Behind the Scenes of the Class Warfare, Body-Horor Cult Classic SOCIETY (+ BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4, & GIRL NEXT) w/ Screenwriter Zeph E. Daniel

On this edition of Parallax Views, the 1989 horror film Society has become a cult classic for it's wild mix of body horror, dark humor, satire of high society, and class warfare politics. Joining us to discuss that movie, as well as his work on other horror movies past and present, is the film's co-write Zeph E. Daniel. In the second hour, Zeph and I discuss his return to screenwriting with the 2021 horror/thriller GIRL NEXT, a story of a young woman's fight to survive after being kidnapped by human traffickers that gets very strange when demonic entities, body-altering drugs, quantum physics, and a sinister MKULTRA-style government experiment are thrown into the plot's mix.

Among the topics covered in our conversation:

- How Zeph became involved in screenwriting and early sci-fi writing

- Working with producer/director Brian Yuzna, known for his body-horror films including the Re-Animator franchise and Society

- How Society's initial story involved a Satanic cult rather than strange, alien-like shapeshifting beings posing as rich humans in Beverly Hills

- Satirizing the shallowness of the wealthy and Beverly Hills culture

- Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation and it's witchcraft plot involving the demon Lilith

- The length of the filming shoot for the Yuzna-made movies Zeph worked on

- Zeph's thoughts on Bride of Re-Animator

- The class warfare element of Society, Zeph's interview with the left-wing publication Jacobin, and the exploitation of the poor by the rich in Society's story

- Actress Devin DeVasquez's "Clarissa" character in Society

- The differences between Zeph's original story for Society and the movie itself

- Special effects artist Screaming Mad George and the infamous "The Shunting" ritual scene in Society

- Girl Next and the story of how Zeph formed Crazed House Ltd. with director Larry Wade Carell

- Zeph's belief in spiritual warfare

- Zeph's thoughts and feelings on his work being rejected by the Christian community despite his being a born again Christian; the story of how his evangelical Christian novel Lamb was rejected by the Christian community; the fear of creativity that exists within some Christian circles

- The next Crazed House Ltd. movie and the big name horror star legend that'll have a voice role in the film

- Experiences at Texas Frightmare Weekend

- Problems with wanting to express one's authentic creative self and still getting funding to make a movie

- Sex in cinema; the sexual scenes in Girl Next

- An explanation of the body-altering drug that's central to Girl Next's plot; how quantum physics and simulation theory play into Girl Next and it's upcoming sequels

- Zeph's "Special Thank You" credit in the serial killer movie Ed Gein starring Steve Railsback (The Stuntman; Helter Skelter)

- How Zeph works with people who do not share his beliefs about religion or his personal story

- The cult classic status of Society today and the different types of people that have come to love the film

- Society as a movie that was soft banned in the U.S. but very popular in Europe

- Zeph's speculations on what happened to Society's protagonist Bill Whitley (played by Billy Warlock) after the events of the story

- The trials and tribulations of making Girl Next

- Zeph's early experiences on the radical left

- Power elites and oppression of working people

- The infamous "The rich have always sucked off low-class shit like you" line in Society that crystalizes it's class conflict themes

- And much, much more!