The Abominable Snowman is a 1957 adventure film about an expedition into the snow-covered Himalayan peaks to find the yeti of legend. It's directed by Val Guest and stars Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker; Nigel Kneale wrote it, basing it on a play he had written for television. Forrest Tucker is one of my favorites, and I never turn down a chance to see him.
A Hammer film, it is different in every possible way (except that Cushing is here) from the movies Hammer usually released. It's hard to convince people who don't like horror or science fiction films that they'll like this movie, so I won't try. But give it a chance. It's not what you think.
Mysterious Universe says, "It’s unfortunate that, despite its intelligent and thought-provoking storyline, The Abominable Snowman was not a big hit. It was filled with subtlety, restraint, and monsters that weren’t actually monstrous, after all. That’s not what the viewers wanted, however."
1000 Misspent Hours calls it "easily the best of the rash of Yeti movies that came out in the mid-1950’s". DVD Talk says, "it plays as a mature ecological fable, more powerful than a fistful of cautionary ecological documentaries."
Moria says, "the film builds to an ending that is interesting and certainly different to the xenophobic confrontations with the alien in American films of the period. Peter Cushing (who played the same role in the original tv version) gives another of his perfectly-elocuted aristocratic performances and Forrest Tucker has fun as the barnstorming American."
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At first I thought this was going to be the Rankin-Bass animation. Never knew about this movie.
ReplyDeleteI didn't either. It was completely under my radar, and I think I only found it when I was looking for Forrest Tucker films.
DeleteI remember this film from my wayward youth! Valerie
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of it, but I'm glad I came across it :)
DeleteThis sounds really interesting. I need to check it out. I like Forrest Tucker myself.
ReplyDeleteHe's underrated, imo, remembered mainly for F Troop when he's remembered. He was always good, I think.
DeleteI would have been by earlier, but I've been offline due to my internet and telephone being down. My friend Scott got my internet going again, but not my phone.
ReplyDeleteI was at a friend's house a few years ago, and he had this film on tape. I actually enjoyed it.
I'm glad you liked this one. You found it before I did lol
DeleteI'm sorry you're having technology issues. All this shouldn't be so hard :(
I gave it a chance. I liked that it had a little philosophy in it about the yetis probably waiting for the humans to kind of self-destruct. (Found that kind of amusing--smart yetis!) Not the typical horror movie--true.
ReplyDeleteThese days it's hard to tell the horror fiction from the news ;) I liked the way the characters came around in the end, understanding what was at stake.
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