Official Tribeca synopsis, written by Matt Barone: The history of New York filmmaking has several lauded names that instantly come to mind: Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Spike Lee, among others. In the specific world of NYC genre filmmaking, names like Larry Fessenden, Abel Ferrara, Frank Henenlotter and Bill Lustig instantly ring bells. But there’s one infamous name that will strike a chord with many of those directors but with too few others: Andy Milligan. From the late 1960s through the ’80s, the exploitation filmmaker churned out dozens of insane, not to mention largely inept, films with titles like The Naked Witch, The Promiscuous Sex and Gutter Trash that earned him an Ed Wood-esque reputation. As John Waters once asked about Milligan, “Can a genius be untalented, too?”
What made Milligan tick, and what was it about his personal life that fed his penchant for cinematic depravity? Putting a long-deserved spotlight on the late and prolific grindhouse purveyor, co-directors Josh Johnson and Grayson Tyler Johnson utilize a wealth of bonkers Milligan film clips and insights from collaborators to immortalize a true underground legend in a comprehensive and entertaining fashion. Long live Milligan!
Admittedly, I have never been intrigued enough to watch an Andy Milligan film. Mean-tempered and — some would say, regarding Milligan’s output — poorly made movies made on a shoestring budget, horror or otherwise, just aren’t my thing. My litmus test for a documentary about someone or something in which I’m not normally interested is whether the film makes me want to watch or learn more about the subject. In the case of The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan from codirectors Josh Johnson and Grayson Tyler Johnson . . . Well, they captured my interest enough that I may indeed finally watch a Milligan movie or two. More importantly, they have crafted a work that shows Milligan as an important figure to off-Broadway theater, a rather accomplished television and stage actor, and a man with a gruff reputation who was, and still is after his death, dearly loved by those closest to him.
Milligan cast members and close friends Hope Stansbury and Gerald Jacuzzo, movie distributor Samuel S. Sherman, and critic Stephen Thrower are among those who comment on Milligan’s life and cinematic oeuvre. Jimmy McDonough, who was Milligan’s biographer, crew member, friend, and even caretaker when Milligan was dying of AIDS, provides invaluable insight into the maverick director’s mindset. These people provide much more than just facts from talking heads. They are warts-and-all honest about Milligan as a private person and as a filmmaker.
The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan also provides an intriguing time capsule look from 42nd Street of New York City in the transition period between the beatnik and hippie eras to California in the 1980s when AIDS was a new, mysterious threat. Milligan was fiercely artistic in his own ways during those decades, and his films are often fueled by his tough childhood that ingrained in him, among other things, a misogynistic attitude fueled by his dislike of his mother.
Josh Johnson and Grayson Tyler Johnson should bring many new people to learn about Milligan with their excellent documentary. The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan shines a new light on a man who is much more than merely someone who made widely panned — though often highly profitable — horror and sexploitation movies.
You can view the trailer for the documentary here.
The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan screens as part of the 2025 Tribeca Festival, which runs June 4–15 in New York City. For more information, visit https://www.tribecafilm.com/.
