If you're an Andy Milligan fan, or just a fan of the exploitation film genre of the 60s and early 70s, the "holy grail" arrived last year when two long-lost Andy Milligan films turned up. "The Degenerates" and "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me!" Both premiered at Tribeca and have screened a few times since.
Most of us had to wait until this month when Severin shipped the Blu-Ray set, packed with lots of extras, including a new Milligan documentary, "The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan," and versions of the existing but obscure "Compass Rose" and "House of the Seven Belles." In a few days I have devoured this set and will fill this year with posts on Plan9Crunch.
THE DEGENERATES, 1967
Let's get right to the first review. This is one of the lost Milligan films I most wanted to see. A science fiction adult exploitation flick, "The Degenerates" was filmed in the future New York Woodstock area. I think in spirit this film is close to Milligan's "Seeds." The raw family dysfunction bleeds on the screen and gets more chaotic and violent with a strong finale. And "The Degenerates" provides a stronger backstory to its drama than "Seeds" did. This version is 64 minutes. It omits 10 minutes of nudity and soft-core sexual situations. Those scenes are still lost.
The film begins with three soldiers on patrol in the eastern United States. Nuclear wars have killed most of civilization. The soldiers discover a woman frolicking in the wilds. Surprised to see any humans, they chase her to a dilapidated, large farmhouse with battered sheds and a junked vehicle.
The soldiers encounter five sisters, Violet, (Bryarly Lee), Daisy, (Anne Linden), Lily, (Laura Cunningham, as Laura Weiss), Iris, (Marcia Haufrecht, as Marcia Howard), and Rose (Susan Howard). Later the soldiers will discover a sixth sister, Ivy, (Hope Stansbury), who is traumatized and lives a near-feral existence outside.
Violet, the leader of the sisters, is very hostile to the soldiers but allows them to stay. One soldier is nursing a broken foot. Initially, all three soldiers appear accommodating. However, one will reveal himself to be violent and a rapist. However, even before that escalation Violet's hostility toward her sisters will lead to vicious attacks on two of her siblings and eventually violent deaths to some of the characters.
Lee was an accomplished stage actor and gives the best performance in the film. Her Violet is an authority figure who quickly loses her self-control and sanity when the soldiers and three of her sisters initiate intimate relationships. Something has triggered Violet into acts of sadism. She savagely beats Daisy and burns Lily's hand on a stove. Watching Lee reminds viewers of family matriarch Maggie Rogers' savage, screaming performance in the later Milligan film "Seeds." Lee's Violet seems a younger version of Rogers' character but not yet the hard shell.
There's a suffering vulnerability in Violet. She's clearly been traumatized and wants to be relieved of it. She's closest to her sibling Rose (Susan Howard). Clearly triggered by the men and the ensuing intimacy she can't snuff out, Violet attempts incest with Rose. In what is a patented compelling but deeply uncomfortable Milligan sequence, Rose is repulsed by her seduction attempt, and screaming ensues.
Lee is superb. She may soon become a favored Milligan actress if "The Naked Witch," another lost Milligan film, is discovered. According to a commentary from Milligan historian Alex DiSanto, Lee was notable for her extreme focus on her work during the shoot.
In one scene involving Lee, she commits a Milligan-esque killing with what seems deliberate religious symbolism. Or maybe I'm overanalyzing? Readers can let me know.
Hope Stansbury is iconic within the Milligan genre for her willowy beauty. She gives the second-best performance as the mentally ill Ivy. She and Violet have a savage hatred for each other, which is revealed in the climax. A strong scene for Stansbury is when Ivy shows her soft heart by visiting the beaten Daisy, laying pain in a shed. Ivy feeds her and tries to tend to her wounds. She also helps further Daisy's romance.
Linden as Daisy gives a good performance as a vulnerable, scared sibling wanting love. She's in several Milligan films, including "The Ghastly Ones." Haurfrecht as Ivy is still active in films today, with an impressive career. She's perhaps the strongest sibling, standing up to Violet's violent control tactics. She's romanced by actor Robert Burgos, who plays the soldier, Jim. He's the best actor of the three men cast and has enjoyed a distinguished acting career. The other soldiers were Vernon Newman ans David Blaine.
Laura Weiss as Lily was 18 and plucked off a college campus by a Milligan talent scout (Hal Sherwood?). It's her only film and she does herself proud. Weiss is interviewed on the Blu-Ray set. She's written a couple of memoirs including one on the film's shoot. Not much is known about Susan Howard as Rose but she's effective on screen. Her expressive eyes when she realizes Violet wants to make love to her is a highlight.
The film is photographed in pure Milligan Auricon 16-MM style. Closely framed shots, the actors usually bunched together to hide small sets. Despite the battered print, you can see the dirt, the tired faces, the tattered burlap Milligan-sown tank top-like middies worn by the women, the sweat and blemishes on the faces. The dialogue sound is loud, you can hear the Auricon whirring. The house is more than rustic. It must have been a chore for the actors to survive the shoot. DiSanto in his commentary says it was reputedly haunted. DiSanto recalls a love scene sot on the filthy shed having to be re-shot the next day due to a lighting mishap.
In interviews though, actors recollect the experience fondly. Even Milligan seems to have been even-tempered overall. The only remembrance of frustrations for Milligan was with the novice Weiss.
The film cost $11,000. It was shot in about a week. It was not produced by William Mishkin but was part of an ill-fated three-film effort with three investors who went bankrupt, distributor Jerry Balsam, and Milligan. Sam Sherman was lightly involved. He apparently came up with the title. It was shot as Sin Sisters. The film was profitable, but Milligan was squeezed out. He later sued and collected a few thousand dollars for all three films, a poor return for him.
Weiss recalls standing much later outside a building where Milligan was inside shouting for the $200 she had been promised. It worked. She was paid. In 1966, $200 was slightly more than $2,000 today.
I love this film. It met my expectations as a Milligan cult fan. It has the "Gutter Auteur"'s signature uniqueness that is splashed all over the 20-plus films he directed in his most-active several years. We're not done with the Blu-Ray set. Next, we'll review and provide observations on the re-discovered "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me!"
One more tidbit. Yes, the swirl camera and pitchfork are in "The Degenerates."
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