The Gardener

Katharine Houghton ("Guess Who's Coming to Dinner") stars as Ellen Bennett, a well-to-do American living in Costa Rica. She makes a big mistake when she hires the hunky but mysterious "Carl" (Joe Dallesandro, "Flesh for Frankenstein") as her gardener. The man has a "green thumb", to put it mildly, and soon the Bennett estate is overflowing with lush vegetation. However, Ellen finally wises up and realizes that there's something really "off" about this guy.

"The Gardener", a.k.a. "Seeds of Evil", is a flat, disappointing "horror" film from writer-director James H. Kay. It was the only feature film he ever got around to making, and it's no surprise. It's pretty much a dud, albeit one that I *wanted* to enjoy more than I did. It's rather a wash as a horror film, even in uncut form (although this is partly because it's too dark to really see the nastiest bits). And the horror really only occurs towards the end, when Ellen is concerned about the behavior of her visiting niece (Cass Fry, in *her* only film credit).

Houghton is sincere and fairly appealing, although the viewer will likely get annoyed over her clueless nature. Ellens' husband John (James Congdon, "4D Man") is at least more wary of Carl than she is, but he never really does anything about it. Dallesandro is of course as boring as always, although if one is a fan, they'll appreciate how well his physical attractiveness is played up - most of the time he parades around topless, and he even has a few nude scenes. The only real standout here is Rita Gam ("Klute") as Ellens' friend Helena.

Although pleasures to be had watching this are few and far between (Kay can't even deliver a great ending), it *does* have a haunting score composed by Marc Fredericks, some fun local color (it was actually filmed in Puerto Rico), and some amusing psychedelic touches.

It's not one I'd recommend, unless your curiosity gets the better of you.

Four out of 10.

This film has 5+ names so it took me a while to find it streaming on Prime. It's a hard film to review because most of the actors are actually good? They're accomplished stage actors and you can tell. The beautiful elephant in the room is a shirtless Joe Dallesandro who slinks through various scenes like he's in a porno...but I'm blaming that on the unexperienced director since we know Little Joe can/could do more than that.

Unfortunately the story is incredibly boring. Even the lowest budget film can be a fun watch if the plot moves at a good clip but this just meanders along, making it feel interminable. It's good acting with bad writing and directing.

Gardener is a 70s Horror Film starring Joe Dallesandro as the title character, a gardener with evil powers. More importantly, gardener who never wears a shirt with evil powers. Excited yet? The movie is very pretty, filmed in Puerto Rico. Very gorgeous shots of various flowers and our title character fill the movie. It's not very believable that Carl - The Gardener - can manipulate the flowers to drive his employers and friends crazy, and that's mostly because it isn't really explained. It just happens, and they expect us to believe it because the evidence is there. He comes, he goes, they go crazy. I want to say that this movie was made to exploit the young actor (at least young at the time), but he's never really explored. He has some exploitive scenes, like when he skinny dips and seduces various female characters, but he's really not "fleshed" out. LoL. Flesh. Our main character Ellen (played by Katherine Hepburn's niece Katharine Houghton) gets most of the screen time and she falls prey to Carl's powers of manipulation. The flowers in the house start to affect her other servants, her husband, and her best friend, who just wants to bed him. (Rita Glam, stealing every scene she's in) I obviously wanted to watch the movie for some eye candy, and I kinda' get it. Joe Dallesandro as Carl struts around the movie in nothing but a pair of tight camel skin pants. We get a butt shot and some ab shots, but nothing that I can't see on an episode of Desperate Housewives or Weeds. Still, the acting of our two main actresses, (playing the typical main character and main character's horny friend that pollutes so many other films) rises above B movie status and they take the ridiculous script so seriously that it elicits some unnecessary laughter throughout. Worth a watch for cult movie fans, and gay people, but don't expect too much. Just some flesh, flowers and HORROR!!!! heheh.

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SEEDS OF EVIL is one obscure film and the better for it. I love watching films that have been, for whatever reasons, forgotten or simply dismissed with time. Watching them always brings a special kind of feeling: that your watching something few people have seen. On rare occasions I "discovered" a couple of hidden gems by doing this. But most of the time there's a good reason why so many films are forgotten: they're just not good on any level.

SEEDS OF EVIL is one of those obscure films people have forgotten and though it's not a true hidden gem, it's a real find nonetheless. There's something unique about it which I've rarely seen in any film I've seen up to now: it basically creates a new genre, of the psychic connections between plants and humans and the potential for evil. It's forward thinking enough to be seen as contemporary and yet the film has a quaint charm to it which reminds me of movies of the past.

Though made in 1975, SEEDS OF EVIL is decidedly straddled between the films of sex and gore of the 1970s and the spooky, non-violent horror films made just a decade ago (like THE HAUNTING or THE INNOCENTS). The sex is provided in the form of Joe Dallesandro, who's shirtless and wearing barely there hip-huggers, or just plain naked throughout the movie. And the quaintness is mainly due to the fact that there's little violence in SOE and the soundtrack is very flowery and has that "whoo-hoo-hooo" kinda of feel to it, which is probably more suited for a horror film of the 1950s or 60s than one from the 1970s.

The direction is not bad. The camera glides around smoothly. The film is never boring even though nothing much really happens in the movie. The 1970s fashion and interiors are a sight to behold. The acting is surprisingly good for this kind of film, with Rita Gam stealing the show. The exception being Joe Dallesandro. Joe is one bad actor. So much so that the director consciously avoided having Dallesandro acting on screen for extended periods of time. Dallesandro, with his compact and sculptured body, was simply used as "special effects" for the film. And the genre (psychic attachment to plants, also explored in THE KIRLIAN WITNESS in 1978) is an interesting one and though not 100% successful here, it does bring a fresh outlook to where evil might lurk.

Anyone looking for gore or violence, or female nudity will be sorely disappointed with SOE. But for fans of obscure films, even though there's nothing earth-shattering about it, SEEDS OF EVIL is a nifty little find.

Face it, if you're at all interested in looking up a movie like "Seeds of Evil" in the first place, you ought to see it. IF you can find it...our video store had a Unicorn Video print, in the dustiest corner of the dustiest shelf.

The music on the soundtrack is disconcertingly cheery...some of the acting is horrendous...some isn't bad and a couple of the actors have a curious appeal. For instance, James Congdon is like a poor man's Burt Reynolds.

Not as bad as some other viewers have indicated...again, if you are interested in looking at ratings for this one, just go watch it.