Is Fleshpot on 42nd Street Trash or Treasure?

Blu Ray Distributed By: Vinegar Syndrome / March 26, 2019

Dusty, a street smart, but desperately unhappy prostitute who works in Times Square, uses her body to survive; seducing, conning, and ripping off her johns. After moving in with Cherry, a cross-dressing male prostitute, Dusty hopes to find more solid financial footing and a stable future in the sex trade, that is, until she meets Bob, a young lawyer who lives on Staten Island, who falls in love with her, and she with him. With a chance to escape her miserable existence becoming a possibility, Dusty starts dreaming of a future she never thought possible. But can she escape her own destiny?

Andy Milligan‘s masterpiece of urban sexual despair, FLESHPOT ON 42ND ST stars Laura Cannon (Forced Entry) in her career performance as Dusty, along side Milligan regular character actor Neil Flanagan, and sex film superstar Harry Reems. Evoking the aesthetics of Paul Morrissey’s work for Warhol as filtered through Cassavetes sobering examinations of loneliness and the working class condition, FLESHPOT remains Milligan’s most powerful and personal film. Only ever available in heavily cut editions sourced from splicy prints, Vinegar Syndrome brings this crucial piece of 70s New York filmmaking to Blu-ray in a brand new 4k preservation of its previously unseen original and painstakingly reconstructed director’s cut, featuring all of its legendary lost footage restored.

Jamie’s Take  (1.5 / 5)

What an odd movie Fleshpot on 42nd Street is. Is it an adult film? Is it a drama? Is it a sex comedy? You could answer no to all of these questions but you could also answer yes as well. Fleshpot really isn’t sure what it wants to be or it doesn’t give a shit what you want it to be. While Fleshpot is a great time capsule into the seedy side of 42nd street in NYC, the movie really offers very little in terms of enjoyment as Fleshpot is a mess in terms of…hell just about everything.

Fleshpot on 42nd Street is directed by Andy Milligan and for those that are not familiar with Milligan’s work, he makes Ed Wood and Hershel Gordon Lewis look like competent film makers. Known mostly for his over the top, cheap horror films like Torture Dungeon, Bloodthirsty Butchers, Guru the Mad Monk and my favorite title, The Rats are Coming! The Werewolves are Here! Milligan’s cheap productions typically come with incompetent acting, cheap effects, and poor production value which has garnered the director a cult following. His movies do appeal to some but you have been warned – these movies are pretty bad and a chore to sit thru. Admittingly I have seen little of Milligan’s films so I may not be the right person to critique his movies such as Fleshpot on 42nd Street. Perhaps I don’t “get it” and that watching characters roam around in poorly lit sets with awful composition where actors heads are cut off is “art.”

Laura Cannon stars as Dusty, a vibrant street hustler who goes from john to john and has sex with men but unknowingly to them, rips them off. We see Dusty steal from Tony (played by Richard Towers from The Last House on the Left) after some quick fuckings and then in the next scene, she strong arms some bald antique dealer who seems to just want to go down on her (kind of strange and I admit I chuckled seeing her rub his balding head while he munched away while looking bored and almost embarrassed) but Dusty mostly spends her time hanging out with her best friend Cherry Lane, a drag queen who seems to mock or bicker with almost everyone in sight. Cherry gets Dusty mixed up with a guy whose into S&M and she has just about had it with men until she meets a nice guy at a bar they frequent (played by Harry Reams, arguably the best actor in adult films as he’s a genuinely good actor). Can Dusty change her ways now that she’s found love? Is this the man for her?

While I appreciate the realism and bleak outcome that takes place with these characters, as well as showing their negative attributes (both Dusty and Cherry are shockingly racist) there isn’t much to see here unless you love watching cheap-o movies made by a crew who can’t seem to frame a shot or light a set to save their life. And for those looking to just see an old school adult film, there is very little sex in this and only one quick scene of penetration. Milligan doesn’t seem interested in making an adult film so unsure what he was aiming for. Fleshpot on 42nd Street feels like a watered down John Waters film. Maybe back in the day it was more shocking to see drag queens or guys turned on by whipping their partner but now it seems old hat.

I will say even though some of these vintage / obscure adult films aren’t really my bag, Vinegar Syndrome’s blu ray transfer is pretty amazing, especially given how poorly damage the film looks (the entire movie is on youtube and looks awful so this transfer is pretty impressive). The movie is presented in both the original 1:37:1 ratio and the 1:85:1 ratio where the original 1:37 does show more privates / bush. I think the 1:85:1 was used for R rated versions as it seems to be zoomed in a little and cuts off parts of the screen. They both look great but if you are watching filth, why do you want to watch clean filth? I like that this other version is available but just stick with the 1:37:1 version.

The audio commentary with film historians and authors Samm Deighan, Heather Drain, and Kat Ellinger is interesting as its an all-female commentary track and given the subject matter, I was not expecting that. They do provide some great insight on Milligan’s work / career but I couldn’t help but think these ladies tried a little too hard to be funny or..how shall I say…hip? Like one of the guys? I don’t know, it’s a good commentary regardless and just to get a commentary on any of these old smut films is a plus.

I got a kick out of seeing NYC from the past and NYC now, one of the few special features on the disc. Wow what a difference. The locations are very different and I admit I was a little sad to see shady NYC now Disney-fied. I groaned when it showed an old movie theater marquee that was playing Blood and Black Lace and then showing the same theater playing Happy Death Day 2. Sigh…I’ll refrain from my rant about modern movies, especially since I was not very fond of this dreck.

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

Jamie says: Dumpster Fire!

Jamie's Take:	(1.5 / 5)
Blu-ray Extras:	(2.5 / 5)
Average:	(2.0 / 5)

Special Features:

• Region Free Blu-ray/DVD combo
• Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 16mm camera reversal
• Two different viewing options: the director’s intended 1.37:1 framed presentation or the 1.85:1 theatrical framing.
• Audio commentary with film historians and authors Samm Deighan, Heather Drain, and Kat Ellinger
• Locations ‘then and now’ featurette
• Reversible cover artwork
• English SDH subtitles