5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Returned from the dead to stalk human prey!, November 8, 2005
The name John Ashley may not mean a hill of beans towards the general, cinema going public, but to lovers of schlock films, he's the ginchiest...he started his career at AIP appearing in JD (juvenile delinquent) and beach party films like Dragstrip Girl (1957), Motorcycle Gang (1957), High School Caesar (1960), Beach Party (1963), Muscle Beach Party (1964), later transitioning into horror movies like Frankenstein's Daughter (1958) and The Eye Creatures (1965). In the late 60s he went to the Philippines where he appeared in a series of low budget horror films including Manila, Open City (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Brides of Blood (1968), and it was in 1971, with this film, titled Beast of the Yellow Night (1971), where Ashley, who not only starred, but also began producing, sharing a co-credit with Roger Corman (did I mention Ashley was also an accomplished rockabilly singer?). Appearing with Ashley in Beast of the Yellow Night, written and directed by Eddie Romero (Manila, Open City, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Brides of Blood), is Mary Charlotte Wilcox (Willie Dynamite, Psychic Killer, The Big Bus), Ken Metcalfe (She Devils in Chains, Warriors of the Apocalypse), Andres Centenera (The Big Bird Cage, The Twilight People), Leopoldo Salcedo (Destination Vietnam), Eddie Garcia (Woman Hunt), and Vic Diaz (Night of the Cobra Woman, Black Mama, White Mama, Superbeast).
After a brief introduction from Fred Olen Ray (and Miss Kim), the film begins proper...the year is 1946, and we're in a small town in Southeast Asia. The military is out and about, and look, there's John Ashley, wandering through the jungle, looking pretty ragged. Turns out his character's name is Joseph Langdon, and he's about to die of starvation...that is until Satan (Diaz) shows up, in the guise of a fat, half-nekkid oriental man sporting a nice pair of bazooms. They make a deal (Langdon gets a sack of bloody meat for his soul) , and here's where things get a whole lot more confusing. Langdon is saved, but apparently he's cursed to inhabit bodies of Satan's choosing, for the purpose of awakening the latent evil of those whom he comes into contact with, making him Satan's tool, figuratively speaking. Fast-forward in time to the present (the present being the early 70s), and Langdon is now forced to assume the body of recently deceased, prominent American businessman (and all around a-hole) Phillip Rogers. Well, needless to say, everyone is surprised to see Phillip/Joseph alive, including his wife Julia (Wilcox), and his brother Earl (Metcalfe). Some stuff happens, and Langdon/Rogers begins to develop an identity, to which Satan punishes him by causing him to turn into a cannibalistic beast, one that feeds on others, and then reverts back to human form. The authorities are baffled by the recent spate of mutilated bodies popping up here and there, the trail of blood eventually leading to Langdon/Rogers...I think...I'm unsure, as the story was confusing as hell...
If anything, Beast of the Yellow Night did help to illuminate the burgeoning Filipino movie industry to the outside world, as many saw their film dollars would go a lot farther in the Philippines than in the states (the influx of funds certainly didn't hurt the Philippine economy). As a result, exploitationeers poured in, and soon followed a slew of westernized shlock with an Asian setting, much of it being a strange amalgam of popular genres fused together, creating some really oddball movies, all of which usually had one, common denominator, that being sleaze, which Beast of the Yellow Night has in spades. Your best bet here is not to focus too much on the story, but just go with the flow. Certain aspects do clear themselves up later on within the story, but quite a few don't. The acting, overall, is pretty rotten stuff, especially Wilcox and Metcalfe, with Ashley himself coming across a little better...I think the main problem here was the rancid script...below is a particularly painful exchange between a police lieutenant and a coroner discussing a mutilated corpse, one of Langdon/Rogers first victims;
Police Lieutenant: There must have been some kind of weapon used...nobody could have done that with his bare hands.
Coroner: I don't know Lieutenant, even a weapon has to be handled. What kind of weapon would you need to rip out a man's heart with a single blow?
Police Lieutenant: You're not sure it was a single blow?
Coroner: I wouldn't swear to it...no, not on something as mutilated as that.
Oh bruther...now imagine nearly an hour an a half of that...actually, the Filipino actors came across much better in the movie than did the Americans, only because the Filipinos seemed much more comfortable with the disjointed, English dialog. And that's another thing, the running time...the film was way too long. The filmmakers could have easily cut about fifteen minutes out from various places and had a tighter story, but as it is, the movie feels like a patchwork of material poorly stitched together, about to fall apart at anytime. The editing is pretty hinky, also as throughout there seems to be quite a bit of confusion as to whether it's day or night. Various scenes will begin in the daytime, quickly switching over to night, and vice versa. The movie does have its charms, first and foremost being John Ashley's (who was pushing 40 at the time) monumental mutton chop sideburns. The monster make up wasn't all that bad, but it did have the effect of making Ashley look like a sickly, gray-faced, middle-aged Eddie Munster. If you like the gore, there some to be had here...a few face slashes, and one scene where the monster appears to be feasting on animal entrails placed on top of an elderly man. There's also an strange love sequence where Langdon/Rogers gets his freak on with wife Julia, providing a nice shot of her chestal region, concluding with a not so nice shot of his buttocks...bah...didn't need to see that.
The widescreen (1.85:1), non-anamorphic picture on this Retromedia Entertainement, Inc. DVD release looks decent, but flaws to the source material are noticeable throughout. It wasn't pristine, but then I wasn't expecting it to be...the audio comes through well. There are a number of extra features, including drive-in spots highlighting refreshments available at the concession stand, a trailer for the film, a piece titled `Remembering John Ashley' featuring his wife Jan, Fred Olen Ray, along with Steve and Andrew Stevens all reminiscing about Ashley, and a John Ashley photo gallery, featuring photos and promotional material played against one of Ashley's rockabilly tunes. While I do appreciate Fred Olen Ray and his Retromedia group for digging up these funky, drive-in curios, I wish they'd do a little more with the DVD release in terms of providing time code information on the disc. Normally when a DVD plays, you can see the time progression displayed on the player, but not here. Also, if you stop the film (rather than pausing it), it does not remember where you stopped it, and goes back to the beginning. Perhaps this is an aspect inherent to my DVD player, but I think not. A minor annoyance, I suppose...
Cookieman108
By the way, the credits list John Carradine as being in the film, but I can't recall seeing him...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
So Scary I Couldn't Finish It!, August 20, 2008
Eddie Romero and John Ashley are at it again!! Yup, another goofball Filipino horror flick, this time moving us from Blood Island to an undetermined town in Southeast Asia.
Romero's script is a total mess with a zillion confusing plotholes. I won't even try to describe it all coz it'll make your head hurt trying to analyze it, and a film like this shouldn't require that kind of thinking. All you really need to know is that Ashley plays a rich businessman who has made a deal with the devil to more or less do evil things and bring out the evil in everyone he meets. He starts to develop a conscience about this though. As an added bonus to his curse, he transforms into a wrinkled gray faced monster at night, and in the Lon Chaney, Jr. tradition, goes about slaughtering and eating folks. For s**ts and giggles I suppose. Turning into a monster is a hindrance for Ashley coz it messes up his hair and sideburns. He meets a blind man who might hold the key to freedom.
That's all the plot you really need. If you enjoy the Romero/Ashley team(and who doesn't?), most likely you'll check this out. Unfortunately it isn't as entertaining as the Blood Island films, and tends to drag. Ashley is supposed to be cold and evil, but John Ashley can probably never come across as evil.
The DVD includes an intro to the film done by B movie extraordinaire, Fred Olen Ray. This is also available in the bonus features which doesn't make much sense since it already played before the movie. Plus there are a few vintage Drive-In advertisements and a nice documentary, "Remembering John Ashley" that runs about half an hour.
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