Beast of the Yellow Night

A bad man makes a deal with the devil to stay alive. His reward a pile of rotten meat and existence. The devil has plans for him. The man must occasionally turn into a beast and reek havoc on the surrounding area. There is another part of the plot, his relationship with his min- skirt wearing wife. He has not treated her well, but because she loves him, she puts up with his inconsistencies, including coming back from the dead in a hospital. He knows that there is no good end, but he has been made invulnerable, so he must carry out the wishes of his master. The problem lies with what the desired end is. When dealing with he devil, we must recognize his powers and, since we don't know how extensive they are, our hero (anti-hero) has no real free will. That's the rub. He meets a snarly old blind man who has a checkered past and philosophizes constantly. The central character would like to die. The interesting thing is that after his resurrection he is a pretty kind man, thoughtful and gracious and caring. I don't know. It's so darned obtuse that I just never got a handle on it.

Beast of the Yellow Night features a hideous man-monster that tears its victims to shreds, but the real horror is a semi-naked Vic Diaz. The rotund Filipino actor appears at the beginning of the film as Satan wearing nothing but a loincloth (my eyes!), promising dying army deserter Joseph Langdon (John Ashley) immortality if he agrees to become a servant of evil. Unperturbed by Vic's lack of clothing, Joseph agrees and is 'reborn' in several bodies over the years, his mission to awaken the evil in the people that he meets. Langdon's latest guise is that of facially disfigured accident victim Philip Rogers, who, having been pronounced dead, amazes everyone by coming back to life with a brand new face (his doctor is so shocked that he promptly has a heart attack).

Phil's sexy blonde wife Julia (Mary Charlotte Wilcox) takes her hubby home but notices that he now behaves rather strangely. But it's not just his personality that has changed: from time to time, Phil/Langdon physically transforms into a horrible bloodthirsty creature with rubber claws and great big jaws.

The first of producer Roger Corman's movies to be shot in the Philippines during the '70s, this clunker from director Eddie Romero is frequently confusing (what Satan has to gain from turning his servant into a killer beast is never explained) and pretty dull for the most part, even when Ashley is in monster mode. There are a couple of brief gory moments (a disembowelment and some slashed faces), and Wilcox sheds her clothes (or her body double does--it's hard to tell), but for the most part the film is painfully slow, especially when the creature is given refuge by an old, blind bandit (an idea lifted from Frankenstein?). The ending sees the monster and the blind man trapped by the army in a burning field of grass, Phil/Langdon finally shot and killed even though he was bullet-proof only moments earlier.

Vic Diaz as the almost comedic Satan lends this Filippino horror film an eccentric flavour that saves it from total oblivion. Ashley isn't bad either as a damned murderer, inhabiting the body of an American businessman, forced by Satan to endure of life of evil, but when guilt gets the better of him, Satan resorts to dirty tricks in order to compel him to serve. The transformation he undergoes to that of a hairy beast with super-human strength causes the local police to suspect they have something out of the ordinary with which to contend.

Ashley plays the tortured soul well enough for the film's limited scope, and he's ably assisted by the statuesque beauty Mary Wilcox as his neglected, but loyal wife. Wilcox has a few risqué scenes in modest attire (although sometimes also clad in a zebra outfit), but it's debatable as to whether that's indeed her in the bizarrely photographed love-making scene. Fans will also recognise the prolific Eddie Garcia as a detective (he also directed), and American Ken Metcalfe ("Up From the Depths") in a minor supporting role playing Ashley's concerned brother.

There's not much horror, and what there is can often be too dark to discern, but the film does improve after a slow start at least achieving mediocre status, including the witty banter of Diaz's omnipotence, and equally, moronic dialogue from the sultry Wilcox. There's a couple of twists (e.g. the banished blind man with whom Ashley forms an alliance) that generate some interest and the climax in the tall grass lends some sympathy to Ashley's condemned character, but don't expect too much for your time.

After recently finding a copy of this on DVD, I brought it home and was amazed to find this was everything I was looking for and a whole lot more. Filmed in the Philippines and directed by Eddie Romero, I was horrified/enlightened by its blasphemous blend of cannibalism, comedy, and deals with the devil gone bad. John Ashley is excellent as one of the most frightening, gruesome, and demented-looking monsters I've ever seen. Entertaining as can be. For me, the only thing scarier than this movie is the fact that I almost never got to see it! Great flick!

Well, you do not have to worry about a yellow night in this film. I was thinking that perhaps there would be a full moon or something giving the night a yellowish tint which unleashes the beast, but no, the only yellow is the smoke that sometimes accompanies Satan when he shows up. This is just one of those films that tries really hard to do something good, but ends up making a film that is a bit confusing as you begin to figure out it is supposed to be kind of like an evil Quantum Leap thing, but you never really know what Langdon the main character of the story is supposed to be doing when he assumes others identities.

The film starts out in a bit of confusing fashion as a man is apparently on the run and a woman is gunned down on the way of bringing him food. He is starving and makes the mistake of eating nearby grapes, which are not actually grapes as they are poisonous. Satan comes along and taunts the man and the man agrees to do Satan's bidding and Satan rewards the man with rotten meat. The man is apparently put into other people's bodies to do stuff and he randomly becomes a monster, but who knows why. The man he is through most of the film has a wife that totally loves him, apparently more than her actual husband and a blind man offers him aid, but can he get out of Satan's clutches!?!

Not all that great, thinking this film was made in the Philippines. The cast is mainly Asian; however, the man guy, his wife and brother are all English actors. The gore in the film is light and revolves around him turning into the monster which is sort of like a werewolf, but not really and there is never a real reason he turns into this beast. Though he is a beast in daytime too, so one of those titles that just does not fit with what is going on.

So, not totally horrible, but too much of the film is a bit lacking in the plot department. Why does the guy even turn into a monster? Has he turned into a monster in any of his other stops in his service to Satan and what exactly is he supposed to be doing in these other bodies? You get some kills and some cool scenes, but not enough to become a good film, just one worth watching to try and figure out what is going on.