THE GHASTLY ONES/SEEDS OF SIN (1968)
Directed by Andy Milligan
The Ghastly Ones stars Veronica Radburn & Maggie Rogers
Seeds of Sin stars Maggie Rogers & Candy Hammond
71/77 mins; MA15+/R18+; DVD (Seeds of Sin in black and white)
Queen of exploitation cinema Andy Milligan, who died of AIDS
in 1996, produced a number of gloriously incompetent films in the latter part of the sixties, two of which have been cleaned up and presented on a double feature DVD courtesy of the heroes at Something Weird Video.
The Ghastly Ones is by far the best of the bunch and begins with an illogical murder scene that disturbs the film’s continuity; it was allegedly added by producers post-production in order to ‘spice’ the proceedings up. After this sequence, a woman and her husband must visit her dead father’s mansion with her siblings in order to collect her dad’s inheritance. However, in the world of exploitation, not even reading a will is a simple matter as the family is slaughtered one by bloody one. Originally declared the ‘Stomach shocker of your life’, the violence in The Ghastly Ones is typically sixties (blood the colour of raspberry cordial) however there are one or two good gore effects in amongst the ineptness. The no-budget atmosphere is also reminiscent simply by looking at the credits – Milligan directs, scripts and lenses the film. A ‘warning’ plastered on the film’s case (‘this program contains nudity, sexual situations, violence and a blackmailing-suicidally-homicidal pyromaniac sissy boy) just shows how seriously The Ghastly Ones takes itself and in turn what frame of mind we should view it in. There is lots of fun to be had, but copious consumption of alcohol would likely enhance the experience.
Milligan’s even-lower budget Seeds of Sin has been, very unfortunately, hacked up – not by the censors but by producers Allen and Rosily Bazzini who, in their attempt to market it as a sexploitation film, inserted softcore footage which totally ruins the pace of what could have been a great film. Murder and mayhem reigns when a crazed woman organizes a family reunion and begins to pick off her relatives one by one. The group are a bunch of moral degenerates and their wheelchair-bound mother (you’re all a bunch of bad seeds!) seems to be the only one that can see through them. The film stars Candy Hammond, Milligan’s real-life wife despite the director being openly gay. Seeds of Sin could have been a very good film had the softcore scenes (which, when looked at today, are no raunchier than those of American Pie or 40 Year Old Virgin) not been inserted – the characters in these sex scenes don’t even look like those of Milligan’s film. Ironically, the film would have been more-than sleazy enough without the added gratuitousness. Very poor, but not necessarily by fault of Milligan.
The disc itself is the highlight, here, with a number of great special features. The Ghastly Ones has a feature-length commentary by star Hal Borske and director Frank (Basket Case) Henenlotter, there is a plethora of Milligan theatrical trailers, galleries of Milligan exploitation art and, most notably, the director’s original work print for Seeds of Sin. This 40 minute work print is missing of two reels removed from by the producers replaced by the sex scenes. There are a number of deleted scenes, a different beginning and alternate death takes in this feature. The disc is another example of how Something Weird really takes care and respects their films, even if they are trash. This DVD is worth picking up simply for The Ghastly Ones and the superb special features (and, with a $20 price tag, is reasonably cheap); it’s a shame Seeds of Sin is such a let down.
The Ghastly Ones – 7/10
Seeds of Sin – 3/10
Dead Man (1995)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henrikson
121 mins; R18+; DVD
One of the best independent filmmakers of our time, Jim Jarmusch’s De
ad Man is a warped labour of love that remains a thought-provoking and brilliant vision of 1800s America. A timid clerk named William Blake (played impeccably by Depp) is ordered to travel to the remote frontier town of Machine in order to do the books for a mining company. There, he discovers that his position has already been filled and is moved along by the shotgun-wielding company boss (Robert Mitchum’s final role, an utter scene-stealer). He stays in the town overnight and ameliorates his sorrows with alcohol and a prostitute, only to be mortally wounded by the whore’s dejected ex-boyfriend, whom he shoots in return. The father of Blake’s victim sends out a search party to find the wounded accountant in the form of a group of psychotics, one of whom is a cannibal (Henrikson). Thus begins a harrowing journey along the countryside with an American Indian named Nobody, who is convinced Blake is the American poet of the same name and vows to protect him.
Dead Man has all the characteristics of a European arthouse film and it is not intended as popcorn cinema - the film itself is quite violent and its easy to see why this caused so much of a fuss with the Australian censors, who banned it on initial release. Everything about it is very nuanced and finely tuned – Depp and Farmer’s acting turns as leads are brilliant, and the all-star supporting cast (Henrickson, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, Gabriel Byrne, Alfred Molina, John Hurt and Mitchum) are also excellent. The main highlights, though, is the haunting black and white cinematography and Neil Young’s haunting guitar score. There are also moments of irreverent humor that do nothing to detract from the film’s rather depressing mood. A must see. 10/10
Directed by Andy Milligan
The Ghastly Ones stars Veronica Radburn & Maggie Rogers
Seeds of Sin stars Maggie Rogers & Candy Hammond
71/77 mins; MA15+/R18+; DVD (Seeds of Sin in black and white)
Queen of exploitation cinema Andy Milligan, who died of AIDS
in 1996, produced a number of gloriously incompetent films in the latter part of the sixties, two of which have been cleaned up and presented on a double feature DVD courtesy of the heroes at Something Weird Video.The Ghastly Ones is by far the best of the bunch and begins with an illogical murder scene that disturbs the film’s continuity; it was allegedly added by producers post-production in order to ‘spice’ the proceedings up. After this sequence, a woman and her husband must visit her dead father’s mansion with her siblings in order to collect her dad’s inheritance. However, in the world of exploitation, not even reading a will is a simple matter as the family is slaughtered one by bloody one. Originally declared the ‘Stomach shocker of your life’, the violence in The Ghastly Ones is typically sixties (blood the colour of raspberry cordial) however there are one or two good gore effects in amongst the ineptness. The no-budget atmosphere is also reminiscent simply by looking at the credits – Milligan directs, scripts and lenses the film. A ‘warning’ plastered on the film’s case (‘this program contains nudity, sexual situations, violence and a blackmailing-suicidally-homicidal pyromaniac sissy boy) just shows how seriously The Ghastly Ones takes itself and in turn what frame of mind we should view it in. There is lots of fun to be had, but copious consumption of alcohol would likely enhance the experience.
Milligan’s even-lower budget Seeds of Sin has been, very unfortunately, hacked up – not by the censors but by producers Allen and Rosily Bazzini who, in their attempt to market it as a sexploitation film, inserted softcore footage which totally ruins the pace of what could have been a great film. Murder and mayhem reigns when a crazed woman organizes a family reunion and begins to pick off her relatives one by one. The group are a bunch of moral degenerates and their wheelchair-bound mother (you’re all a bunch of bad seeds!) seems to be the only one that can see through them. The film stars Candy Hammond, Milligan’s real-life wife despite the director being openly gay. Seeds of Sin could have been a very good film had the softcore scenes (which, when looked at today, are no raunchier than those of American Pie or 40 Year Old Virgin) not been inserted – the characters in these sex scenes don’t even look like those of Milligan’s film. Ironically, the film would have been more-than sleazy enough without the added gratuitousness. Very poor, but not necessarily by fault of Milligan.
The disc itself is the highlight, here, with a number of great special features. The Ghastly Ones has a feature-length commentary by star Hal Borske and director Frank (Basket Case) Henenlotter, there is a plethora of Milligan theatrical trailers, galleries of Milligan exploitation art and, most notably, the director’s original work print for Seeds of Sin. This 40 minute work print is missing of two reels removed from by the producers replaced by the sex scenes. There are a number of deleted scenes, a different beginning and alternate death takes in this feature. The disc is another example of how Something Weird really takes care and respects their films, even if they are trash. This DVD is worth picking up simply for The Ghastly Ones and the superb special features (and, with a $20 price tag, is reasonably cheap); it’s a shame Seeds of Sin is such a let down.
The Ghastly Ones – 7/10
Seeds of Sin – 3/10
Dead Man (1995)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henrikson
121 mins; R18+; DVD
One of the best independent filmmakers of our time, Jim Jarmusch’s De
ad Man is a warped labour of love that remains a thought-provoking and brilliant vision of 1800s America. A timid clerk named William Blake (played impeccably by Depp) is ordered to travel to the remote frontier town of Machine in order to do the books for a mining company. There, he discovers that his position has already been filled and is moved along by the shotgun-wielding company boss (Robert Mitchum’s final role, an utter scene-stealer). He stays in the town overnight and ameliorates his sorrows with alcohol and a prostitute, only to be mortally wounded by the whore’s dejected ex-boyfriend, whom he shoots in return. The father of Blake’s victim sends out a search party to find the wounded accountant in the form of a group of psychotics, one of whom is a cannibal (Henrikson). Thus begins a harrowing journey along the countryside with an American Indian named Nobody, who is convinced Blake is the American poet of the same name and vows to protect him.Dead Man has all the characteristics of a European arthouse film and it is not intended as popcorn cinema - the film itself is quite violent and its easy to see why this caused so much of a fuss with the Australian censors, who banned it on initial release. Everything about it is very nuanced and finely tuned – Depp and Farmer’s acting turns as leads are brilliant, and the all-star supporting cast (Henrickson, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, Gabriel Byrne, Alfred Molina, John Hurt and Mitchum) are also excellent. The main highlights, though, is the haunting black and white cinematography and Neil Young’s haunting guitar score. There are also moments of irreverent humor that do nothing to detract from the film’s rather depressing mood. A must see. 10/10
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