approved Limited Edition Digipak. This is a release that, if you are at all interested in seeing what the fuss is all about, you should not put off owning. It simply won’t be in stores for very long.

If your gag reflex is strong enough, I wonder what contributions to Yuzna’s Society you are going to make?

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MPAA Rating: R for bizarre sexuality and violence, and for language.
Runtime: 99 mins
Director: Brian Yuzna
Writer: Rick Fry, Woody Keith
Cast: Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards
Genre: Horror
Tagline: It is not what you think it is.
Memorable Movie Quote: "You're going to make a wonderful contribution to society."
Distributor: Arrow Video
Official Site:
Release Date: No theatrical release
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: June 9, 2015
Synopsis: Bill is worried that he is 'different' to his sister and parents. They mix with other 'upper class' people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. All is revealed when Bill returns home to find a party in full swing. Not for the weak of stomach.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Society - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - June 9, 2015
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); DVD copy
Region Encoding: Region-free playback

Courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video, the 1080p transfer of Society is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and has been fully restored in 2K. This release has Yuzna’s blessing and the results are vibrant, strong, and worth owning. Enjoy those late 80s fashions because – especially on Blu-ray – there’s no denying that this was a very strange time. Clothing is tight, ribbed, and full of textures. Colors are saturated and black levels are strong. Contrast is good. Grain is strong. And, with lots of details filling the screen, there’s no disappointment to be had with the visual upgrade efforts. There is only a standard audio track - English LPCM 2.0 (Stereo) – but it is more than sufficient for the release.

Supplements:

Commentary:

Yuzna provides an all-new commentary for the film. For anyone interested in Society, his recollections of the making of the film and its delayed release and response is not to be missed.

Special Features:

Stocked with new interviews from Yuzna to Warlock, Arrow Video does Society proud. Screaming Mad George and David Grasso talk about their work on the film and stars DeVasquez, Ben Meyerson, and Tim Bartell discuss their roles. There are Q&A sessions with Yuzna and newly-commissioned artwork by Nick Percival. Complete with a collector’s booklet and the official comic sequel to the movie, this is one release that satisfies on every level…if you can stomach it.