Society

SOCIETY (18)

D: Brian Yuzna

Wild Street (Keith Walley)

US 1989 [US release: 1992]

99 mins

Horror

W: Woody Keith & Rick Fry

DP: Rick Fichter

Ed: Peter Teshner

Mus: Mark Ryder & Phil Davies

Billy Warlock (Bill Whitney), Connie Danese (Nan Whitney), Ben Slack (Dr. Cleveland), Evan Richards (Milo), Patrice Jennings (Jenny Whitney), Devin DeVasquez (Clarissa Carlyn), Heidi Kozak (Shauna)

Though released in Europe in 1989 where it had some success, the movie was shelved in the United States until 1992, and was brushed off as a joke horror movie.

Though it does have a satirical Stepford Wives-esque undertone, there's enough of a horror quotient here to appease the bloodthirsty, though the execution for the majority of the running time does come off as something made for TV. This isn't helped by the main star, Billy Warlock, an adolescently fresh-faced young actor direct from the television series Beverly Hills 90210.

Warlock plays Bill, a teenager who becomes increasingly paranoid that all the people in his Californian suburb, including his parents, are part of a social elite cult where the rich feed off the poor... of course, he's correct. Quite literally.

The last 20 minutes makes the movie, as does the incredibly macabre marketing poster, but overall it's just an average horror movie.

5/10