THE ULTIMATE DEGENERATE
B&W, 1969, 71 mins. 59 secs.
Directed by Michael Findlay
Starring Uta Erickson, Michael Findlay, Earl Hindman, Janet Banzet, Suzzan Landau, Yolanda Cortez

A THOUSAND PLEASURES
B&W, 1968, 68 mins. 12 secs.
Directed by Michael Findlay
Starring Janet Banzet, Uta Erickson, Michael Findlay, Linda Boyce, Kim Lewid, Donna Stone, John Amero
Distribpix / Something Weird (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Image Entertainment (DVD) (US R1 NTSC)

Among the grubbiest and most shocking purveyors of exploitation in the pre-hardcore era of New York-based filmmakers, Michael and Roberta Findlay caused countless jaws to drop and psyches to be damaged near the end of the '60s with the infamous "Flesh" trilogy (The Touch of Her Flesh, The Curse of Her Flesh, The Kiss of Her Flesh), with Michael starring, writing, and directing, with both producing and Roberta (despite her claims later) created under variations of the name "Anna Riva" as cinematographer, composer, and supporting actor. They kept the shocking sex and violence train going after those three disreputable hits with several more films including two equally deranged spiritual successors at the tail of the decade, both of which were given DVD releases from Something Weird via Image Entertainment and then revived in 2026 as a Blu-ray special edition from Distribpix and Something Weird.

First on the Blu-ray packaging (though not the disc menu) but made second is The Ultimate Degenerate, or just The Degenerate according to the title card, and it shouldn't be much surprise that the title character is played by Michael himself as Spencer, a pervert holed up at a farmhouse with his cohort, Bruno (Hindman, credited as "Leo Heinz," returning after his crazy appearance in Kiss decades for gaining fame on TV's Home Improvement). There they wrangle a rotating roster of women who get juiced up regularly with aphrodisiacs to perform various sexual routines including a dinner table corn cob encounter no viewer ever forgets. Enter open-minded lesbian Maria (Erickson), our exhibitionist narrator, who decides she's up for whatever Spencer can throw at her as long as she gets paid-- but Bruno has other plans.

Then in A Thousand Pleasures, we see Michael off the bat here again as Richard Davis who whips out a kitchen knife to dispatch his nagging wife (Roberta in a barely recognizable cameo) before the astounding credits even roll. Now stuck with a dead body in his car, Richard makes his slushy way upstate where he picks up two hitchhikers, Maggie (Erickson again) and Jackie (Boyce), who hand out free sexual favors and are weirdly delighted to find out about his macabre cargo. They force him to go back to their place where they keep a topless adult woman "baby" (Lewid) in a big crib. There's another weird male sidekick named Bruno on hand here as well, this time played by Findlay bestie and future porn collaborator John Amero, plus a twisted maid (Stone) Richard decides to call Boobarella and masochistic lesbian Belle (Banzet). All of this is part of a plan to use Richard to harvest babies against his will, with only the female offspring allowed to survive. Of course, several of these scuzzy characters won't be left standing by the end.

By this point the Findlay formula had pretty much perfected how to deliver the perfect roughie, delivering an escalating parade of depravities with thunderous library music, outrageous proto-John Water dialogue, frontal nudity, Roberta dubbing multiple actresses, and surprisingly rich, atmospheric black-and-white photography. The level of hysteria that these films reach is truly something to behold, and it's a shame the market shifted so dramatically right after this that we were deprived of any more Findlay films on this kind of sick scale.

The Ultimate Degenerate first appeared on DVD as the headliner of a Something Weird triple feature with The Lusting Hours and In Hot Blood via Image Entertainment, featuring trailers for all three films plus a "Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities." A Thousand Pleasures and the Findlays' earlier Take Me Naked were paired up as a DVD double feature, with trailers (Take Me Naked, Satan's Bed, The Touch of Her Flesh, The Curse of Her Flesh, The Sin Syndicate, and The Ultimate Degenerate), a 30m14s condensed version of the Findlays' Mnasidika, and a 14m49s short version of 1970's Janie co-directed by Roberta (plus the gallery again).

The Blu-ray edition (which comes with a double-sided 11x17 replica one-sheet for both films, a double-sided cover, and three replica 4x6 glossies) features immaculate 4K restorations of the films from their camera negatives, and as excellent as the earlier DVDs looked, these better them with excellent contrast and detail as well as more image info. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 English mono tracks for both sound fine given the extremely basic nature of the source, with optional English SDH subtitles provided. Casey Scott and designated Findlay expert Neil Martinson deliver excellent audio commentaries for both films, laying out the rediscovery of these films via outlets like Sleazoid Express, the backgrounds of the numerous actors (who all use pseudonyms here) and the correct way to pronounce their names, the distinctive inventive touches here compared to the average roughie, the increasingly explicit nature of the sex scenes, the perception of misogyny versus full-tilt insanity here, the process of approaching Roberta about her films, a number of coincidences or quirks of destiny involving people in Michael's circle, the clever integration of stock footage, the crazy screen names for everyone, and of course Michael's life and career including his infamous death by helicopter decapitation in 1977.

Also included are trailers for both films plus The Sin Syndicate, a silent deleted scene (2m33s) from The Ultimate Degenerate, and a 4m58s image gallery of posters, pressbooks, newspaper coverage, and stills. The biggest video extra here is the inclusion of 1966's Take Me Naked as a bonus, taken from the SD master familiar from the DVD (clocking in at 69 minutes on the dot) since usable film elements apparently no longer exist. Reportedly a more-or-less remake of Michael Findlay's 1964 debut Body of a Female, it's presented in the same quality was the DVD release and about as good as it's ever going to get now. Here Roberta steps in the starring spotlight as a frequently unclothed NYC denizen whose apartment becomes the focus of an unstable grizzled bum (Kevin Sullivan) goaded on by long fantasy scenes and a demonic angel played by Michael himself. It's much more of a modest, seedy rough draft by comparison to the main features here but definitely valuable as a snapshot of what the couple was up to before the "Flesh" trilogy. This one also comes with an audio recording of the very first phone interview between Casey Scott and Roberta Findlay; they've since teamed up for audio commentaries but it's a treat hearing the very first time they really talked about her life (including her initial musical aspirations) and her thoughts on her films with plenty about her '70s adult film work and several key titles, some of which she dismisses or dodges.

Take Me Naked

The Ultimate Degenerate (Blu-ray)

The Ultimate Degenerate (DVD)

Reviewed on August 11, 2026