Having left Andy Warhol's 'factory', model turned actor Joe Dallesandro appeared in this rather weird horror film in which he plays the titular gardener, Carl, who is hired by wealthy housewife Ellen Bennett (Katharine Houghton) to work his horticultural magic on her garden (oo-err!). Carl's amazing flowers seem to exert a strange influence over Ellen, who eventually begins to suspect that there is something sinister about her new employee. She investigates and discovers that Carl's previous employers have either gone crazy or died. It eventually turns out that her gardener is a tree (which might explain Dallesandro's wooden acting!).
Not in the slightest bit scary, but possessing of an eerie atmosphere, this film largely exists to exploit Dallesandro's sex appeal, the actor shirtless for the entire film, and in the buff for several scenes. The rest of the cast acquit themselves well enough, with Rita Gam stealing the show as Ellen's best friend Helena, who would like the green-fingered hunk to tend to HER herbacious borders. Not a great film, with a bit too much talk and not enough horror, its obscurity is understandable, but it's worth a go if you're looking for something a little off the beaten (garden) path.
Not in the slightest bit scary, but possessing of an eerie atmosphere, this film largely exists to exploit Dallesandro's sex appeal, the actor shirtless for the entire film, and in the buff for several scenes. The rest of the cast acquit themselves well enough, with Rita Gam stealing the show as Ellen's best friend Helena, who would like the green-fingered hunk to tend to HER herbacious borders. Not a great film, with a bit too much talk and not enough horror, its obscurity is understandable, but it's worth a go if you're looking for something a little off the beaten (garden) path.