According to the opening crawl accompanying the Blu-ray, Toga Party was originally filmed as a softcore comedy called Pelvis. Distributor William Mishkin then changed the title to Toga Party to cash in on the popularity of Animal House and hired Andy Milligan to shoot some new inserts to spice things up. The original cast, unaware of the new scenes, caused an uproar at the premiere, and the film faded into obscurity.
Farm boy Pervis (Luther “Bud” Whaney) leaves home to go to New York and become a country star. He only has one song (about fucking a chicken) and can’t seem to get his foot in the door. Eventually, he becomes a singing sensation, but drugs threaten to derail it all. Fortunately for Pervis, his gal from back home, Betty Lou (Mary Jenifer Mitchell) shows up to snap some sense into him. Porn star Bobby Astyr (the only actor who appears in both the new and old footage) stars in the Milligan-lensed framing sequences as Pervis’ former manager, Snake who reminisces about Pervis during the titular toga party.
The cast of the original film, Pelvis might’ve been upset that the newly shot material sucked, but it’s honestly just as bad as the old footage. There’s just enough toga partying in the new scenes to justify the title, but it’s all ill-fitting to say the least. It’s obvious this was a hatchet job as the linking material to the new and old footage is tenuous at best. The new scenes have an OK amount of T & A, although that’s about all it has going for it. (Comedy is not Milligan’s strong suit.)
The old footage is often a chore to sit through. The humor is lame, forced, or just plain unfunny. If you laugh at pie fights, fast-motion chase scenes, and Wizard of Oz references you may enjoy it, but it’s all pretty dire for the most part. (I did like the Iron Eyes Cody gag though.) It doesn’t help that Pelvis’ faux-Elvis demeanor is paper-thin and can’t sustain an entire movie (or even half of one). Heck, the movie is so bad, it can’t even manage to play out the tried-and-true rise-and-fall-of-a-popstar cliches in a coherent manner.
Milligan Motifs: Since Milligan was only responsible for the wraparound sequences, there’s none of his typical touches here.
Milligan Stock Players: Milligan mainstay Hal Borske appears in one of the Milligan-shot scenes.
AKA: Pelvis. AKA: Disco Madness. AKA: All Dressed in Rubber.
Well folks, we’ve finally reached the end of Milligan March. (I’ve been running late posting these reviews as I took a little sabbatical from reviewing over Spring Break.) Here is my ranking of the Milligan movies I’ve seen:
MILLIGAN MARCH MADNESS RANKING
1. Fleshpot on 42nd Street ***
2. Nightbirds ***
3. Blood ** ½
4. Seeds ** ½
5. The Man with 2 Heads ** ½
6. The Body Beneath ** ½
7. Carnage **
8. Vapors **
9. Legacy of Blood * ½
10. Torture Dungeon * ½
11. Bloodthirsty Butchers * ½
12. The Ghastly Ones *
13. Guru the Mad Monk *
14. Toga Party *
15. The Rats are Coming-The Werewolves are Here NO STARS
Next (this) month’s theme will be another crossover with the Tubi Continued… column. It’s called Amityville April. I’ll be trying to watch and review all the fake (and maybe a few official) Amityville movies Tubi has to offer. See you then…
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