Cover Art

Credits

Director: Andy Milligan Starring: Veronica Radburn, Hal Borske Screenplay: Hal Sherwood, Andy Milligan/ John Borske, Andy Milligan Country: USA Year: 1967/1968

Most of Milligan's oeuvre has been hard to come by in Australia, but thanks to Siren (and moreover, Something Weird Video) the terminally curious (i.e.: fools like me) can now see what all the fuss was about.

Milligan's first color film, The Ghastly Ones, begins with a double murder than has bugger-all connection to the rest of the film (and was actually tacked on by the film's producers). Afterwards, three well-to-do sisters (and their husbands) are summoned to their late father's estate for the reading of his will. As per the will, the three couples are required to spend three nights in "sexual harmony" (Milligan's words, not mine) at the estate after which they can claim their inheritance. As you'd expect, a hooded maniac (not the killer depicted in the unrealated opening scene) has other ideas, most of them involving stabbing, burning, poisoning and other pro-social activities.

Featuring headache-inducing camerawork (try to count how many times you can see Milligan's shadow looming over the actors), shaky period detail (these 19th century society sisters have some awfully fulsome – dare I say fake – eyelashes) and dodgy gore (the blood looks like undiluted raspberry cordial!) The Ghastly Ones is 71 minutes of pure Z-grade insanity. But the fun doesn't stop there, as we also have Milligan later opus Seeds of Sin to chew on….

Seeds of Sin is, on the surface, pretty much a retread of the earlier film, but has a few unique quirks of its own. Filmed in exactly the same house as The Ghastly Ones (the awful lattice wallpaper in the staircase being the chief giveaway), the film concerns sweet young Carol (Candy Hammond, who was married to the openly gay Milligan in real life), who has brought her squabbling siblings together to spend Christmas with their cantankerous - not to mention crippled – mother Clairis (Maggie Rogers). Surrounded by conniving house staff and her feuding children, Claris taunts everyone with the knowledge that she hasn't made a will. Not that this stops a mystery maniac from knocking off everyone in sight to get to her money…

Commentary for The Ghastly Ones: Hal Borske (Colin the hunchback) and Basket Case Director Frank Hennenlotter get together for an endearingly honest commentary track. Borske shares a lot of trivia on the making of the film (the actors got paid just $25 dollars per day) and his friendship with Milligan. Hennenlotter shares his experiences of seeing Milligan's films on the big screen (lots of eyestrain) and preparing these films for DVD. A fascinating listen and a terrific feature.

Seeds of Sin Workprint (40.35): Two reels from Milligan's original 16mm workprint, covering the opening and closing of the film. This features a number of scenes not included in the final print, making the story line a little bit clearer. It's also worth a look for the unforgettable experience of hearing Milligan's voice off screen directing two of the actors during a sex scene!

Andy Milligan Exploitation Art Gallery (8.10): A series of stills from The Ghastly Ones, Bloodthirsty Butchers and Torture Dungeon, set to music by Hal Borske. Okay if you're a Milligan completist, not very interesting otherwise.