Brian Yuzna's Society was the flawed Get Out of the 80s

Get Out may have revolutionised how horror tackles politics, but the genre has a rich history of tacking political messages onto enjoyably shlocky plots. One of my favourite examples is 1989's Society.

It was directed by Brian Yuzna (he produced Re-Animator) and came off the back of films like The Fly, Videodrome and The Thing which made horror fantastically gloopy.

We all like a bit of 80s body horror, but we also like very literal metaphors about how the economic elite are feeding off ordinary people. How, Yuzna undoubtedly pondered, could the two be combined?

Enter Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock), your average teen with incredible 80s hair who thinks his parents are out to get him. "I'm not paranoid," he says to his shrink with zero credability.

Like most teenagers, Whitney is remarkably horny. There's a semi-acknowledged incest vibe between him and his sister, even when he sees the skin pulse and bulge on her sweat-drenched back when zipping up her dress. 

After some protacted sexual misadventures and the classic line "How do you like your tea? Cream, sugar, or would you like me to pee in it?", it turns out Bill was right all along. His parents, sister and all their friends are actually an alien race that has preyed on the poor for centuries, literally sucking their bodies dry in a gloopy, orgaistic mess.

Society is shrunk down to a coterie of the rich and the influential – everyone else is just nibbles

Society is torn between its genre trappings and its Important Message about the rich. Most people remember the remarkable practical effects rather than its simplistic politics.

If you look hard (and I mean really hard), there is some food for thought behind the naff jokes, gaping plot holes and frankly odd dialogue. There's an intriguing melding of two different definitions of society – society in the sense of the social structures we live in and 'high' society as gatherings of the great and the good.

"You're going to make a wonderful contribution to society," Bill's shrink smirks as it becomes clear that Bill is on the menu in the third act's freakish orgy/banquet. Though it sounds like the impending devouring of Bill will somehow contribute to the social good, what the psych really means is that it'll make for a better chinwag for him and his friends. Society is shrunk down to a coterie of the rich and the influential – everyone else is just nibbles.

The trouble is that – although the movie is often tremendous fun – the political message fails to land because the film is trying to be so many other things too. It packs in adolescent paranoia about the body, sex and identity like a less good Ginger Snaps, while also taking vague stabs at the wealthy in a finale that looks like the mother of all acid trips.

Take Get Out in comparison. The movie has a schloky, brain-snatching plot which doubles as a metaphor for the fetishization of black bodies, while also being enjoyably B Movie-esque. It deploys horror topes in a knowing way, and its fixation with televisions and seeing through others' eyes gives real food for thought on how horror has let black Americans down with its disappointing representation.

Get Out successfully melds its tropey horror elements to strengthen its political intent. In the case of Society, its unsubtle political commentary takes a backseat in a sexually charged teen horror comedy.

You can watch Society on Shudder.

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