Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan

Play trailer 2:20 Poster for The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan 2025 1h 49m Biography Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 4 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
He was a pioneer of avant-garde theater, trailblazer of early Queer cinema and remains one of the most divisive talents in exploitation/horror history. But what is the truth behind Andy Milligan and his "depraved, desperate and damned" (Time Magazine) legacy? In the new documentary THE DEGENERATE: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF ANDY MILLIGAN, filmmakers Josh Johnson and Grayson Tyler Johnson explore the bile, brutality and intermittent brilliance of "The Fassbinder of 42nd Street" (Artforum). Milligan's low-budget productions -- including such 'classics' as THE GHASTLY ONES, BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS, GURU THE MAD MONK, TORTURE DUNGEON and THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE! on which he served as writer, director, cinematographer, editor, set decorator and costume designer -- were predominately period melodramas fueled by themes of sadism, incest and misogyny bathed in bottom-of-the-barrel gore effects, filmed on Staten Island (and for a brief period, London) and forever consigned to grindhouse purgatory. Yet via revealing interviews with a gallery of Milligan's performers, enablers, co-conspirators and his biographer -- along with copious clips from his deranged oeuvre -- a portrait emerges of a gutter auteur who battled and antagonized his own demons to become one of the most transgressive outsider artists of the 20th century.

Critics Reviews

View All (4)
Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle As a result, The Degenerate is rich in details while still leaving Milligan himself a little hazy. Jun 18, 2025 Full Review J Hurtado ScreenAnarchy A powerfully empathetic portrait of an artist sorely misunderstood in his own time and beyond, The Degenerate is an enlightening film that will undoubtedly encourage viewers to explore his bonkers career and perhaps consider it from a different angle. Jun 20, 2025 Full Review Frank J. Avella Edge Media Network It's a fascinating portrait of a complex man who had something to say and was given the means to express himself. For a time. Rated: B Jun 18, 2025 Full Review Dan Tabor Cinapse The DeGenerate: The Life & Films of Andy Milligan is a thoughtful and empathic peek in the metaphorical cinematic glory hole at a director, who was as divisive in real life as his filmography, and I don’t think Andy would have wanted it any other way. Jun 15, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

View All

Josh Johnson

Director

Grayson Tyler Johnson

Director

Gerald Jaccuzo

Self

Hope Stansbury

Self

Jimmy McDonough

Self

Stephen Thrower

Self
View All

The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan

The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan: Trailer 1 The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan: Trailer 1 2:20 View more videos
View All

The Degenerate: The Life and Films of Andy Milligan

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis He was a pioneer of avant-garde theater, trailblazer of early Queer cinema and remains one of the most divisive talents in exploitation/horror history. But what is the truth behind Andy Milligan and his "depraved, desperate and damned" (Time Magazine) legacy? In the new documentary THE DEGENERATE: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF ANDY MILLIGAN, filmmakers Josh Johnson and Grayson Tyler Johnson explore the bile, brutality and intermittent brilliance of "The Fassbinder of 42nd Street" (Artforum). Milligan's low-budget productions -- including such 'classics' as THE GHASTLY ONES, BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS, GURU THE MAD MONK, TORTURE DUNGEON and THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE! on which he served as writer, director, cinematographer, editor, set decorator and costume designer -- were predominately period melodramas fueled by themes of sadism, incest and misogyny bathed in bottom-of-the-barrel gore effects, filmed on Staten Island (and for a brief period, London) and forever consigned to grindhouse purgatory. Yet via revealing interviews with a gallery of Milligan's performers, enablers, co-conspirators and his biographer -- along with copious clips from his deranged oeuvre -- a portrait emerges of a gutter auteur who battled and antagonized his own demons to become one of the most transgressive outsider artists of the 20th century.
Director
Josh Johnson, Grayson Tyler Johnson
Producer
David Gregory, Carl Daft, Josh Johnson
Production Co
Severin Films
Genre
Biography, Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 49m