Andy Milligan: Artist, Auteur or Asshole? (NYC) – CANCELLED

Please note due to unforeseen circumstances the Andy Milligan class scheduled for January 15th has had to be cancelled, but we hope to revisit in a future semester.

Between 1965 and 1988, Andy Milligan produced, wrote and directed 29 films. He also photographed, edited and provided costumes, make-ups and set design. He is the embodiment of the fierce self-reliant filmmaker, a literal one-man powerhouse taking on the jobs of several people. Even more fascinating was that Milligan also ran an off Broadway theater, producing and writing plays as well as staging the works of other writers.

Yet, despite all the energy and productivity, Milligan was long regarded as a pariah in cult film circles. In Michael Weldon’s book The Psychotronic Encyclopedia, he wrote “If you’re an Andy Milligan fan there is no hope for you.” Producer Richard Gordon wrote a letter to Fangoria magazine after they published an article on Milligan, ranting against Milligan and the lack of production value in the films he made. Most cult film fans tend to relegate Milligan to the bottom of the barrel and use disparaging remarks when describing his output. Yet since his death in 1991, Milligan’s work has attracted a lot of attention and re-evaluation, most notably in Jimmy McDonough’s book The Ghastly One (2001).

Milligan laid bare his soul in just about every film he made. Wallowing in a sea of self-hatred, Milligan willingly shared his misanthropy and laid it out for all to see on the screens of some of the scummiest grind houses and drive-ins this side of 42^nd Street. He never let a film go by without using the classic Milligan tropes, all of which stem back to his life, which started in Saint Paul, MN, in 1929. In Milligan’s view all problems start at home and usually with the mother, and he used the films he was contracted to make for the exploitation circuit as his therapy.

So come on out and explore the life and films of Andy Milligan. Through a combination of clips of his work and stills of his life, we’ll put together an understanding of the man who made such exploitation masterpieces as Bloodthirsty Butchers, Torture Dungeon, The Ghastly Ones, Vapors, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and so many more. Find out why the men who produced his films hated him, and how he shined that hatred right back onto them.