Color, 1975, 87m. / Directed by James H. Kay / Starring Katharine Houghton, Joe Dallesandro, James Congdon / Subversive (US R1 NTSC) / WS (1.85:1) (16:9) / DD2.0
In the curious prologue, an ailing woman in a hospital bed goes into hysterics and then dies when large, exotic flowers are brought into her room. Cut to the tranquil estate of the Bennetts, John (Congdon) and Ellen (Houghton), who spend much of their time hobnobbing with the other rich and famous residents nearby. One afternoon Ellen is so taken by a dead acquaintance's stunning garden that she decides to hire the man responsible, a strong-but silent type named Carl (Dallesandro) who mostly wanders around shirtless while gazing at the plants. Though one of the maids suspects Carl might not be on the up-and-up about his green thumb, Ellen is immediately
Though aimed for the sex-and-violence crowd, The Gardener doesn't really wallow too much in either gore or nudity. Instead it tries to conjure an off-kilter ambience of surreal dread, similar to other hallucinatory, dark fairy tales among the rich like Angel, Angel, Down We Go and Tam Lin. Best known as the daughter from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Houghton has to anchor most of the film with her demanding performance, and she acquits herself well; Rockford Files vet Congdon provides able support as her husband, while the notoriously inexpressive Dallesandro is kept largely silent as he broods menacingly and shows off his physique. Things eventually come to a head for the utterly bizarre finale, which looks like something out of a Kenneth Anger film; coherent it might not always be, but The Gardener while give fans of head films plenty to savor.
Boasting a presentation that "fully restored and containing footage not previously available," Subversive's DVD is a huge improvement over the long-unavailable VHS editions (which trimmed down a reissue print to comfortably fit on a 90-minute tape). The widescreen framing looks accurate, and the extremely bold color schemes come through so strongly they could sear your television screen. The print quality looks a bit soft and overly dark in a few scenes, but this could be attributed to the original cinematography. Two audio options are offered, the original mono and a two-channel stereo remix. Stick with the crystal-clear first option, as the well-intentioned but flawed stereo version has a prominent echo during all of the dialogue scenes (similar to Anchor Bay UK's attempt at remixing Last House on the Left).
Even viewers who are lukewarm on the film itself should still snap up this disc for the incredible extras, which are worth it just for Dallesandro's first commentary track. He goes into great detail about the making of the film and chats about his entire film career around that period, and while he's not much more expressive here than in his film roles, he offers as astonishing amount of information considering how little he's actually onscreen. Director James H. Kay turns up for a second commentary track, and though he's surprisingly light on actual production stories (and never really explains how this film came into being), he does an adequate job of sketching in his intentions for the film and his interpretatons of the bizarre events unfolding throughout. Both men return along with Houghton for a very concise and worthwhile featurette (which stretches the definition at nearly 40 minutes), "Planting the Seeds of Evil," in which they talk about the film's effect (or lack thereof) on their careers and their thoughts on its creation. Perhaps the most fascinating extra is a vintage half-hour documentary that looks like it was produced for local TV, titled "Million Dollar Dream" on the menu but called "The Distribution of Low Budget Films, or the Gardener's Seeds of Evil Killed by Million Dollar Dream" onscreen. Producer Chalmer Kirkbride, Jr. walks the viewer through a circa-early-'80s history of the film as an example of the pitfalls of indie filmmaking, where all of the money you bet can ride on the whims of the public. The hefty package is rounded out with the film's trailer along with other Subversive trailers for such amazing releases as The Candy Snatchers, The Freakmaker and Blood Bath.
A strange macabre fantasy passed off on the '70s drive-in circuit as a nature-amuck horror film, The Gardener (better known to subterranean video hounds as Seeds of Evil) earned its place in the history
books for the first non-Warhol-related lead role for actor Joe Dallesandro. Colorful and often inscrutable, it's the kind of genre-mashing exercise that would be impossible to finance now but should bring a smile to anyone looking for something a bit different.
taken with his impressive floral results. Unfortunately she's also drawn to Carl sexually, and when not busy throwing elaborate fancy costume parties (that favorite instant-artsy standy of exploitation films), she finds herself controlled by dark and possibly murderous impulses...
