User Reviews

"The Beast of the Yellow Night" is nothing more then your average shape-shifter film. Barrowing ideas from classic werewolf style movies, A man is staring death in the face, but has an opportunity to live once again. He has a visit from Satan himself, and makes a deal to sell him his soul for life. Now the Devil's slave he must find new followers for his new master. Unfortunately this is done by transforming into a hairy green beast. (who reminds me of the aliens in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) As he returns to his normal life he begins the well known inner struggle with his alter form. But unlike most films that do this there is very little struggle, he sort of goes into this depression where he just wants to die, and doesn't care about his life. Such as when he awakens from a transformation and simply walks around town with a blood stained shirt. I found this idea interesting as I've never noticed this element so vividly put in a film like this. The acting is of course poor, but what really upsets is the transformation. There's only one, at the very end of the movie, which is done in such an outdated fashion, that was done better in the 40s. Lighting problems occurred often and it was difficult to see characters faces, this helped with the beast's imagery, but fails when applying it to normal characters. The representation of Satan though in my opinion is decently done. He doesn't necessarily have a solid state he stays in the whole film. He alters from a man, to a sort of brown mist form. The mist forms around animals and such in some scenes, applying Satan is every where, and him no necessarily be the snake or lion we think him to be. With absolutely no sub-plots or anything close and holes in the story, the film is really affected. 3/10

Eddie Romero directing and John Ashley starring? That was all I really needed to know. Man, anything remotely connected with these two - like the Blood Island films - and I'm ready to go.

This was also the first release for Roger Corman's distribution company New World Pictures. After successfully distributing Beast of Blood in 1970, Kane W. Lynn's Hemisphere Pictures tried to get the distribution rights to this, but got cut out of the deal.

Ashley's new company, Four Associates Ltd. went on to produce The Twilight People, The Woman Hunt and Ebony, Ivory & Jade. As for Lynn, he worked with Sam Sherman to make Brain of Blood. Me? I'm happy all around at whatever these maniacs decided to make.

While Ashley would say that this was the most cerebral of the Philippines-based horror movies he made - and its success led to Corman making more movies there like The Big Doll House - Eddie Romero would say, "We really tried for quality. I don't think it did very well. They prefer out and out gore."

As World War II ends, Satan himself - Vic Diaz from Night of the Cobra Woman spares Joseph Landgon's (Ashley) life, if he becomes his disciple. So over the next 25 years, Langdon possessed people and forces them to do the bidding of his dark master.

However, he wants to free himself from the Lord of the Flies, but instead becomes a hairy monster who could pretty much be a werewolf. He's in the body of Phillip Rogers now and that man's wife tries to save him. An old blind bandit named Sabasas finally saves him, asking him to pray for his soul just as an inspector catches up to him and shoots our - well, I guess he isn't the hero - turning him into an ancient corpse.

Mary Charlotte Wilcox, who plays the wife, is also in the absolutely bonkers film, Love Me Deadly, which I love me dearly. She also shows up in Psychic Killer, Black Oak Conspiracy, Strange Brew and was a cast member of SCTV and Maniac Mansion.

Once he moved back to America, Ashley produced The A-Team. In one episode, he plays a movie producer trying to get a movie made. That movie? Beast of the Yellow Night.

I'll give this film credit for one thing. It sure has a cool house for its married couple (John Ashley and Sharon Wilcox), one that both James Bond and Matt Helm would be envious of. Other than that, this doll supernatural horror film has little to offer other than some silly looking makeup for Ashley when he is in his werewolf mode, looking like a teen knock off costume of Michael Jackson's thriller video. In fact, the makeup for the bluish werewolf get up is a combination of Jackson and Papa Smurf.

There is also a very hammy performance by Vic Diaz as a portly Satan, determined to gain his latest victim's soul by having him come out hiding, taking over Ashley's life and commit all sorts of evil deeds. A blind convict whom Ashley encounters while hiding out after committing a bunch of hideous murders (which are gory, not scary) try to provide a moral for the film, but the dialogue is ridiculously silly and the pacing of the film is painfully slow. Diaz's resemblance towards a certain Asian dictator adds irony, but that is completely accidental considering that this was made nearly 50 years before that leader came along.

For horror fans the name John Ashley means one thing and that's the series of films he made in the Philippines on low to know budget with the most gruesome names and images used for ad campaigns ever seen. BEAST OF BLOOD and MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND come to mind immediately. But among the many movies he made in the Philippines there was one that was a solid horror film and thought provoking as well and that was THE BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT.

Opening in WWII we find Joseph Langdon (Ashley) trying to survive after being hunted down as a traitor. Willing to do anything to survive he's approached by Satan (Vic Diaz) who will help him in return of his soul. Langdon agrees and is soon put to use by Satan who has more nefarious plans for him.

Over the next 25 years Satan inserts Langdon into various bodies to do his will until he ends up in the body of Philip Rogers. His face scarred in an accident and with doctors saying he doesn't have long to live his wife Julia (Mary Charlotte Wilcox) and brother Earl (Ken Metcalfe) arrive at the hospital to see him recovered. When the bandages are removed from his face he now appears as Langdon, explained by the damage in the accident.

Rogers/Langdon also has a new attitude towards life, making up with the wife that he neglected for years and eliminating the board of directors of his company. But it's all short lived and in reality a way for Satan to attempt to gain access to more souls. He soon tells his brother that he plans on divorcing his wife knowing he'll be bored with her and suggest that he step in to comfort and marry her since he's had a thing for her for years. The hope is this will make both of their souls prime targets.

But Julia doesn't give up easily on her husband and she supports him in everything he does. In an attempt to force him to do more damage, Satan turns Rogers/Langdon into a werewolf who prowls the streets by night killing those he comes across. Unlike the villagers seen in many European movies the villagers here are having none of it and try and stop him, forcing him to seek sanctuary in an old warehouse. There he meets Sabasas Nan (Andres Centenera), a once feared crime boss who is now old, blind and at ease having settled his debts and cleansed his soul. This gives Langdon hope that he can do the same. But will he be able to do so or will Satan force him to continue on the only life he's known for the past 25 years?

In all honesty while I was aware of these Philippines based films the only one I'd ever had a chance to see before was TWILIGHT PEOPLE and it was always a favorite of mine more because of memories it stirred than how great it was. But it was an entertaining film that I still enjoy. So I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. I was pleasantly surprised to find it more thought provoking than one would think considering the budget was so low.

It was also my first exposure to Ashely in these films and he does a great job here, another thing that caught me off guard. Even more surprising was the performance of Vic Diaz as Satan. I'd seen him in numerous films throughout the years but always in more cardboard cutout type roles. He presents a wonderful Satan here more cunning and conniving than frightening in a visual sense.

The entire film turned out to be a movie I enjoyed from start to finish, passing what I call the fast forward test. I call it that because there are times when watching movies that you feel compelled to press that fast forward button when a film bogs down or gets boring. That never happened with this one.

VCI has done a great job with the film too. This is no cheap knock off edition of the film with a scratched print, terrible sound and no extras. They've done a nice transfer here with a great picture with a 2K restoration from the 35mm picture negative and archival print. Extras include a new audio commentary track with film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, a video interview with director Eddie Romero, a tribute John Ashley, expanded interviews with the cast and crew taken from Mark Hartley's 2010 documentary Machete Maidens Unleashed!, TV spots and trailers and reversible alternate cover art for the sleeve.

During the 10-year period 1968-'77, Filipino director Eddie Romero collaborated with American actor John Ashley on no less than 10 motion pictures. First up was the little-seen "Manila, Open City," to be quickly followed by the so-called Blood Island trilogy ("Brides of Blood," "The Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and "Beast of Blood"), and then the film in question here, "The Beast of the Yellow Night" (AND, later on still, films with such titles as "The Twilight People," "The Woman Hunt," "Beyond Atlantis," "Savage Sisters" and "Sudden Death"). Nowhere near as pulpy or as fun as the Blood Island trilogy, "TBOTYN" is something of a labor to sit through, sports a confused and confusing story line, and never adequately answers a good number of questions that the film itself raises. In it, Ashley plays a U.S. Army deserter named Joseph Langdon, who, when we first encounter him in the jungles of southeast Asia in 1946, is fleeing from his pursuers and near death. He is saved by a portly, acerbic sort of fellow, who the viewer soon divines to be no less a figure than Satan himself (amusingly portrayed by the great Filipino mainstay Vic Diaz), and gives up his eternal soul in return for his salvation. Flash forward 25 years, and we find Langdon's soul inhabiting the body of wealthy industrialist Philip Rogers, who, after a disfiguring accident, awakens with Langdon's precise facial features (at least, this is what I THINK happens here). Langdon's mission: to bring out the latent evil in the man he is inhabiting. The problem: Rogers' hotty wife, Julia (well played by yummy Mary Wilcox, whose work I had recently enjoyed is such psychotronic winners as the woefully underrated "Love Me Deadly" and the shlocky thrill ride ""Psychic Killer"), whom he becomes understandably attracted to. The even bigger problem: Langdon/Rogers' tendency to morph into a hideous-looking, gut-ripping, indestructible monster at the most inopportune moments....

Regarding those monstrous transformations, screenwriter/director Romero leaves it pretty unclear WHY Langdon/Rogers is being punished by Satan in this manner...unless it has something to do with the character going near a church, or making love to a woman, or feeling any sort of decent, human emotions. Who knows? Again, why is the monster made suddenly vulnerable to bullets at the film's end, after being invincible up till that point? Just because he said a prayer for a dying blind man? Who can say? And while I'm posing some imponderables, what's up with the film's title, anyway? The only "yellow" on display in this film are the ocher-colored vapor swirls that sometimes surround Satan when he manifests himself. Could that be it? Anybody's guess. Besides these instances of fuzzy writing, "TBOTYN" gives us the usually likable Ashley in a fairly wooden performance, some unimaginative lensing by Romero, and few if any scares or even moments of suspense, even though there are, surprisingly, numerous scenes involving blood and guts on display. On the plus side, these Filipino horror pictures always feature interesting-looking, exotic locales, and this one is no exception, although it might have been nice if Romero had managed to squeeze in a few more gorgeous Filipino women as additional eye candy (as he did, for example, in my favorite picture of his, 1973's "Black Mama, White Mama," a distaff "Defiant Ones" starring Pam Grier). The film gives us one excellent performance, at least: Leopoldo Salcedo as Inspector Santos, the head cop trying to hunt down the maniacal killer; Salcedo underplays nicely and invests his cop with a good deal of dignity and smarts. Another plus: the memorable and at times lovely score by Nestor Robles; how strange to find such a nice piece of music in this film, of all films! And as for this DVD itself, from the fine folks at RetroMedia, it sports a decent-looking (though far from pristine) print of the film, and comes with a number of interesting "extras." In the one called "Remembering John Ashley," Ashley's widow, Jan, as well as director Fred Olen Ray and some of Ashley's other friends, reminisce about the man and his work; this "extra" is, I hate to admit, far more interesting than the film itself. "The Beast of the Yellow Night" is not quite (as they would say in Tagalog) "walang kwenta," but it sure does come close!

This might merit your time if you've got nothing else to do, but with thousands of other films out there, why bother? After making a deal with the devil, businessman Joseph Langdon (John Ashley) turns into a version of the Wolf Man, interesting in itself because he also turns into a guy named Philip Rogers as well. There's a bit of the Incredible Hulk that's part of the transformation, as emotional stress seems to bring out the hairy side of Joseph/Phillip's personality. The makeup work appears adequate at times but not entirely consistent, and true horror fans looking for a frightful experience might feel slighted. There is one reason you might tune in, and that's for the few brief appearances of Mary Charlotte Wilcox as Phillip Rogers' wife. Very appealing to the eye, but it's not enough to carry the story. The title of the film holds promise, but ultimately it's a letdown. Try something else, why don't you?

In post-WWII Philippines, Joseph Langdon (John Ashley) is on the run, being hunted as a traitor. About to die and unable to go on, he suddenly sees the image of Satan. He's offered his life in return for his service. Years later, a man named Philip Rogers (again, John Ashley) wakes in the hospital, covered in bandages. When the bandages are removed, the face is not that of Rogers, but Langdon. Satan wants him to turn others to his side. But when Landon has second thoughts, he's turned into a snarling beast, only capable of killing and devouring those he comes into contact with. At least I think this is the basic plot. Who knows and who cares?

In all honestly, Beast of the Yellow Night isn't really all that good and I've probably overrated it. But it did have some things I enjoyed. I found the plot concept surprisingly ingenious. I never expected this level of creativity in a Filipino exploitation movie. Not that they had the money to effectively pull it off, but the idea was good. The budget limitations are especially noticeable when it comes to the monster make-up. Cheap is an understatement. I know this may sound contradictory, but, other than the monster make-up/mask, the other low-budget effects actually work in the film's favor. When Langdon rips open a body, for example, the effects have a real disturbing quality to them.

As for the acting, Vic Diaz, who I believe is in every Filipino movie I've seen, is a hoot in Beast of the Yellow Night. His laughing, happy Satan is the real star of the movie. Not what I expected from Diaz. Ashley does quite good also. His understated delivery works given his characters predicament. The lovely Mary Wilcox plays Rogers' wife, Julia. For some reason that makes no rational sense, Julia agrees to sleep with Langdon/Rogers though he looks nothing like her husband and is possessed by Satan. Still, it wouldn't be a Filipino exploitation/horror movie without the requisite sex scene.

This has a cult following. So I had to watch it, okay, again low budget and acting was also low profile. Someone eating some weird fruit was saved by Satan. End of plot. The main actor (John Ashley) really makes it all a bit weird to believe. His acting, although he appeared in a lot of movies, is terrible. When he is changing into the beast the make up is laughable and reminded me of Michael Jackson nowadays. Really. The movie is slow but has his gore moments and that's the main reason it became cult. It was not done in those days and made by Philippines it was surely not done. It has taken some years to release it, but now you can find it full uncut on DVD. Many will know it simply by the name Beast, now released under Beast of the yellow night due to the, of course, yellow haze.

This is another of those bottom of a double bill $1.50 exploitation trifles that was given a fun title to match its (usually far superior) main attraction.

In any case Joseph Langdon(John Ashley) is a career criminal, who finds himself dying in the jungle. A mysterious stranger offers to save his rotten life, in exchange for unquestioned servitude. Some marble mouthed whining and a bag of rotten meat later, the deal is sealed.

Langdon comes to as formerly injured businessman Philip Rogers, with a whole new life, a thriving business empire and a buxom blonde wife, Julia (Mary Charlotte Wilcox).

Seems like a pretty sweet deal, until Phillip woodenly marches to the (correct) conclusion that his benefactor is Satan himself (Vic Diaz) and his new eternal mission is to awaken the latent evil in the folks he comes across. Philip can be harmed, but cannot die in the process.

The thing is, Philip/Joseph royally sucks at it. While he's making stroke victim face and spouting platitudes that would make a college kid who just discovered the writing of Dylan Thomas blush, he not only fails at any actual evil.....but makes poor Julia fall in love with him again (perhaps she has a fetish for monotones).

The Devil is indeed in the details, so hydrogenated Satan adds a bonus to the deal. Since his protégé sucks at evil in human form, Philip becomes a mauling monster at night, with a face that looks like it was made out of a Vogon's armpit putty. The silly putty changes color randomly throughout the film from brown, to gray, to green-ish. I'm assuming it depends on which classic movie monster the barely gore producing killings and mannerisms are being stolen from in that instance.

In any case, there's lots of boring speechifying about good and evil, one really awkwardly shot sex scene, and a random as can be blind man who tries to help our tortured "hero" out of the various predicaments a demonic Silly Putty monster can get into on a day to day basis.

Said random blind man then tries to help mush mouth find a place to hide until he can break the Devil's pact, Julia nearly gets murdered, and the kind sightless stranger gets killed for his trouble by police looking for Joseph/Phillip.

However, since monster mash and his monstrous alter ego are still capable of feeling expressionlessly sad over the kind helper's death magically breaks the vow.....and finally our protagonist takes a bullet. Joseph can finally die in peace, and pieces.

Some more psychobabble, and roll end credits.

Director Eddie Romero has produced some enjoyably trashy romps,had obviously had a good handle on the genre given the length of his career, and why he thought an exploitation film was an excellent platform for half baked philosophical and ethical lessons is beyond me.

One star for Vic Diaz being his delightful self and scenery chewing through Satan's silly dialog with wickedly smarmy abandon and half open shirts. Fast forward to his scenes, as they are the best part of the film.

One star for a slightly past her prime Mary Wilcox being quite attractive, pending the degree of camera angle.

The rest is dull as dishwater.

Definitely this film won't win any awards but it's not boring.

**SPOILERS** The plot is different than you may have heard: A criminal (Langdon) is shot down and dies, but his spirit is reincarnated into the body of a business tycoon (Philip)who has died in the hospital. Satan has done this in exchange for Langdon's soul, and the devil expects Langdon to tempt more humans to evil. Meanwhile, Langdon/Philip changes into a flesh-eating monster when he gets stressed.

Eddie Romero has written a doozy. Philip's wife, who was previously disaffected with her husband, now adores the "new" Philip. Langdon, however, tries to pawn off his wife onto his brother, to keep her far from his deal with Satan and the monster side also. The monster stalks through the city several times and there is lots of pummeling, blood, and entrail-eating.

The monster can be hurt but not killed, and it wanders into an open store one night after sustaining injury from police, on the alert from previous attacks. A blind man meets the monster and hides him overnight, then tends to Langdon. Interestingly, the blind man is a famous criminal from Langdon's era, and the two form a bond both man-to-man and man-monster (imitating the Frankenstein connection somewhat).

The dialogue is bad quite a lot, but some of it is very philosophical, especially in explaining Langdon's dilemma: he wants to die but Satan won't let him. The dialogue between Philip and his wife is better, though the acting is pathetic there.

Monster fans will enjoy this. The makeup isn't the greatest but is effective. The chase scenes are not long drawn-out affairs, and there are enough twists to keep it going.