Seeds

Seeds (1968)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A mother, an elderly and alcoholic mother, is outraged when her children are invited over to her house for dinner. This here sets loose a lot of old rage and before long everyone is being killed off one by one.

Andy Milligan's SEEDS got a brief theatrical run back in the day but it was a major flop so another company bought the film, took out forty-minutes worth of footage and then filmed around forty-minutes worth of sex scenes. This version was released as SEEDS OF SIN and this is what most people have seen. In 2016 a restoration was done to try and complete Milligan's original version of SEEDS and that's what is reviewed here.

I must say that I think Milligan was a horrible filmmaker but his films are quite interesting to watch and there's no doubt that the man himself was quite fascinating. SEEDS is a rather interesting film because it features some awful acting, lame dialogue, bad camera-work and I'd argue that on most levels you'd consider it a bad film. However, it's actually rather entertaining because of all of these things and I must admit that it help my attention because this family drama, a real train wreck of a family, pretty much explodes on the screen like a train wreck.

I called the performances awful and that's a bit too extreme. They certainly aren't Oscar-material but at the same time they are all interesting to watch. They are bad and some are over-the-top but at the same time it adds an interesting element to the characters. The characters here seem like from an alternate universe and that's basically what Milligan's film seems like. Strange characters in a strange world and it's got some very nasty and mean things going on. In a Milligan type of way, SEEDS works.

Seeds of Sin (1968)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Somewhat of a producer's cut of Andy Milligan's lost film Seeds, which adds various sex scenes in so that the film could be sold to sex theaters. With all the added sex scenes it's really impossible to judge Milligan's original film but for this here it isn't too bad. The sex scenes will certainly keep you interested and they're actually better done than what you'd normally see in a film like this. I'm still new to Milligan's work and I've heard it can have its certain charm but I've yet to witness any of that.

If you really want to see what Milligan intended, skip the main film. It is cluttered with boring softcore inserts that are tedious. Seeds is an interesting film about a dysfunction family gathered for Christmas as the home of an almost insane Matriarch (Maggie Rogers) One of the family is killing off the family. It's a crude but fascinating look at palpable hate and loathing. There is not one character who is a positive person the viewer can like. One character, Carol, is interestingly played by Candy Hammond, who was briefly married to Milligan. As mentioned, the producers, concerned the film was too dark and not sexy enough, all true, inserted the straight, boring softcore stuff. It doesn't come close to matching the characters. As mentioned, go to extras and watch the Milligan print; you'll see a unique film that's not for all tastes but is a great sampling of Milligan's art.

A HEAVILY dysfunctional family gets together for the holidays. This leads to multiple murders (all badly done) and quite a few sex inserts that feature none of the original cast! This was originally shot as a straight-forward exploitation film with little skin. The producers saw it and decided to change it. They cut out key scenes that explained the plot, inserted some seriously terrible music that occasionally drowns out the actors dialogue, inserted some soft core sex scenes (seemingly at random) with two people who aren't even in the movie! They turned what MIGHT have been an OK movie into an incomprehensible mess. Still the script (or what's left of it) isn't bad, the acting is pretty good (even though some actors REALLY chew the scenery) and a lot of dramatic sequences really work. However the sex scenes the producers inserted pop up all over the place and go on for up to 5 minutes! The two actors (a guy and a girl) ARE attractive and have nice bodies so they're not a chore the watch...but their scenes totally destroy the flow of the story. So what's left is what might have been a pretty good film destroyed by editing and inserting pointless sex. A 3.

This is another cheapo by Andy Milligan, but it is actually a fair story about a highly dysfunctional family.

It was certainly made for the Grindhouse circuit, as the actual story has sex scenes inserted instead of commercials.

Don't get me wrong, this is high class acting, but it certainly was better than The Ghastly Ones in that regard. The stay-with-mom daughter invites all of her siblings home for the holidays. This causes mom to go ballistic, as she hates all of them. It's not enough to cause the old biddy to have a heart attack, so she is there throughout the film yelling and screaming at her children.

They certainly are the weirdest bunch I have ever scene - one is 17 and gets kicked out of every school mom sends him two; one married a woman who lied about a pregnancy to get out of the house, and away from his sister, who was having regular sex with him; one just wanted love and married the first man who would have rough sex with her - a real happy family.

But someone is killing them off, one by one, in between the almost hard core sex scenes.

Yes, I actually fast forwarded through the sex to get the story. It wasn't bad if you can stand the 16mm camera-work and the horrid music played during the sex. I fast forwarded just so I would have to listen to it.

Dysfunctional family goes home for the holidays and murder and mayhem result. Violent sexy Milligan at his most home made. Little better than a home movie (as much of Milligans films are) this is a trip into depravity 1960's style. Notable for the copious nudity and sex this film is neither sexy nor gruesome, playing now more as quaint.(though decidedly r rated). The film suffers from its uneven cast and from the cheapness of the production.(No one was ever sure where the money went on his movies since he was always broke). Its a bad bad movie thats not worth seeing except as a Milligan completeist or because its got some good looking people fooling around.