Monday, July 6, 2015

SOCIETY (1989)

Call me a weirdo if you want, but I think it'd be cool to have a hot girlfriend who could mutate and twist and change her body all around in horrible ways. I mean you could be hittin' it doggystyle then she could move her tits to her back and her head down by her pussy so she could lick your balls while you're sawing at it. That'd be awesome...all the way up to the part where she fists me through the asshole and out the mouth then eats my eyeballs...oh well, maybe on second though, it wouldn't be that cool after all. Never mind.

From the outside, teenage Bill Whitney looks to have the perfect life: wealthy family that lives in a mansion in Beverly Hills, high school basketball hero, hot girlfriend and then another hot girl on the side...but something's not quite right. Bill sees glimpses of freaky stuff (like his sister in the shower with her breasts on her back), but it can't be real, right?  Maybe he's losing his mind. But then the people that Bill confides in start dying mysteriously. Is there really something sinister going or he just nuts?! 

SOCIETY is a pretty unique film.  Even a quarter of a century later it still has the power to make new viewers go "What the fuck am I watching?" and laugh.  That said, I wish the filmmakers had taken a more serious tone with the film instead of making the final act silly.  The story idea is very disturbing when you thinking about it, but unfortunately the film comes off more as a dark comedy instead of a nightmare-inducing brainfuck.  Quick pace, great 80's fashions and cars, mild nudity, fantastic special effects that are still impressive, good acting, imaginative visuals and story.

Recommended for fans of the weirder side of cinema.

[REC] 4: APOCALYPSE (2014)

Immediately after the events of Part 2 and 3 (remember they happened simultaneously), the reporter from the first two films is rescued from the doomed apartment building and taken to a government ship located somewhere off shore.  On board is a small group of soldiers and scientists along with a few of the SWAT guys that rescued her.  The scientists are trying to figure out a cure for whatever it is that is infecting people and turning them into crazed, flesh-eating zombies.  This sounds like an amazing idea for a film, so with visions of Brian Keene's "Dead Sea" dancing around in my handsome brain I happily sat down to watch [REC] 4....

And it wasn't too bad.  The beginning is pleasant enough with a nice set-up, the middle part was even better when the zombies started gettin busy, but then the final act just kind of fizzled out with the totally by-the-numbers "running from zombies" routine that we have seen in six hundred and sixty six other zombie movies.  I was expecting/hoping for something better. 


After watching the film I read that this is the "final" installment in the series and if that true then I'm pretty disappointed because I see this idea as having tons of potential.  I liked Part 3 the best out of the series and even that film didn't live up to what I was wishing for.  As for Part 4, it's worth a watch.  Shaky cam, moderate blood, zero gore or nudity, infected monkeys, silly JASON GOES TO HELL-style slug creature that possesses people, quick pace, likeable characters.  I enjoyed it, but I just wish it, like all of the other films in the series, had been darker and more serious.

Part 1 - [Rec] (2007)
Part 2 - [Rec] 2 (2009)
Part 3 - [Rec] 3: Genesis (2012)
Remake - Quarantine (2008)
Remake Part 2 - Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011)

Why is that wood floor all wrinkly?