The Ghastly Ones (1968)

Three married couples are forced to spend the night in a Victorian-era house where they start getting killed off by a deranged psycho who's bent on claiming an inheritence they are all entitled to.

Director:

Andy Milligan

Writers:

Andy Milligan (screenplay), Hal Sherwood (screenplay)

Stars:

Veronica Radburn, Maggie Rogers, Hal Borske

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Veronica Radburn	...	Martha
Maggie Rogers	...	Hattie
Hal Borske	...	Colin Trask
Anne Linden	...	Vicky
Fib LaBlaque	...	Rich (as Fib La Blaque)
Carol Vogel	...	Liz
Richard Romanus	...	Don (as Richard Romanos)
Eileen Hayes	...	Veronica (as Eileen Haves)
Don Williams	...	Bill
Hal Sherwood	...	Pastor Walter
Neil Flanagan	...	Lawyer Dobbs (as Niel Flanagan)
Ada McAllister	...	Ada
Robert Adsit	...	Robert

Storyline

A gruesome tale of revenge and bloodshed, from the Shock King of Staten Island, cult director, Andy Milligan. This super-cheap horror film story is set in an eerie Victorian mansion where a family has gathered for a will-reading. Three couples must spend the night there to inherit a fortune according to the will. Then they start dying one by one, as people are impaled with pitchforks, decapitated, dismembered, and have their throats hacked open with knives. There is a lot of disgusting gore including a scene where a hunchbacked cretin eats live rabbits.

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Plot Keywords:

psycho | island | rabbit | mansion | house | 

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Taglines:

A Gruesome Orgy of Human Mutilation!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 September 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blood Orgy

Filming Locations:

Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ASA Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min 72 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening scene of the double murder scene was the last scene to be filmed. It was shot during the spring of 1968, several months after principle filming ended as noticed by the green plants in contrast to the winter setting of the bulk of the film.

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Goofs

In several of the fight scenes of the film, the crew and their cameras and sound equipment are visible. There are also moments when the director can be heard softly reminding the actors of their lines.

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Connections

Referenced in Adjust Your Tracking (2013)

User Reviews

Hilariously crummy.

People who totally dig micro budget see-it-to-believe-how-bad-it-is schlock will probably enjoy Andy Milligan's "The Ghastly Ones". Supposedly a period piece, it brings together three couples in an old house for the reading of a will, where they will exist "in sexual harmony" for three days. Unfortunately, a brutal psycho has other ideas

• first "marking" them by painting X's in blood, and then offing them.

While technically quite a short movie (running approximately 72 minutes), it feels longer than it is, with a lot of talk. It may require some patience on the part of some viewers, therefore, in order to get to the good stuff, such as it is - with oh so tacky bargain basement gore (A Sno ball stands in for an eyeball!), a dose of (rather tame) sex, a priceless supporting character in the form of Hal Borske's half wit hunchback Colin (whose idea of fine cuisine is amusing, to say the least) and a not particularly compelling "Who is the killer?" mystery, which some people may well figure out early on. The characters are insipid and inspire appropriately insipid performances. (It's worth noting, though, that one actor in this bunch had a pretty good career for himself after this: co-star Richard Romanus's next film was Scorsese's "Mean Streets"!) That doesn't mean, however, that they aren't entertaining in their own way. Neil Flanagan, the star of Milligan's subsequent movie "Guru, the Mad Monk", is a riot as the aged, gnarly old lawyer. The movie itself is likewise inept enough to prove itself a real hoot. In fact, one can even hear Milligan calling out directions in the background; when a character is set afire, he can be heard saying, "Get down!" Milligan himself supplied the costumes, having ran his own clothing store named Raffine. Even while somewhat sluggish, this movie does deliver some good entertainment for bad movie buffs and some real laugh out loud moments. Five out of 10.