Vapors (1965) User Reviews

First film by a grind house superstar is possibly better than everything else that followed simply because it was closest to his heart

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 30 June 2007]

Milligan's first film is possibly his best. Certainly its one of the few where the technical limitations of his equipment didn't hurt the film (Andy used basically one camera with one lens which could make things cramped) The plot has the meeting of two men in a gay bath house and talking. Very little happens other than other men come and go and you sense the longing and the need to connect to someone like yourself. One of the first films graphically (well for the time) deal with homosexuality as something real and not monstrous this film rattled cages. Very much an independent film, low budget art film this is very different than almost anything else that Milligan did (at least that survives). There is a rawness and a realness that shines through so that even though we know its artificial we can sense the reality behind it. Clearly not for all tastes this is an interesting look for those who like Milligans drek, to see where he started, and its an interesting side note for theater buffs to see one of the footnote founders of off Broadway went off theater.

A humble but heartfelt beginning.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 26 July 2020]

Renowned exploitation favourite Andy Milligan made his feature debut with this short film that works largely due to a degree of intimacy. A lonely gay man, Thomas (Gerald Jacuzzo), checks out an NYC bath house for men, where regulars are quick to tell him the rules. Soon, an enigmatic stranger named Mr. Jaffee (Robert Dahdah) is making overtures of friendship, yet in this short amount of time they are together, they make a connection beyond mere pleasures of the flesh.

All in all, "Vapors" is an effective ode to loneliness. While other regulars come and go, Milligan remains focused on the dialogue and relationship between Thomas and Jaffee, with the latter revealing unhappy details about his life. He's married, and a father, but has fallen out of love with his wife and no longer derives sexual pleasure from being with her (if indeed he ever did). We don't learn so much about Thomas, but no matter. There's still a real poignancy in seeing these two men become acquainted.

While not really "great cinema" (Milligan opts to mostly just "point and shoot"), there is a stark efficiency to it. Milligan does capture the inherent seediness of this place, and the cattiness of the other regulars.

There are two decent performances at the core of the film from Jacuzzo and Dahdah. Milligan aficionados will note the presence of Hal Borske, who later had a role in his familial horror film "The Ghastly Ones", in a supporting role.

All in all, this is not as exploitative as some viewers might think: no violence, not much nudity, and little in the way of objectionable language. Milligan aimed for something a little deeper here, and succeeded pretty well.

Seven out of 10.

Strange and sad

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 17 August 2023]

Vapors was Andy Milligan's first official film. It was first released as an underground gay film in selected art houses in 1965 and to the general public in 1967. Today, it could really play anywhere, not in adults only theaters.

Directed by Milligan and written by Hope Stansbury, all of the interior shots were filmed in a vacant apartment floor on 199 Prince Street in Manhattan, the same apartment building where Milligan lived. The clerk scene was shot in a candy store and the opening exterior shot of the bathhouse was filmed outside the actual St. Marks Bathhouse on 6 St. Marks Place in the East Village, a location famous at the time for hookups when gay sex was illegal in New York City. Keep in mind this was just over fifty years ago.

The entire movie takes place inside the St. Marks Baths, as a young man named Thomas sits on a bed and observes the other men and their personalities. He's joined by an older man named Mr. Jaffe They get pasty their opening lies - Thomas is not a frequent visitor, Jaffe is not a first-timer - and begin to discuss their lives. Jaffe has been married for 19 years and wants nothing to do with his wife any longer. Sixteen years ago, their son drowned and life has never been the same. He sees something of his son in Thomas and has to leave, but promises to send him a gift. The loudness of the baths continues as a paper sunflower arrives for Thomas, who cries upon Mr. Thomas leaving, but is soon greeted by another man who disrobes for anonymous sex with the young man.

This movie feels like a place that I am invading and not just because I am a heterosexual. It's because Milligan has so completely created a privacy between these two men that only they should share and we're just as bad as that peeping tom looking through a hole in the wall. It's fascinating to see this movie, one free from murder and the supernatural, and see where Milligan's movies went after this.

an amazing document!--Andy Milligan at his most Warhol-esque

[django-1 · 9/10 · 26 September 2003]

If I were going to try to convince someone of the value of Andy Milligan's work, VAPORS would be the film I'd show. In fact, I HAVE shown it to a few people over the years with that purpose. It's a gritty 16mm black-and-white feature set in a gay bathhouse and it seems very much like a "small theatre group" play, which makes sense since Milligan himself ran a few such theatre groups. The film transcends the gay aesthetic it represents and is really a meditation on loneliness--gay, straight, or whatever. While the room-tone echo on the recorded sound takes a little getting used to, it should not diminish the quality of the acting, which is quite moving in the case of the two leads. While the late Mr. Milligan was a unique filmmaker, Warhol always seemed to be his main-man artistically, and that's clearer here than anywhere else in Milligan's work. Milligan obviously knew what it meant to be lonely, to be afraid, and to reach out. This beautiful but raw film captures that as well as, for example, any Bergman film or Saul Bellow novel. History will view this film as a pioneering work of cinema. Please be warned, though, that it is NOT for the casual viewer or the viewer who cannot see beyond the film's lack of traditional qualities of slickness and "professionalism." Seeing this on a big screen at the time of its minimal release must have been a revelation!!! If Milligan had never made another film, this would rate him as a major filmmaker in my book.

weird little movie

[bakerjp · 10 January 2001]

You can buy this on the Something Weird label as part of one of their collections of Gay Films from the 60s and 70s.

"Vapors" is about a man's first trip to a gay steam-room. It was banned across America when it came out - it's quite tame by our standards, but does feature a male-male kiss and is very weird. Full of camp little gay men running around being horrible to each other, and a very odd climax involving a paper sunflower and the rhyme "this little piggy went to market". The final scene, which shows a penis coming at the screen was censored with an annoying black line.

The two main characters seem to be more interested in spooking each out than having sex - there's a particularly horrible story about a man's son who died in a lake, while the description of dreams involving women's feet, and the analysis of sanitary pads reveal that these men find the ordinary to be disgusting - of course this is all juxtaposed with the fact that their targets would find going to a gay bathhouse to be disgusting... Interesting all the same.

Transient shadows vanishing into waters of forgetfulness

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 9 November 2017]

"Vapors" is an American 32-minute live action short film from 1965, so this one is already half a century old, a bit more even. Fittingly for its time still, this is a black-and-white movie and even if he did some acting before, here we have the very first filmmaking effort by director Andy Milligan. Not too familiar with him really, but I thought I'd mention. The writer is Hope Stansbury, who adapted her own play for the screen here. Funnily enough, the characters are all male, homosexual males actually, in this bath house set drama movie. It is very dialogue-driven and all about the communication between the protagonists and the quantity increases more and more the longer it goes. Overall, I would not say it is a failure, but the conflict in here aren't on a level either where I really cared for the characters or what is about to happen to them. The cast that does not really include any well-known actors here did not make a great impact either or impress me with their range. That's why, as a whole, I give this little movie a thumbs-down. Very bleak, but not very intriguing. Just too mediocre overall. Watch something else instead.

A compellingly stark and sordid depiction of the 60's New York gay bath house scene

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 13 February 2008]

Awkward young gay man Thomas (an engagingly gawky performance by Gerard Jacuzzo) goes to a bath house and encounters a diverse array of homosexual guys. Thomas strikes up a rapport with the friendly, but frustrated and unhappily married Mr. Jaffee (superbly played with riveting gravitas by Robert Dahdah). Andy Milligan, working from a sharp, bold, incisive script by Hope Stansbury, does an expert job of creating and sustaining an arrestingly gritty and seedy atmosphere while delivering a rough-around-the-edges, yet touching and compassionate cinematic meditation on loneliness and the basic human need for direct emotional contact. This movie boasts several poignant and powerful moments, with Mr. Jaffee's sad monologue about the tragic untimely drowning death of his son rating as a positively gut-wrenching highlight. The first-rate naturalistic acting from a uniformly tip-top cast qualifies as another significant asset: Jacuzzo and Dahdah are outstanding in the leads, with fine support from Hal Borske as the bitter, spiteful Mavis, Hal Sherwood as the effeminate Miss Parrish, Richard Goldberger as the catty Thumbelina, and Ron Keith as an aggressive seducer. Milligan's raw and grainy 16mm black and white hand-held cinematography further adds to the jolting impact and immediacy of this intriguing short feature. Proof positive that Andy Milligan could make a genuinely good picture when given the right material to work with.

This one film proves that Andy Milligan WAS a good director

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 5 June 2011]

Controversial (in its time) 45 minute film. It takes place at a gay bath house. Shy Thomas (Gerald Jacuzzo) goes for his first time. He undresses in his room, puts on his robe and lies down on the bed waiting for a man. In walks older but handsome Mr. Jaffee (Robert Dahdah). The two men are both nervous but start talking and this film turns into an interesting dialogue about loneliness, death and life. We get cuts to outside the room where a bunch of VERY fem gay guys bitch and tear into each other. It all leads to an ending that is both sad and erotic.

Director Andy Milligan is known for his horror movies. They're terrible films with no budget, terrible acting and dime store gore. He was also a gay man and that's probably why he was so good with this film. It dealt with a subject that touched him personally. It was (purportedly) shot in a real bath house which just adds to the mood. The dialogue seems natural and unforced and that's helped immensely by the good acting of Jacuzzo and Dahdah.

SPOILER!If you're afraid of it being too explicit--don't worry. There's only one kiss (one guy kisses another on the forehead) and the last shot (which contains full frontal male nudity) is ridiculously censored. I DON'T think it was purposely done that way. Just before you see everything a man (Matt Baylor) has to offer a ridiculous black bar appears completely covering his penis. I guess that was added when the film was released because back in 1965 male nudity was never shown. Too bad no uncut print seem to exist.

This is available from Something Weird Video as an extra on the DVD with "The Body Beneath". Well worth seeing.

Milligan's First

[Michael_Elliott · 4 September 2015]

Vapors (1965)

*** (out of 4)

Strange but entertaining film takes place in a New York City bath house for homosexuals. One man shows up for the first time not really knowing what to do when he comes across another man who offers up some friendship.

VAPORS is from director Andy Milligan and it was the first film he ever made. The cult director is best remembered for his horror movies and the fact that the majority of them were awful but this early film really shows a different, more serious side. Milligan was a homosexual so I'm sure the material here was a lot closer to his heart than some of the monster movies that he would go onto make. I found the performances here to be rather raw and realistic and I also found the dialogue to be quite good and, again, realistic. This here will mainly appeal to Milligan fans but it's certainly a good little picture.