Twilight People (1972)

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Good concept, poorly executed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Diver Matt Farrell (John Ashley in sturdy macho form) gets abducted by mad scientist Dr. Gordon (a nicely sinister portrayal by Charles Macauley), who wants to create a race of genetically superior beings. Farrell joins forces with Gordon's daughter Neva (the comely and appealing Pat Woodell) and the doctor's grotesque half-man, half-animal hybrid creatures in order to escape from Gordon's evil clutches. Handled with jaw-dropping seriousness by Filipino trashmeister supreme Eddie Romero, this gloriously ludicrous howler offers a hysterical wealth of deliciously cheesy delights: We've got a doomed would-be poignant romance between the wolf woman and the antelope man, Jan Merlin camping it up as sadistic flunky Steinman, an amorous apeman who tries to force himself on Neva, funky-groovy music that sticks out like a sore thumb, 70's blaxploitation goddess Pam Grier as the ferocious panther woman, and, best of all, a ridiculous batman beast complete with big bushy sideburns who even flies thanks to some shoddy (far from) special effects. Fredy Conde's lush color cinematography makes the most out of the breathtaking tropical scenery. An absolute schlocky hoot.

From director Eddie Romero (AKA Enrique Moreno), the Filipino exploitation filmmaker behind jungle classics like "Black Mama White Mama" and "Savage Sisters" comes this very silly, but very entertaining ripoff of H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau." A scuba diver is snatched out of the water and and finds himself on an island where a mad scientist has created monstrous half-man/half-animal creatures. The Moreau figure rules over his beasts with an iron fist, and as you'd expect, they rebel against him in a violent bloody fashion. It's all amateurishly made and certainly made on the cheap, but it is entertaining. To add to the enjoyment level of this nonsense is Pam Grier in a before-she-was-famous role as the "Panther Woman." Certainly not a good film, but I was entertained.

I thought this film was fun. It's astounding to see Pam Grier as Panther Woman when you're used to seeing her all glammed up and gorgeous. The noises her character makes I'm sure aren't her, but they are still great noises. I wonder if they actually recorded a real panther snarling.People say that the makeup is really bad, but I thought it was really good. At least on the faces it was good. The rest of the body was pretty bad. For example, a wolf girl who is totally hairy all over her head and face, but has no hair anywhere else. The same goes for the ape man. I guess the costume designers were trying to show that they were actually half human/half beast. But it still looked a little hokey. Especially seeing Bat Man's wings were only attached to him at his shoulders and not anywhere on his sides or armpits. How does that work? I never took physics, but that just doesn't make sense.The plot is pretty good, not too dull. I liked the first scene when the man is skin diving and gets reeled up by the ankles. It looks like it would have hurt a lot! It's not like he was wearing socks or anything.I thought the militant, creepy, macho guy was a good character, especially since they hinted at him being attracted to men. The man appears to be incredibly masculine and macho, but he can't hide his attraction to men, though he denies it. I thought his character was a good stray from the stereotypical gay man. Why not have a gay character be ultra masculine for a change? Crush the stereotypes, I say. And did you see how straight and white his teeth were? Wow, that actor should have been in a Colgate commercial!The daughter character sure gets thrown around a lot. It seems everyone wants to push her around. She's so skinny and frail, I was surprised she didn't get hurt more often. She had a cool face, though. Mysterious, pale with dark features. Not the best actress or character, but she had really nice hair, if that makes a difference...Really the best parts of the movie begin well over half-way through it. You get to see the animal-people come out and strut their stuff. How the daughter isn't freaked out by these monsters, I don't know. I'd have been running through that jungle the second Pam Grier gave her first howl. Those beasts were pretty freaky looking! Plus, how often do antelope actually LIKE wolves? In reality, wolves eat antelope, don't they? All it takes is a little human blood to get those primal enemy feelings to go away, right?If you want to see this movie, just fast forward through the first 45-55 minutes. It's not worth it. You'll be better off watching the last half hour and nothing else. Ape Man's disjointed moves and Panther Woman's licks and howls will be all you need to get this films best features.

Pretty damn boring, if this movie is any indication! The only reasons to see this movie are the goofy bat-man (in a memorable flying sequence) and the goddess herself, Pam Grier, as a laughable panther-woman. Otherwise, avoid at all costs!