The Gardener

Joe Dallesandro

Subversive Cinema

Aka Seeds of Evil

R1 DVD

The Gardener also known as Seeds of Evil is a very quirky film. It ranges from what could be best described as a erotic psychic fantasy focused on the barely dressed Joe Dallesandro, to reflections on the bane of married life and an overworked partner ! The conclusion is fittingly bizarre, the soundtrack is quintessentially Seventies and the plot is totally over the top.

The story centres on, your guessed it, a gardener. But not any gardener, this gardener is beautiful, wears very tight fitting pants and walks around looking and acting like a male model each day, with brooding glances and little to say ! Yet he creates a garden nobody can believe, filled with rare plants, exotic species and even flowers way out of season. Ellen meets Carl the gardener when visiting the home of a newly-deceased friend and being bowled over by her exotic garden decides to give him the chance to work the same magic in her back yard. While her friend drools over the gardeners looks, Ellen can only think about the flowers !

The next day monosyllabic Carl shows up wearing the exact same thing he was the day before, a pair of skin-tight pants, flexing his chest muscles he accepts the job. The garden begins to flower with unusual blossoms and blooms and all seems more than dandy. But Ellen’s house staff are rather paranoid to say the least, they don’t like Carl and believe he has an unnatural affinity with plants.

Ellen realizes too late that Carl is some sort of Green man or nature spirit who destroys those who reject him, even his plants attack those he does not like. Everyone who has rejected him either dies or goes mad. The film climaxes in a purely psychedelic manner with Carl becoming a tree (!) and Ellen setting it on fire. Not before some strange editing where Carl seems to loose his pants mid-stride when escaping from Ellen armed with a pistol !

Why was this made ? To tap into the green hippie market, to exploit the good looks but lackluster acting skills of Joe Dallesandro post Andy Warhol, who knows ? In any event this is a very enjoyable and fun romp. It has everything to make it a real cult classic and here it is, lovingly restored and uncut. Awesome ! Enjoy it ! I did !

There are some great extras including a couple of solid featurettes: Planting the Seeds of Evil and Million Dollar Dream, the second of which explores how to market a low budget film. There are commentaries by director James H. Kay and Joe Dallesandro and Subversive Cinema president Norman Hill, Cast & Crew bios, a still gallery and Subversive Cinema trailers