Essay and review by Doug Gibson
Rob Craig’s book on Andy Milligan, Gutter Auteur: The Films of
Andy Milligan, is aptly named. Milligan, who died nearly 35 years ago, made
films designed for 42nd Street. The sleazier the “Deuce” got, it
didn’t matter; a Milligan film would provide well for its audience.
Jimmy McDonough, who penned the superb biography, “The Ghastly
One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan,” recounts Milligan’s
early career, when there might have been an opportunity for him to break
through bohemia and into a mainstream career. In the ‘60s, he wrote, acted and
directed plays in such iconic locations as Caffe Cino and La MaMa Experimental
Theater. A short film he directed in 1965,”Vapors,” is well regarded as an
early gay-themed film. It played art houses on both coasts.
But McDonough also chronicles a horrific familial life Milligan
endured, and it likely affected his career, as he feuded with producers and
distributors, and could be tyrannical, even cruel, when directing. After making
some late-feature adult drama films that are unfortunately lost (some attracted better
than average reviews and box office) Milligan settled down into grindhouse
horror direction. William Mishkin was his money man. Milligan would get $20,000
or so, spend half of it making a film, and presumably pay himself with the
excess.
A dress-maker who ran a shop for a while, Milligan made garish
period pieces. He made versions of horror films, including “Torture Dungeon,”
(Richard the Third), “Blood,” (House of Dracula), “The Body Beneath,” (Dracula), “The
Rats are Coming. The Werewolves are Here,” (The Wolf Man/Willard), “The Man with
Two Heads,” (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), “Nightbirds,” (The Servant) and “Bloodthirsty
Butchers,” (Sweeney Todd).
Drawing on his dysfunctional life, he made psychological,
violent films that assailed marriage (The Ghastly Ones,” religion, “Guru the
Mad Monk,” and family life, “Seeds.” He even made a poignant, downbeat
porno/adult film, “Fleshpot on 42nd Street,” that is a commentary on
life where his films were often shown.
Occasionally Milligan would attempt to move from Mishkin to
other producers. He even made films in England. But most films were with
Mishkin.
For a long while, Milligan lived in Staten Island, and some
films were shot at his home. He eventually bought and lived in a Staten Island
hotel where he shot a couple of films. He then moved to Manhattan and ran an
off-Broadway theater, The Troupe, for several years.
Perhaps feeling his age, and disgusted with the decay of
Manhattan, Milligan moved to Los Angeles in the mid ‘80s. He resumed much of
his past life, opening an ill-fated dress shop, started a Troupe West playhouse
which lasted a few years, and made some movies. Milligan, a gay man, also settled
into a relationship with a younger man, a sometimes hustler, named Wayne Keeton.
Milligan made three films in Los Angeles: “The Weirdo,” an interesting remake of a lost film that involved a bullied young man in a dysfunctional family. He also directed (for hire) a film, a comedy horror titled “Surgikill.’
In between Milligan kind of reunited with the Mishkin family to
direct “Monstrosity.” Lew Mishkin, William’s son, provided the money. Andy and
Lew hated each other, but the VHS boom probably motivated the ulta-low-budget
film, which is Milligan’s take on the Frankenstein monster, with a little bit
of the Golem thrown in.
None of Milligan’s ‘80s films made any money. The video boom was
over. “The Weirdo” perhaps had a tiny VHS release, and later a Blu-Ray. “Surgikill” sat
on the shelf for decades. ‘Monstrosity” economically fared no better. It may
have had a small Europe VHS release. It finally found a DVD home early in the 21st
century and a Blu-Ray release in 2018.
Yet “Monstrosity” is my favorite Milligan LA film, and I feel
comfortable saying it’s the most cultish of his last films. It’s dreadfully cheap,
with typical Milligan gore (a couple steps below Herschell Gordon Lewis). The
first 25 minutes – despite interesting film-noirish shots of sleazy ‘80s Los
Angeles – is torture porn.
Stereotypical punks kill and maim random people on the
streets. They rape and badly injure a young woman. While in what’s supposed to
be a hospital room – but looks like a bedroom – one of the killers, pretending
to be an orderly, savagely kills her, removing her intestines (again poor
special effects). Her grieving boyfriend, along with a couple buddies, decide
to create a Golem-like monster to get revenge. In an outdoor shed, they do just
that and name the creation “Frankie.” Get it?
Readers may be wondering why I keep watching. But once Frankie arrives – played by frequent Milligan actor Hal Borske – “Monstrosity” turns
into something special, the unique work, indeed, of a gutter auteur. As Craig writes
in “Gutter Auteur …,” “… “Monstrosity” is an amazing, baffling and at times
extraordinary film, equal parts social satire, slapstick farce and light fantasy,
awash in the overall sheen of the horror-comedy mythos. … “Monstrosity” is Andy
Milligan’s “Frankenstein,’ a conceit stated overtly by one of the characters,
and vividly illustrated via the film’s main plot points.”
Borske's Frankie captures the spirit of Mary Shelley’s creation. He’s a monstrous innocent, initially trusting in his creators but learning the downbeat, dysfunctional lesson that most of the world hates him, and his creators only want to control him.
It’s not an irony, but merely obvious, that Borske’s Frankie,
despite his deadly violence, is the most humane character in “Monstrosity.” And
Milligan throws in a love interest, a dim-witted, oft-abused but gentle drug
addict named Jamie Lee, played by Carrie Anita. It’s a marvelous performance by
an actress I doubt was in another film.
Milligan never did love better than in this film as the relationship between a monster and a street girl seems natural. In wacky fashion,
the pair are married by a guardian angel. During intimacy blood, rather than
semen, shoots from other parts of Frankie’s body.
The cruel murder of Jamie Lee by Frankie’s creators leads to a
revenge-filled bloody climax.
The final scene of “Monstrosity” is a cult gem. Author Craig
accurately tags it as “allegorical.” Frankie sits on a public bench chatting away with a “bag lady’ named Agnes. They converse about life and the things they’ve
learned through existence. Frankie is mellow, a bit downbeat but also
optimistic, prepared to use his brain to be the best man he can be. What I like most in
this final scene is that Frankie seems to have blended in with life on the
street. His contemporaries aren’t alarmed by his conventionally grotesque appearance.
The camera moves up into an epilogue where Milligan shouts “Cut,
that’s a wrap! Then cast and crew members join Frankie and Agnes on the
street. It’s another cultish touch that probably wouldn’t have been included
had the film received an initial release.
After “Monstrosity” there was the for-hire “Surgikill.” Milligan’s boyfriend Keeton died of AIDS. Soon afterwards Milligan was
diagnosed with AIDS. The Troupe West playhouse closed and Milligan died in 1991. Author McDonough, who worked on the crew on “Monstrosity,” relates
Milligan’s horrific final days. By then a pauper, Milligan is buried in an
unmarked grave.
If you want to learn more about Andy Milligan, you can purchase McDonough’s’ updated biography and Craig’s analysis book here, and here. You can search ebay or other sites for issues 52, 53 and 54 of Tim Lucas’ Video Watchdog, to read a three-part series on Milligan. And Plan9Crunch blog has a detailed look at the making of “Surgikill” by its writer, the late Sherman Hirsh. Andy, in rascal fashion, conned Sherman into believing he never made films in England, but it’s a great read. And Plan9Crunch blog interviewed McDonough a long while ago. Many of Milligan's films are reviewed at Plan9Crunch.com.
