No pitch forks through the neck - or I don't remember it.
One of the burglars does get a pitchfork through the neck. He's the one who's guts get pulled out by the ghostly strings. All those other distinct Milligan touches (I'd add the "twirl camera" effect and sexual perverts to the list) are sadly missing. There are some bloody mannequin hands and heads, though.
This is certainly Milligan's most polished and expensive film, costing a whopping $30,000! There seem to be scenes that are actually edited, as opposed to his usual practice of letting the camera roll as his "actors" scream at each other at the top of their lungs. Some of the cast appear to be professional actors, but I'm guessing there are still a few of the prostitutes, street people, and sexual degenerates in the cast that usually populate his movies. According to the Milligan bio
The Ghastly One one of the actors was wanted by the FBI at the time the film was made for bombing several abortion clinics.
The looped dog bark was a nice touch.
MONSTROSITY, which was made just a couple of years later, is actually looks more amateurish than his early films. That one almost impossible for me to watch, and I
like the early works like THE GHASTLY ONES, TORTURE DUNGEON, and GURU THE MAD MONK.
Here's something interesting: Amazon has several used copies of the long OOP DVD release of BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS/THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE! for sale for almost $700.00! I guess the upcoming Tim Burton version of SWEENEY TODD has made this a collector's item. I've got one I'll sell ya for a mere $500.00.
Or to the highest bidder.