The Twilight People | |
---|---|
Directed by | Eddie Romero |
Produced by | John Ashley |
Starring |
John Ashley Pat Woodell Jan Merlin Pam Grier |
Distributed by | Dimension Pictures |
Release date
|
1972 |
Country |
Philippines United States |
Budget | $150,000 |
The Twilight People is a 1972 Filipino-American horror film. It starred John Ashley and in an early film appearance, Pam Grier.
While diving, Matt Farrell (Ashley) is kidnapped by Neva Gordon (Pat Woodell) and Steinman (Jan Merlin) and taken to an island where Neva's father Dr. Gordon (Charles Macaulay) is experimenting, trying to make a "super race" by combining humans and animals. His creations are Ayesa the Panther Woman (Grier), Kuzma the Antelope Man (Ken Metcalfe), Darmo the Bat Man (Tony Gosalvez), Primo the Ape Man (Kim Ramos) and Lupa the Wolf Woman (Mona Morena). Another creation, Doro the Boar Man, is shot down by Steinman while trying to flee early in the film. Dr. Gordon wants Farrell to be one of his upcoming experiments, but Neva begins to doubt her fathers' work after a botched experiment on another test subject, Juan Pereira (Eddie Garcia). After she is splattered with blood during the surgery, Neva decides to help Farrell and the animal people escape. As Steinman and his men hunt them down, Ayesa turns completely savage and is killed. A fierce gun battle begins, and Farrell kills Steinman. Most of the other animal people are also killed, except Darmo, who is now able to fly and returns to the compound to attack Steinman's men. Dr. Gordon tries to escape, but is confronted and killed by the tree woman who used to be his wife. At the end, Farrell and Neva watch as Darmo flies off.
The film was originally made for New World Pictures, then run by Roger Corman and Lawrence Woolner. Corman, Wollner and actor/producer Ashley came up the idea of making a modern-day version of The Island of Dr Moreau. When Corman and Woolner decided to dissolve their partnership, Woolner took Twilight People to his new company, Dimension Pictures. The film's budget was $150,000.
The film was very popular and remained one of Ashley's favorites.