Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and happy homes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Hursey is a pharmacist specializing in health informatics by day, but his true passion is cinema. His current favorite films are Back to the Future, Stop Making Sense, and In the Mood for Love. He has written articles for Film East and The Physical Media Advocate, primarily examining older films through the lens of contemporary perspectives. He is usually found on Letterboxd, where he mainly writes about horror and exploitation films. You can follow him on Letterboxd or Instagram at ashursey.

Today’s theme: 1970s

Diving back into the Andy Milligan box set from Severin Films with The Body Beneath, another one of Milligan’s horror films made during his London period. If you’ve ever watched an Andy Milligan film, you know that your mileage may vary.

Too much inbreeding has caused a degradation in the bloodline of a family of vampires. Led by the Reverend Alexander Ford (Gavin Reed), the brood sets out to gather some fresh blood, namely, relative Susan Ford (Jackie Skarvellis), who has recently disclosed to her boyfriend Paul (Richmond Ross) that she is expecting. After the Reverend takes over Carfax Abbey (obviously an allusion to Count Dracula’s London estate—you could never accuse Milligan of subtlety), he begins a reign of terror, kidnapping Susan for her offspring and others for their blood supply while punishing his hunchbacked servant (there always has to be a character with a hunchback in a Milligan movie). Can Paul rescue Susan before it is too late? 

No one could accuse Milligan about properly pacing a movie either. Fortunately for me, I’m never in any rush to get through one of his films. I never really expected to embrace his films like I have, but there is just something about the bad acting, low production values, and magnificent costumes that keeps me coming back for more. I’m not sure what I will do when I run out of new films to watch in this box set. I mean, I guess I’ll just start over. And I’m perfectly okay with that option. Although Severin did discover a couple of previously lost Milligan films recently. So that release will be something to look forward to. Hopefully soon.