And so, we come to the final Kermode Introduces of October and Mark didn’t pick one new horror for me. I’m not angry, I am just disappointed. So once again I had to journey into the depths of the archive to find a film to watch, and I landed on Brian Yuzna’s ‘Society’ (1989). Now, from what I can tell this film is a bit of a hit and miss for people. Mark obviously likes it as he recommended it, but then you go over to its rotten tomatoes score and it sits at 58%, so it is very nearly a fifty/fifty split on critics recommending it or not. Knowing that I am very curious as to whether I would like it or not, but I have not been let down by one of the Kermode choices so far so let’s hope that 100% record continues.
Spoilers, it does. This film is definitely not perfect, but I did thoroughly enjoy it. The film lands right at the end of the eighties and so it has that kind of look to it which I can’t help but enjoy. All the ridiculous hair styles and fashion choices, its great. In terms of how it looks filmically it isn’t pushing the boat out. It is very competently made, shot well and with no editing fluffs or weird choices at least from what I could tell, but it equally did not wow me with its camerawork or cinematography. The same could be said about the acting. Everyone does a good job in the roles, whether being a classic, 80s cool, jock teen as is the case Billy Warlock as Bill Whitney, or a posh, slimy arsehole like the majority of the rest of the cast. But, again, there wasn’t anyone who stood out for me as being a particular strong performance. Again, this can be said for the narrative and message of the film. I am going to get onto this more later in the review, but again it is a pretty even split on what I liked and what I felt could be improved. However, I can’t say a bad word about the atmosphere the film creates. There is an inherent creepiness to the whole thing, and nothing feels right from the minute go. There are also moments in the script where people will say something truly nonsensical or completely off and no one acknowledges it, leaving you wondering if you ever heard it yourself. And then we get to the makeup and effects which are superb. The body horror in this film is some of the best I have seen, and the effects still hold up brilliantly today.
What I really liked about this film was the sense of paranoia it managed to create in me. The film has a constant ambiguity where you are unsure if what you are seeing is real or is a manifestation of the paranoia felt by our lead character. This gives the film a mystery that genuinely intrigued me as I was trying to work out whether what I was seeing was real and, if it is real, trying to decipher just quite what the hell was going on. I don’t mean that in a sense that it was confusing, but in that it was a well-built mystery that I was genuinely intrigued by. However, the film is also a commentary on the idea of ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’ kind of idea. This commentary is what I felt was a weaker point of the film. Not in the commentary itself because I agree with what the film is trying to say, but I think it was quite weak in how it put this across. The film is quite on the nose about it throughout the film which is fine, but then there is a line towards the end of the film where it takes this commentary and bashes you over the head with it. It just comes off as a writer trying to hold the audience’s hand when it isn’t needed. Maybe that it what the filmmakers were going for, but it didn’t work for me. What did work for me however was the last twenty minutes of this film. The whole film there is this building of paranoia and unease and it all comes together in this final sequence which is pure, body horror insanity and I loved it. I genuinely couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. It was grotesque, horrific, and darkly comedic all at the same time. I felt both thoroughly uncomfortable and thoroughly entertained. It was a moment where I had my mouth agape, holding my head in my hands in sure bewilderment and horror, while also having the biggest smile on my face. I also gagged at one point so that is an added bonus. Genuinely insane and I bloody loved it.
So, I definitely land on the side of having enjoyed ‘Society’. Yes, it does have its issues, but I found it a lot of fun on the whole. I was thoroughly intrigued throughout, and the final twenty minutes got exactly the emotional reaction out of me that I would think the filmmakers would have wanted. But, like a lot of films I have watched this month, this is definitely not for everybody. Body horror in general isn’t for everyone and this is some of the grimmer and grotesque stuff I have seen so would probably be other people’s worst nightmare. But is you do find yourself intrigued enough to watch it let me know which side of that fifty/fifty split you landed on.