THE GARDENER

Details

• Release Year: 1975
• Genre: Horror
• Plot: Starring Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro in his first non-Factory role and Katherine Houghton (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), The Gardener is a flowery mix of 70s mod-art film, grindhouse horror and Italian giallo along the lines of horror maestros Dario Argento (Suspiria) and Lucio Fulci (The Beyond).; ; Pretty Ellen (Houghton) and her husband John (James Congdon; The Left Handed Gun) have a lovely home in Costa Rica. Ellen spends her days gossiping with her best friend, Helena (Rita Gam; No Exit, Klute). John has a good job, plays golf, and together they host expensive costume parties. All their little upper-class home is missing is a nice garden. Enter the mysterious and handsome Carl (Dallesandro), who has a green thumb and little to say. Shirtless and shoeless, with his long hair and chest bursting with muscles, Carl has the power to make any plant thrive—as well as any woman.; ; Ignoring the warnings of her cook (whose Voodoo knowledge alerts her to Carl's 'unnatural' way with plants), Ellen falls under the sexy and controlling gaze of her new Gardener, as do Helena and Ellen's other women friends. Soon Ellen discovers that her Gardener may be planting his own 'seeds of evil'. ; ; Fifteen years before William Friedkin (director of The Exorcist) planted The Guardian, James H. Kay's The Gardener came to theaters with its fanciful mix of magic flowers, gruesome murder sequences (one nasty one involving a gardening scythe), a butt-naked Dallesandro and psychedelic sets (gotta love those lamp shades), all grooving to a truly 70's soundtrack by composer Marc Fredericks. ; ; Subversive Cinema is proud to present the uncut version of The Gardener, fully restored and containing footage not previously available in the Seeds of Evil release.
• Cast: Katharine Houghton, Joe Dallesandro, Rita Gam, James Congdon, Anne Meacham, Teodorina Bello, Ivan Rodriguez, Esther Mari, Roberto Negron, Hal Lasky, Cass Fry, Robert Yoh, Tanny McDonald, Katherine De Beer, Orlando Rodriguez, Baron De Beer, Janet Gomez, Louis Vigoroux, Jorge Vasquez, Yeyita Cervoni, Irma Torres, Angel Rivera, Maggie Benson, James H. Kay
• Director: James H. Kay
• Runtime: 1:27
• Company: Subversive Cinema
• Media Format: Movie