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| My obsession with Andy Milligan's cult horror movies | My obsession with Andy Milligan's cult horror movies |
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| When I was about 12, I tricked my mother into buying me my first book about film: Splatter Movies, by John McCarty. That's when I became aware of Andy Milligan and started looking for videos of his films – such as Gutter Trash (1969), Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973), Guru, the Mad Monk (1970) and The Naked Witch (1967). | When I was about 12, I tricked my mother into buying me my first book about film: Splatter Movies, by John McCarty. That's when I became aware of Andy Milligan and started looking for videos of his films – such as Gutter Trash (1969), Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973), Guru, the Mad Monk (1970) and The Naked Witch (1967). |
| When I finally saw them I was taken aback – first by their crudeness, and then by how difficult it was to sit through them. But, at the same time, I realised that here was a man who made films his own way, on his own terms. He used the medium as something he could streamline his consciousness into, and I found that fascinating. | When I finally saw them I was taken aback – first by their crudeness, and then by how difficult it was to sit through them. But, at the same time, I realised that here was a man who made films his own way, on his own terms. He used the medium as something he could streamline his consciousness into, and I found that fascinating. |
| I had moved to New York, aged eight, in 1978, too late to experience anything of the real Times Square. So when The Ghastly One, Jimmy McDonough's biography of Milligan, came out, talking about the director's place in that 42nd Street exploitation world, I loved it. Suddenly, I had a different view of this man, and it intrigued me. | I had moved to New York, aged eight, in 1978, too late to experience anything of the real Times Square. So when The Ghastly One, Jimmy McDonough's biography of Milligan, came out, talking about the director's place in that 42nd Street exploitation world, I loved it. Suddenly, I had a different view of this man, and it intrigued me. |
| Then I began to get obsessive. I would go on eBay and buy anything connected with Andy. One day I came across McDonough himself, selling his collection of Milligan film materials, including a unique print of Nightbirds (1970), about two hippies in love in London, and a few other super-rare titles – $25,000 (£16,000) for the lot. I did a travel commercial to raise the money, and I bought everything. | Then I began to get obsessive. I would go on eBay and buy anything connected with Andy. One day I came across McDonough himself, selling his collection of Milligan film materials, including a unique print of Nightbirds (1970), about two hippies in love in London, and a few other super-rare titles – $25,000 (£16,000) for the lot. I did a travel commercial to raise the money, and I bought everything. |
| My wife saw the film cans arriving and said: "Are you crazy? You spent $25,000 on movies nobody cares about?" "But honey," I said, this could have been me!" | My wife saw the film cans arriving and said: "Are you crazy? You spent $25,000 on movies nobody cares about?" "But honey," I said, this could have been me!" |
| I'm not kidding; when I started to understand the conditions Milligan was working under, I began to feel a bit of me was in him. I'm sure that as a director he had many of the same thoughts I've had, making the films he made. I felt like a patron, almost. I felt connected to him. I thought: "Well, Andy, I'm going to show the world! You may not have been a conventional talent but you made films your own way – which is a lot more interesting." | I'm not kidding; when I started to understand the conditions Milligan was working under, I began to feel a bit of me was in him. I'm sure that as a director he had many of the same thoughts I've had, making the films he made. I felt like a patron, almost. I felt connected to him. I thought: "Well, Andy, I'm going to show the world! You may not have been a conventional talent but you made films your own way – which is a lot more interesting." |
| Before he got into the horror scene, Andy made very personal nouvelle vague-inspired dramas, like Nightbirds and his debut short film Vapors, made in 1965 and shot in New York's gay bathhouse, St Mark's. There's a huge difference between this early, personal work and his larger-than-life later films. In the horror phase he became more fantasy-minded. He started making genre movies such as Torture Dungeon (1970) and The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972), probably because they have a very commercial upside. But even then, they got wackier and wackier. They have these strange scenes of violence, poorly done but so charming and campy, and all conveyed with such sincerity. | Before he got into the horror scene, Andy made very personal nouvelle vague-inspired dramas, like Nightbirds and his debut short film Vapors, made in 1965 and shot in New York's gay bathhouse, St Mark's. There's a huge difference between this early, personal work and his larger-than-life later films. In the horror phase he became more fantasy-minded. He started making genre movies such as Torture Dungeon (1970) and The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972), probably because they have a very commercial upside. But even then, they got wackier and wackier. They have these strange scenes of violence, poorly done but so charming and campy, and all conveyed with such sincerity. |
| Few filmmakers can boast of having a recognisable style, but when you see a Milligan movie, you are in no doubt whose film it is. He was sort of a Douglas Sirk figure – there's so much subtext in his movies. And the more you get into them, the more you realise that they were made by someone who was very tormented, and very intelligent; a sensitive man who used film as an artform to express his views on life. I see a lot of similarities between him and Fassbinder. Both were angry and troubled characters, both were gay, of course, and both worked in theatre as well as film. | Few filmmakers can boast of having a recognisable style, but when you see a Milligan movie, you are in no doubt whose film it is. He was sort of a Douglas Sirk figure – there's so much subtext in his movies. And the more you get into them, the more you realise that they were made by someone who was very tormented, and very intelligent; a sensitive man who used film as an artform to express his views on life. I see a lot of similarities between him and Fassbinder. Both were angry and troubled characters, both were gay, of course, and both worked in theatre as well as film. |
| When I bought the films, I contacted the British Film Institute right away, and we were able to come up with a way to present Nightbirds and Andy's British horror flick The Body Beneath (1970). However, while looking through the material, I realised we lacked some essential footage. For instance, Nightbirds was missing several key scenes – they had been cut directly from the print to make the trailer! Fortunately, the good people at Something Weird Video in the US were able to help: they had rare Nightbirds materials in their gigantic archive, so with their assistance we were able to complete the movie. | When I bought the films, I contacted the British Film Institute right away, and we were able to come up with a way to present Nightbirds and Andy's British horror flick The Body Beneath (1970). However, while looking through the material, I realised we lacked some essential footage. For instance, Nightbirds was missing several key scenes – they had been cut directly from the print to make the trailer! Fortunately, the good people at Something Weird Video in the US were able to help: they had rare Nightbirds materials in their gigantic archive, so with their assistance we were able to complete the movie. |
| Bringing Nightbirds back into circulation is the fulfilment of the promise I made. It's an unjustly forgotten movie that has had a film-maker's heart and soul poured into it. That it can now finally be seen again is nothing short of a miracle. | Bringing Nightbirds back into circulation is the fulfilment of the promise I made. It's an unjustly forgotten movie that has had a film-maker's heart and soul poured into it. That it can now finally be seen again is nothing short of a miracle. |
| • Nicolas Winding Refn is the director of Drive, Valhalla Rising and Bronson. Nightbirds is out now on DVD from the BFI Flipside label |