Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
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!
Armenians Under Threat in Jerusalem + Spyware and the Lebanese Security State w/ Anas Ambri
The Gaza War, the Question of Genocide, and Israel’s Messianic Far-Right Golem w/ Prof. Omer Bartov
The Gaza War, Militarism & the Rise of the Right in the U.S. & Israel, & the ADL w/ Jeet Heer
Argentina’s President-Elect Javier Milei’s Hawkish Foreign Policy w/ Eldar Mamedov
The Horror! The Horror! A Film Fanatic’s Obsession With the Cinema of the Macabre w/ Dennis Daniel
Armenians Under Threat from Israeli Settler Extremists in Jerusalem w/ Prof. Bedross Der Matossian
Beyond the Genocide Debate: Permanent Security Logic & the Gaza War w/ Dirk Moses/The ”Were the Nazis Better Than Hamas?” Discourse is Distorting Holocaust History w/ Waitman Beorn
The UN, the Gaza War, Protest, International Law, and the Beginning of the PalCast w/ Helena Cobban
Two Jewish Perspectives on American Jewish Political Discourse Before & Since October 7th, Antisemitism, & Israel/Palestine w/ Prof. Dov Waxman & JTA’s Ron Kampeas
Ariel Sharon’s Ghost Haunts Gaza w/ Geoffrey Aronson/Gaza, Permanent War, & U.S. Foreign Policy w/ Paul R. Pillar
The Potential Coming War in the South Caucasus, Israel’s Arming of Azerbaijan, and the Corruption of U.S. Foreign Policy by Lobbies w/ James W. Carden
Israel’s Strategic Culture and Its Failing + Israeli Information Warfare w/ Dr. Andreas Krieg
Negotiating with Hamas, the Quest for Peace, & More w/ Israeli Hostage Negotiator Gershon Baskin/The Enduring Global Disorder & Qatar’s Potential Role in Postwar Gaza w/ Jason Pack
The Longstanding Hostilities Between the United Nations & Israel w/ Ian Williams
The Israeli Covert Op Project Butterfly and the October 7th Intelligence Failure w/ James Bamford
The Postwar Future of Gaza Is Likely Dystopian w/ Prof. Nathan J. Brown
Israel/Palestine and the Joint Arab League-OIC Summit on Gaza in Riyadh w/ James M. Dorsey
On Gaza, Israel/Palestine, and the Arab World w/ Eric Margolis
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Worrying Use of ”Amalek” in His Gaza War Rhetoric w/ Ariel Gold
Uses & Abuses of the Settler Colonialist Paradigm, Jabotinsky’s Revisionist Zionism, Israel/Palestine History, Stalin’s Support of Israel, Misunderstanding Fanon?, & the Gaza War w/ Ralph Leonard
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