Andy Milligan in London (Part I of II)

NIGHTBIRDS (1970)

THE BODY BENEATH (1970)

Berwick Kaler and Julie Shaw play strained lovers in the avant-garde NIGHTBIRDS. Their entanglement illustrates Andy Milligan's perennial view of the sexes: how passive men are manipulated by women.

DESCRIBED by Tim Lucas in Video Watchdog as "horror's unwanted weirdo," Andy Milligan was more derogatorily pigeon-holed by Psychotronic's Michael Weldon, who said that if you were a Milligan fan, there was no hope for you (Stephen King also famously dismissed his 1968 opus THE GHASTLY ONES as "the work of morons with cameras.") Most of the Minnesota-native's movies were made for under $15,000, and he was virtually a one-man production company. Not only did Milligan write, direct, photograph, edit and design costumes, he was also a make-up effects supervisor using Grand Guignol techniques (this garish style put him on a similar plain to Tod Slaughter). Dying in 1991 from AIDS and buried in an unmarked grave, Milligan was not an open homosexual, rather an S&M addict relying on fantasy to exorcise his personal demons.

Milligan's filmography of open scars shows a venomous disdain for the church and dysfunctional families; in particular, the home is a cesspit, and relatives are endlessly judgmental. These onscreen complexities mirror his real-life upbringing, as his mother was an overweight alcoholic who allegedly was physically, mentally and sexually abusive to all her children and husband. Although close to his father, Andrew Milligan Sr was a US Army officer, which meant further pressures due to frequent relocation. On set Milligan had a reputation to be demanding and bad-tempered; colleagues also relate to emotional and sexual manipulation, raising speculation that he suffered similar (untreated) health problems to his mother. To typify his chaotic life, one of the filmmaker's few long-term partners was Vietnam veteran Dennis Malvasi, who was a convicted abortion clinic bomber.

THE BODY BENEATH promised "sexually rampant ghouls, depraved souls and blood-red roses filmed in the graveyards of England." In fact, Andy Milligan shot in Highgate Cemetery without permission.

Milligan's residence in London produced NIGHTBIRDS, THE BODY BENEATH, BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS, THE MAN WITH 2 HEADS and THE RATS ARE COMING - THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE. Although known as a horror director, NIGHTBIRDS - similar to his 1965 debut short VAPOURS - exists in a contemporary setting and aspires to be an arthouse stage play. NIGHTBIRDS tells of Dink (Berwick Kaler) and Dee (Julie Shaw), who have run away from their mothers and are struggling to survive in a not so swinging London. A slow-burning character study, the fragile, virginal and possibly gay Dink is in direct contrast to the resourceful, strong-willed but unbalanced Dee. Kaler and Shaw - both impressive first-timers - force along the paper thin plot, until the true nature of Dee is revealed in the final reel (in which syphilis and the abandonment of her dying child doesn't stop a calculating demeanour).

Behind the nonsensical title THE BODY BENEATH, this is Milligan's most accessible film and illustrates his loathing of clerical figures. Reverend Ford (Gavin Reed) and his silent wife Alicia (Susan Heard) are 400-year-old vampires residing at Carfax Abbey, aiming to restore their incestuous bloodline after years of outsider marriages. Aided by three ghoul brides and hunchback with a heart Spool (a returning Kaler), Ford captures relatives Susan (Jackie Skarvellis) and Candace (Emma Jones) for his carnal needs. The production is best remembered for its delirious Undead Gala climax, where the Vaseline-smeared, red-tinted lens captures the cannibalistic conference (we learn that even Julius Caesar and Elizabeth I are members of the bloodsucking clan).

Chiefly, THE BODY BENEATH takes place in the Neo-Tudor mansion Sarum Chase near Hampstead Heath (Milligan would return for THE RATES ARE COMING - THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE). The nudie short MISS FRANKENSTEIN RIP was also shot there, as well as being photographed for the sleeve of The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet.

It could generously be said that Milligan modernised vampires before Hammer's DRACULA, A.D. 1972, and played with lore akin to CAPTAIN KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER. For example, the ghoul women politely say hello before biting their victims, although they don't have fangs. In further quirks the undead use chloroform, as well as having blood pressure reduced by leeches and being able to move around in daylight thanks to an injection that counteracts the sun. Painfully ponderous and talkative, the washed-out look adds to the Gothic austerity, with Reed revealing in the madness (and certainly getting the best lines).