Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

Vinegar Syndrome, Deaf Crocodile, Imprint, Cinema Guild, and more.
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Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#26 Post by Orlac » Sun Apr 25, 2021 3:13 pm

EddieLarkin wrote:
Sun Apr 25, 2021 9:22 am
Has Severin said anything about releasing individual discs from the Adamson set? Or a smaller pared down box set without the book (which seems to be Arrow's standard approach now)? I can't quite fathom why anyone would want to pour hours and hours of work into a huge set that only 2000 people are ever going to get to own. I understand the necessity for the limiited edition model, but it clearly still works without making the discs completely unavailable after a single tiny print run.
I feel sad I didn't get it in time, but realistically it's very hard to get every damn limited edition one wants.

Classic "Well duuhhhhh!" moment I know...

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#27 Post by Adam X » Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:16 am

The Milligan set’s back in stock. Sorry swo.

Whether or not they release stand-alone titles from the set, between Code Red, BFI & Vinegar Syndrome you can get 8 of the included films if you wish to pick ‘n’ choose.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#28 Post by Matt » Tue Apr 27, 2021 2:01 pm

The Vinegar Syndrome and Code Red releases are all out of print and starting to fetch swo17-level prices on eBay. Which is surprising since the Code Red releases are vastly inferior to the Severin.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#29 Post by Adam X » Wed Apr 28, 2021 7:18 am

Huh, wasn't aware - leading up to the set's release they were all very much available. I guess with the latter, the Code Red name is still helping to sell things on ebay, regardless of quality.

Nw_jahrles
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#30 Post by Nw_jahrles » Tue May 11, 2021 9:16 am

Thought I’d post some first impressions of the films.

The Ghastly Ones

Agatha Christie type shocker where three sisters and their spouses arrive at their childhood estate for the reading of a will, and people begin getting bumped off. My first thoughts on Milligan as a filmmaker are he far exceeds his reputation. He’s not exactly Terence Fisher, but most reviews for this set or comments leading up to it’s release we’re that Milligan is barely watchable except for a combination of his idiosyncrasies that make his output unique. I’d say The Ghastly Ones is better paced and edited than something like Blood Feast and the acting is about on par with other regional horror/exploitation from the era. A good start to the set and I look forward to disc 2 with The Body Beneath and Nightbirds.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#31 Post by Orlac » Tue May 11, 2021 1:16 pm

It's funny you should mention Blood Feast. Richard Gordon, producer of 50s classics like Corridors of Blood, wrote a letter to Fangoria in the early 80s admonishing them for interviewing Milligan, and saying that he couldn't compare to H.G. Lewis.

Blood Feast and The Ghastly Ones were both Video Nasties in the UK - in fact, The Ghastly Ones has never been passed by the BBFC.

Nw_jahrles
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#32 Post by Nw_jahrles » Tue May 11, 2021 8:48 pm

Orlac wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 1:16 pm
It's funny you should mention Blood Feast. Richard Gordon, producer of 50s classics like Corridors of Blood, wrote a letter to Fangoria in the early 80s admonishing them for interviewing Milligan, and saying that he couldn't compare to H.G. Lewis.

Blood Feast and The Ghastly Ones were both Video Nasties in the UK - in fact, The Ghastly Ones has never been passed by the BBFC.
Milligan was definitely trying to shift into gore films ala Lewis. I believe it was a producer or distributor who suggested it to him as a way to make money.

Lewis uses a more static camera and his films have more humour, so I can understand a preference for him over Milligan. But to place him on a completely different tier seems a bit absurd as I don’t see what qualities in Lewis’ films someone like Gordon are referring to. Camerawork? Performances? Scripts?

I enjoy H.G. Lewis’ movies for the record.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#33 Post by Orlac » Tue May 11, 2021 9:25 pm

Nw_jahrles wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 8:48 pm
Orlac wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 1:16 pm
It's funny you should mention Blood Feast. Richard Gordon, producer of 50s classics like Corridors of Blood, wrote a letter to Fangoria in the early 80s admonishing them for interviewing Milligan, and saying that he couldn't compare to H.G. Lewis.

Blood Feast and The Ghastly Ones were both Video Nasties in the UK - in fact, The Ghastly Ones has never been passed by the BBFC.
Milligan was definitely trying to shift into gore films ala Lewis. I believe it was a producer or distributor who suggested it to him as a way to make money.

Lewis uses a more static camera and his films have more humour, so I can understand a preference for him over Milligan. But to place him on a completely different tier seems a bit absurd as I don’t see what qualities in Lewis’ films someone like Gordon are referring to. Camerawork? Performances? Scripts?

I enjoy H.G. Lewis’ movies for the record.
Gordon viewed Lewis as continuing the traditions of Dwain Esper and Dave Freidman, and seemed to view Milligan as an interloper.

https://letterboxd.com/nevermore1985/li ... -milligan/
"The following year, after Bob Martin’s Fangoria published an interview with Milligan, Inseminoid producer Richard Gordon wrote to the letters page, declaring, “You degrade the quality of your magazine […] No way can [Milligan] or his films be compared with Herschell Gordon Lewis or the Lewis product, which with all its faults tried to perpetuate the honorable tradition of independent exploitation filmmaking that goes back to pioneers like Dwain Esper and Kroger Babb.”

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#34 Post by knives » Tue May 11, 2021 10:22 pm

He’s not wrong that Milligan was an interloper, but so what? Like John Waters that’s what makes Milligan so delicious.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#35 Post by Matt » Wed May 12, 2021 12:35 am

Hmm, wonder why the Genet fan who ran a dress shop was not warmly embraced by the titty movie crowd.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#36 Post by Orlac » Wed May 12, 2021 5:34 am

knives wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 10:22 pm
He’s not wrong that Milligan was an interloper, but so what? Like John Waters that’s what makes Milligan so delicious.
The weird thing is: I never would have thought Gordon was an HG Lews fan.

And speaking of elitisits comments: on the new CineSavant review of the set (which is sadly not by Glen Erickson), one of the comments reads

"It says volumes about how low our culture has sunk that absolute garbage like this gets the super-deluxe Blu-Ray treatment while literally thousands of quality studio films remain stubbornly MIA in any home format."

Makes a change from the usual comments on that great column, where sour boomer men go on about how "ugly" Gretta Thunberg is.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#37 Post by Orlac » Wed May 12, 2021 5:35 am

Matt wrote:
Wed May 12, 2021 12:35 am
Hmm, wonder why the Genet fan who ran a dress shop was not warmly embraced by the titty movie crowd.
There are titties in Milligan films - once in a pie!

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#38 Post by Orlac » Wed May 12, 2021 5:16 pm

knives wrote:
Tue May 11, 2021 10:22 pm
He’s not wrong that Milligan was an interloper, but so what? Like John Waters that’s what makes Milligan so delicious.
I raised this on Classic Horror Film Board and got some interesting context - https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/monster ... 0#p1639370

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#39 Post by Adam X » Thu May 13, 2021 1:49 am

While I’ve not even opened it yet so I don’t know the context in which he raised the above, Stephen Thrower’s book was designed with it’s own purpose and focus distinct from Jimmy McDonough’s doorstop of a biography, so maybe he felt it wasn’t necessary to discuss the backstory. Even if it was done quite succinctly in that linked paragraph.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#40 Post by Orlac » Thu May 13, 2021 4:39 am

Besides its uses as a doorstop, the McDonough biography broke my bookshelf!

Nw_jahrles
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#41 Post by Nw_jahrles » Fri May 14, 2021 9:49 am

The Body Beneath

Vampire film about a clan attempting to strengthen and preserve their bloodline through living relatives. For the most part Milligan holds back on the gore (minus an eye gouge). The film does not suffer however as Milligan fills it full of ideas and takes time to develop the characters. Gavin Reed’s performance as Reverend Ford is solid and helps carry the film.

Nightbirds

Psycho-sexual character drama that shows Milligan’s theatrical roots, Nightbirds works because of some of the unusual situations Milligan sets up between the two leads. The sometimes flat line deliveries of the actors adds to the weird vibe. There was some religious provocation that I found amusing as well.

What has stood out to me about Milligan compared to many of his contemporaries is he is clearly trying to make personal films, even when he is doing something to satisfy the demands of 42nd Street et all.

Two things made me want to blind grab this set where I was content to skip something like the Adamson set. First, the trailer seemed to align with my tastes in low-budget exploitation (horror/splatter films). Secondly was despite the fact some regard Milligan as the worst of the worst (likely due to personal reasons as noted up-thread), there were also some passionate defenders/fans of his work that led me to believe that I would find things to enjoy here.

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Adam X
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Re: Severin Films

#42 Post by Adam X » Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:29 pm

I’ve no memory of what it used to go for, but if you’ve been sitting on the fence over the wonderful Andy Milligan box set…
Surprise! We're doing a super duper flash sale of our epic Andy Milligan box set. Beginning now until the end of Monday (10/25) we're offering this set at the low low price of $99.99. Head on over to the site and grab your copy now! https://severin-films.com/shop/andy-mil ... ollection/

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swo17
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Re: Severin Films

#43 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:34 pm

It's normally $140

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Cash Flagg
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Severin Films

#44 Post by Cash Flagg » Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:58 pm

swo17 wrote:
Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:34 pm
It's normally $140
Although there was one particularly audacious scalper trying to hawk it for $499.99!

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swo17
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Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#45 Post by swo17 » Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:03 pm

For shame

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J Wilson
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Re: Severin Films: The Dungeon of Andy Milligan Collection

#46 Post by J Wilson » Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:59 pm

The scalper was just trying to sell the box for the average budget of a Milligan film. An homage of sorts.

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