Society

After producing Re-Animator, Brian Yuzna turned his hand to directing with Society (1989) — one of the ickiest, most original body horror shockers of all time.

Teenager Bill Whitney has always felt like the odd one out in his wealthy, upper-class Beverly Hills family. They mix with other upper-class people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. 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 in a bizarre, ritualistic orgy.

Packing stomach-churning grue courtesy visual effects artist Screaming Mad George and thought-provoking social commentary in equal measure, Society is a biting satire that culminates in the most gag-inducing “climax” in all of horror history.

The screening will be introduced by Hira Mahmood, a PhD candidate in the Department of Performing & Media Arts.

Part of our "The American Nightmare" series. Courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive.