Vapors

Renowned exploitation favourite Andy Milligan made his feature debut with this short film that works largely due to a degree of intimacy. A lonely gay man, Thomas (Gerald Jacuzzo), checks out an NYC bath house for men, where regulars are quick to tell him the rules. Soon, an enigmatic stranger named Mr. Jaffee (Robert Dahdah) is making overtures of friendship, yet in this short amount of time they are together, they make a connection beyond mere pleasures of the flesh.

All in all, "Vapors" is an effective ode to loneliness. While other regulars come and go, Milligan remains focused on the dialogue and relationship between Thomas and Jaffee, with the latter revealing unhappy details about his life. He's married, and a father, but has fallen out of love with his wife and no longer derives sexual pleasure from being with her (if indeed he ever did). We don't learn so much about Thomas, but no matter. There's still a real poignancy in seeing these two men become acquainted.

While not really "great cinema" (Milligan opts to mostly just "point and shoot"), there is a stark efficiency to it. Milligan does capture the inherent seediness of this place, and the cattiness of the other regulars.

There are two decent performances at the core of the film from Jacuzzo and Dahdah. Milligan aficionados will note the presence of Hal Borske, who later had a role in his familial horror film "The Ghastly Ones", in a supporting role.

All in all, this is not as exploitative as some viewers might think: no violence, not much nudity, and little in the way of objectionable language. Milligan aimed for something a little deeper here, and succeeded pretty well.

Seven out of 10.