Director: Val Guest
Writer: Nigel Kneale (Screenplay)
Starring: Forrest Tucker, Peter Cushing, Maureen Connell, Richard Wattis, Robert Brown, Michael Brill, Wolfe Morris
Plot: A kindly English botanist and a gruff American scientist lead an expedition to the Himalayas in search of the legendary Yeti.
Tagline – Demon-prowler of the mountain shadows…Dreaded man-beast of Tibet…The terror of all that is human
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Classic Hammer Horror
Story: The Abominable Snowman when an English botanist working in Tibet Dr Rollason (Cushing) decides to join forces with gruff American explore Tom Friend (Tucker) as they lead an expedition into the Himalayas in search for a Yeti.
What the small group discovers will put them all to the test as they never imagined they would come face to face with a monster this big, the race to survive against the unkillable monster is on.
Thoughts on The Abominable Snowman
Characters – Dr Rollason is an English botanist that has worked hand in hand with the Lhama in a small Tibetan village, he has built up an honest relationship over his time, though he has been waiting for the chance to go on his own expedition in search for a yeti. He is the one that knows how the danger could cost them their lives and is willing to accept just seeing one rather than catching one. Tom Friend is a hunter that has a reputation of being able to capture the unknown creatures, he wants to capture the Yeti to prove he is the best too. Helen is the Doctor’s wife, she joins him on the expedition, while making sure he doesn’t get involved in the climbing side, she isn’t happy that he choices to go on this latest one. Peter is the pure upper-class English man that looks down on everyone and wants out of Tibet as soon as possible, he doesn’t go on the expedition, though he aims to talk Helen into not following her husband.
Performances – Peter Cushing the hammer horror icon is wonderful in the leading role, with Forrest Tucker going hand in hand with Cushing playing the opposite which makes us see the tension between them. The rest of the cast are giving the basic performance without having too much to do.
Story – The story follows a team that head into the Himalayas in search of a yeti, what they end up finding will put their lives in danger as they are not prepared for what they have come up against. In traditional Hammer Horror style we go through the idea of people’s greed going to take over sensible nature, while trying to prove another species is alive only undiscovered. This is simple enough to follow and the clash in the two leads ideas does get the payoff required for the discovery the two make through the film.
Adventure/Horror – The adventure side of this movie comes from the ideas of how the expedition takes place showing us just how exploring the Himalayas could be. The horror fits into a classic monster from stories, both real and fictional, this does work for the film as the creature creation is scary for when this was released.
Settings – Most of the film is set on the Himalayas, well what is meant to be them, we get to see just how far the people are willing tot ravel for science and what could be in the undiscovered areas.
Special Effects – The effects used in the film are basic and for the time are make up ones that are used to add terror to the snowmen.
Scene of the Movie – The first glimpse of the yeti.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The random addition to the mission which doesn’t make sense to everything.
Final Thoughts – This is an easy to watch Hammer Horror classic, it does everything right without shocking the audience like many others from the company once did.
Overall: Easy to watch.
Rating
