Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)

[Scott]

BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS (1970) - I'm not sure which film is worst out of  the Andy Milligan films I pick up a couple weeks. BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS and THE RATS ARE COMING ! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE ! are both boring, stupid, and just plain bad. A real test for any bad movie fan. The dialogue is the most pethetic ever captured on film. I gave TRACTWAH credit for the family werewolve scene towards the end, but I was being kind. I don't like to say it but Milligan had no talent as a director. Highlights of BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS were the hand cut off, the finger cut off, the throat cut, cutting of of a head, and the meat pie (was that what I thought it was in that pie). Well having mentioned the highlights this film I can safely say the time isn't worth it. The in between parts make this film unbearable. In fact both films have this stupid non-stop dialogue that contributes absolutely nothing to the film making the better parts useless.

For the past few years the name ANDY MILLIGAN has come up occasionally on this board. Can someone name a film of his worth viewing?

[Chris K.]

Well, I find Andy Milligan's films to be very entertaining for what they offer: outrageous gore, competent acting from off-off Broadway performers, claustrophobic settings and atmosphere, and crazed plot situations. Of course, these can be very amusing if one can ignore the pinch-penny budget. That and Milligan has a soft spot for strange, downbeat and unusal endings which usually turns an audience off.

Milligan really treated film seriously, no matter what he was stuck with. Keep in mind that Milligan strived to create a film out of what he could use. His earlier features were shot on an Auricon 16mm sound-on-film camera that was used on newsreels. The Auricon was said to be impossible to use to make a feature film, yet Andy Warhol was able to master the Auricon on his experimental films. And if Warhol could do it, then Milligan would take that risk as well (after all, Milligan paid $800 bucks for the Auricon, and he was gona' damn well use it). One problem with the Auricon was that in order to have the sound remain in sync with the film, long pauses had to be done before the performers could act. The film quality varied as well: Milligan used leftover 16mm short-ends as that was all he could afford. Not only that but Milligan had to reduce his take levels: he could only shoot one or two takes, and that was it. Milligan also didn't have access to a light meter, so the various lighting schemes were guesswork on his part. Later on in the 70's, Milligan was able to purchase a 35mm camera, but his experiences with it were more frustrating than that of the Auricon. As for having no talent, I have to disagree. I feel Milligan could have been a more successful filmmaker, but most of his producers and distributors wouldn't give him a chance. His good friend Hal Borske has said that Milligan had some great moments in his films, but most of them were removed for the usual gore and T&A that his distributors demanded from Milligan. I suggest that you get a hold of Jimmy McDonough's well done bio 'The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan' and you'll see that Milligan was quite passionate on filmmaking and films in general. And believe me, not many low budget exploitation filmmakers during his period treated film seriously as Milligan did, no matter how brutal he was to his performers or how low-quality his films ended out as.

Some of Andy Milligan's horror material has survived, his other features have disappeared. Milligan films like THE NAKED WITCH (1967), DEPRAVED! (1967), THE FILTHY FIVE (1968), GUTTAR TRASH (1969), etc. are hard to come by and are considered to be long lost. And yet, when they were released they were box office bonanza's for their distributors and got some good reviews. Of course, if a print of these films ever turns up it would be great as to see a different Milligan product. His film KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME (1968) recieved a great rave in Variety, and I'm quite interested in seeing it, that is if a print can be found.

Now if you want to know of a Milligan film that is worth watching, I suggest THE BODY BENEATH, which is his take on the Count Dracula theme. And unlike Milligan's period horror films (i.e., BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS, TORTURE DUNGEON), THE BODY BENEATH takes place in modern times. And the acting is pretty damn good, especially from Gavin Reed who plays the lead vampire Reverend Alexander Algernon Ford. THE BODY BENEATH is on DVD from Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment and was restored from the uncut 16mm answer print. Also on THE BODY BENEATH DVD is Milligan's first feature VAPORS, which is about homosexuals in a local bathouse. And I must say that if you don't like Milligan's horror stuff, VAPORS might be a change of pace for a drama picture and might leave you craving for his long lost features. And Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment is going to release Milligan's THE GHASTLY ONES and SEEDS OF SIN on a Double Feature DVD. THE GHASTLY ONES is pretty promising, SEEDS OF SIN however is a bad 1970's re-issue cut of Milligan's original film SEEDS and has horrid sex scenes added in, removing some important footage that established Milligan's original version.

Also Scott, did you view BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS and THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE! on the Video Kart DVD release. If so, I suggest you get rid of it as it is a poor presentation of Milligan's films. If you want a better presentation of BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS, get the VHS release from Something Weird Video as it is a more complete print than the one Video Kart offers.

[Ash]

I have heard of Milligan's "Torture Dungeon" and was interested in viewing it but have heard so many bad things about it, I held off.

How was it?

[Chris K.]

It's basically Milligan's take on the old Tower of London story, but with the usual Milligan touches of homosexual intrigue, wild characters, outrageous plotting, and garish costuming. However, Milligan trying to turn his Staten Island locations to that of ye olde' England is ridicullous: most of the 'British' characters are played by heavy New York accented performers. Milligan regular Gerald Jaccuzo (billed in the credits as 'Jerremy Brooks') plays the evil duke and does a great job in it, while Hal Borske plays a dimwitted prince.

While TORTURE DUNGEON was okay for a Milligan flick, Roger Corman handled the story better in the 1962 film TOWER OF LONDON. And if you want a copy of it, I do know Something Weird Video has TORTURE DUNGEON on their VHS line as they found a rare 35mm print of it.

[Scott]

Sorry about the bad press on these two films ChrisK. Yes, I have the Vid Kart double disk set. I'll take your word on this, but even so I can't see how this stuff can be turned around without getting rid of that dialogue. The transfer quality is also poor on the Vid Kart stuff and on the box they make it sound like they have some kind of exclusive use of these films.

[Chris K.]

When looking at the existing product of the Milligan films, one cannot wonder how much better they looked. Keep in mind that after Milligan shot the films in 16mm format, they were blown-up to 35mm for their theatrical screenings. And worse, when you blow-up 16mm film to 35mm, the grain increases and the print gets worse and worse over the years. It would be great to have all of Milligan's films restored and remastered, but sometimes we can't get our wish all the time.

The Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment DVD release of THE BODY BENEATH is an excellent example of a Milligan film restored. While it was availavble on WesternWorld Video back in the late 80's, the transfer was taken from a color aged 35mm print. The image was just horrid: the grain filled the entire picture and the colors were washed out. And yet, this is how the film looked back when it played in 1971! One would wonder at that time if the film could be restored to it's proper presentation. Then when THE BODY BENEATH came out on DVD, it was quite a revelation. The colors were vibrant and the grain was reduced; their was some minor print damage in some small parts but the film looked better than ever. Not only that, but it had an additional 8 minutes of footage that was missing from the print that was used by WesternWorld Video! And how was the film restored, you ask? Something Weird Video found the original uncut 16mm answer print.

Now you would think that maybe it could happen with his other films. Well, if only that wish could come true. Most of the films that Milligan made for producer/distributor William Mishkin were taken over by successor Lew Mishkin. Apparently after being fed up with paying for storage fees, Lew ended up buring the remaining 16mm and 35mm negatives and prints of the films, including Milligan's films. Other Milligan features ended up in the hands of other distributors, or were never finished at all. THE DEGENERATES, DEPRAVED!, and THE GHASTLY ONES ended up with Jerry Balsam's small outfit J.E.R. Pictures and Balsam seems to have hidden the negatives of these films as well. COMPASS ROSE, a film that Milligan made from a script written by Josef Bush, was never compleated or released due to Milligan's dislike of the finished product. BLOOD! ended up with DEEP THROAT distribution company Bryanston Pictures, which was said to be operated by the Peraino mafia. LEGACY OF BLOOD was released by Ken Lane Films and a print has never turned up. THE WEIRDO, one of Milligan's late 80's films, has also disappeared, but I think for this title it's for the best that it remains unseen.

However, that does not mean that their isn't any hope. Something Weird Video found a 35mm print of THE GHASTLY ONES and the 35mm negative for SEEDS OF SIN, both of which are coming to DVD in January 2004. SEEDS OF SIN, originally titled SEEDS, is a bad 1970's re-issue of Milligan's film with crappy sex scenes added in with terrible porno music track. The good side for this upcoming release is that Something Weird Video found two original 16mm workprint reels of SEEDS so we shal see what was removed from Milligan's original version. Sinister Cinema found a rare print of GURU THE MAD MONK, a film that Milligan himself disowned due to it's difficult production history. Video Kart bought the 35mm negative of MONSTROSITY and is out on DVD as we speak, yet since this is his late 80's film I suggest that you don't bother as it is disappointing to say the least. And Milligan's rare film NIGHTBIRDS is said to be in the hands of Jimmy McDonough who found the 16mm answer print, as well as finding a lost 16mm reel of COMPASS ROSE.

So maybe their will be a revelation for Andy Milligan, but it will only happen if all of his films can be found.