freakboy on film: KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! (1968)

Here we are, months later, and I’m FINALLY blogging about the other recently unearthed lost Andy Milligan film.  When I first researched his films, out of all of the lost titles, KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! interested me the least because Andy didn’t write the screenplay.  That honor goes to infamous exploitation producer extraordinaire William Mishkin (story by) and Josef Bush (screenplay).  As time went by, and I came to understand Mishkin and Bush in relation to Milligan, I realized KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! would be worth watching.  I mean, William Mishkin was a shrewd businessman, so he must have known his story would be in perfect directorial hands with Andy Milligan, despite the shocking lack of incest in the plot.

KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! (1968) 

Jean Novack is a modern day woman with needs.  Her hobbies include neglecting her son Jimmy, placating her husband Stan through sex, cheating on Stan with his friend Eddie and day-drinking.  Oh, and night-drinking and drinking between drinking.  What else is a bored, 1960’s New York City housewife supposed to do?  

What to do before watching a Milligan film!

After Stan’s New Jersey stepmother dies, and his brother Ray flees to California, he invites his sister Ellen to move in.  Jean balks at first, but comes around to the idea when it means moving to a bigger apartment.  The one thing Jean is not happy about is Eddie has started blowing off her advances.  To bring Eddie back into her seductive orbit, Jean suggests to Stan that he should set Eddie up with Ellen. 

Marriage, Milligan style!

Andy may not have wrote KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! but if you’ve read any of my other Milligan reviews, you know Jean’s plan is going to majorly backfire with dire and deadly consequences.  I almost ache to tell you how it all ends, but I won’t since the film is currently streaming on Fawesome.  Let’s just say that I actually gasped at the key climactic scene and hoped I didn’t just watch a snuff film.  Don’t panic!  The two actors in the scene thankfully show up in later Milligan films.  As for the surviving characters, they live traumatically ever after.  

The fear of spoilers!

All the performances initially seemed more controlled than usual, for a Milligan film, but everything and everyone steadily becomes way out of control by the end.  Natalie Rogers as Jean is the one to watch.  She is always on and ready to emotionally turn on a dime if it suits her character’s needs.  I must also give a shout-out to Gerald Jacuzzo as Stan’s brother Ray.  He always magnetizes a scene and as Ray, he vibrates with tortured queer artist nerd vibes.   

Not a selfie!

KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! is not the first time Andy Milligan directed someone else’s words.  His first film VAPORS proved the melding of fractured minds can create something special and the same can be said here.  Within the familial melodrama, Milligan infused KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! with visual chaos, growing more and more visceral as it reaches the gasp-worthy climax.  He even got to throw in some of his standards, such as Swirl Camera, an endless staircase to climb, uncomfortable sex scenes and unsettling close-ups.  In other words, make no mistake, this is an Andy Milligan film! 

Me, daydreaming about finding other lost Milligan films!

In conclusion…
Despite my early, judgmental misgivings, KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! won me over.  Much like THE DEGENERATES, I have found myself enjoying the off-kilter mix of love, sex and death more and more with each viewing.  Though it will probably not break into my Top 5 Milligan Films.  So, if you’re in the mood for a trip you’ll never forget, grab a cocktail (or mocktail) of your choice and cozy up to KISS ME, KISS ME, KISS ME! 

You know you want to!

NOTE: 
THE DEGENERATES is also streaming on Fawesome!  

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S.  click DINAH EAST to learn the truth about a Hollywood legend! 

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A Poetic Happening is happening soon!  📜