The Weirdo

THE WEIRDO (2+ outta 5 stars) You know, sometimes there are movies that have terrible acting, bad scripts, a silly story AND lousy direction... and I *still* kinda like 'em. "The Weirdo" is one of those movies... sort of like a cross between "Psycho" and "Marty". As poor as almost every element of this film is... I think it still comes through that the people involved *cared* about what they were doing. So what if the actors have trouble getting their lines out? So what if you can guess everything that's going to happen about 20 minutes before it does happen? So what if the scenes of violence look ridiculously fake? Okay, so I wouldn't exactly recommend this movie to anyone... but I heartily defend its right to exist! The story involves Donnie, the "weirdo" who is constantly harassed by punk teens, busybody townsfolk and an abusive mother. No one ever talks to him... or treats him like a human being... so he is filled with all this repressed rage. Suddenly he meets a pretty young crippled girl who takes an instant liking to him (being somewhat of an outcast herself). They fall in love.. but, too late. All the years of abuse have made Donnie resentful and, ultimately, psychotically violent to those who have wronged him. He goes on a bloody rampage of revenge until he is suddenly beaten to death by the angry townsfolk... or... IS he dead???

If this seems a lot different from the rest of Milligan's sparse 80s output, it's because this is actually a remake of a mid-70s Milligan film that was lost. In many ways it is the ultimate Milligan film, undone by the same elements that did in Milligan's last few films: the gritty, sleazy ensembles of "The Ghastly Ones" and "Fleshpot on 42nd Street" are replaced by bland actors from the fringes of respectable Hollywood. Beyond that the crazy, manic energy of Milligan's early films, the screaming actors, traumatic camera-work, and canned background music are long gone, replaced by a modicum of "professionalism".

Unlike his other 80s films, however, there are lots of early Milligan elements: horrible, evil mothers, sadistic and cruel authority figures, freaks (I guess Donnie's crippled girlfriend counts), and Milligan's own obvious identification with the doomed monster. The weirdo, Donnie, is basically a harmless borderline retard a la Hal Borske in "The Ghastly Ones" who is bullied and humiliated before taking his revenge in an oddly satisfying but shoddy manner. If you've read "The Ghastly One" and actually like some of Milligan's films, parts might strike you as almost touching, since so much of Milligan himself seems to be on display here, but that said the high-school cast, awkward dialog, silly 80s gang, and characters who arbitrarily change at the drop of a plot point don't really help matters. Definitely not "the worst film" ever (none of Milligan's films are even close to that), but too lumbering and leaden for its own good. Too bad the original is "lost", I'd love to see it.

Scanning through the threadbare plot: Mildly retarded man falls in love with troubled girl, is pushed around by town bullies and then, eventually snaps, murdering those who caused him pain. THE WEIRDO, made by one of the most reviled directors in cinema history - Andy Milligan - should be taken with a grain of salt. He has a passion for the odd and makes due with what he's given, but we all know he doesn't have a talented bone in his body. Here, in THE WEIRDO, Milligan's budget seems to have been "upped" significantly since bad movie epics like THE BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS and GURU THE MAD MONK. Fortunately, those schlocky aforementioned films had a certain flare in 'em, while THE WEIRDO is nothing but talk, talk, talk without pay-off. I had hoped in the final massacre it'd be in brutal and spectacular fashion. Unfortunately, Milligan seemed more in interested in making a drama about Donny's torment, pain and involvement with his romantic interest, so little focus was on the actual revenge theme. I'm pretty sure I dozed off at some point, but in a movie like this, can ya blame me? Really, this is bottom-of-the-barrel material. Apart from the interesting [yet highly derivative] concept, THE WEIRDO has absolutely NOTHING of worth.

Andy Milligan films are not for everyone; I'm not even sure if they're for me, and I've already seen quite a few. That said, The Weirdo appears to be one of the directors more accessible efforts, with an air of professionalism not evident in the others I have seen. Now don't get me wrong - this is still rough and ready, low-budget fare - but the story flows nicely and the characters are well developed, Mr. Milligan clearly making an effort to emotionally engage his audience.

Heading the cast is Steve Burington as autistic young man Donnie Raymond, who lives in a shed belonging to well-meaning Miss Martins (Naomi Sherwood), for whom he runs errands. Subject to regular bullying by three local thugs - Nails (Shawn Player), Vic (Dennis Robbins) and Dean (Patrick Thomas) - Donnie leads a relatively lonely existence until he is befriended by fellow outcast, pretty disabled 18-year-old Jenny (Jessica Straus). The young couple's friendship blossoms into love, and so Donnie is rightfully upset when his uncaring mother (Lynne Caryl), who lives on the other side of town, tries to send him to Mississippi, having agreed to sell him to sleazoid Cycil Price (Carroll Oden). Donnie finally snaps, decapitating his mother with a meat cleaver, and kills Price with a pole; he also takes care of pervy priest Reverand Cummings (John Rand), and his meddling wife (Janet Roberts), who also stand in the way of his relationship with Jenny. Ultimately, Donnie turns his rage towards the trio of bullies who have made his life a misery, before - in true classic horror film fashion - he is attacked by an angry mob.

Although The Weirdo still suffers from amateurish acting and extreme budgetary restraints (the gore effects are especially cheap), for once Milligan seems to really care about his characters, telling a surprisingly moving tale of doomed love and inevitable tragedy (albeit one with an admittedly silly and violent final act). While I'm not suggesting that this film will make a dedicated Milligan fan out of anyone, those with a tolerance for z-grade trash will probably find something to like about The Weirdo, even if it's only the fact that it's far more entertaining than The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (which I consider to be completely worthless).

My review was written in February 1990 after watching the movie on Raedon video cassette.

Goremeister Andy Milligan is in a relatively restrained mood for "Weirdo", an okay psychological thriller released direct to video. His higher-brow fans will mull over the scene of a preacher's wife stabbed in the chest with a huge crucifix.

Steve Burlington takes the title role, a backward youngster who is taken care of by kindly Naomi Sherwood. Taunted by other teens, he eventually steps over the line in a romane with runaway Jessica Straus.

Convoluted exploitation genre plot has a revelation by hero's mom that his slowness is caused by inbreeding (she had sex with her brother, resulting in Weirdo). Burlington freaks out and kills his mama, just in time because she was in the process of selling him into white slavery in Mississippi (!). Unfortunately for the fans, poor makeup effects are used on mama's severed head.