Rating: 
Summary: Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker take on the fabled Yeti
Review: "The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas" finds botanist John Rollason (Peter Cushing) encounters American Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) at a monastery and joins a sortie led by Friend to find the legendary Yeti. The crass American wants to bring the Abominable Snowman back as a carnival exhibit. However accidents, Friend's recklessness and the Yeti methodically reduce the membership of the expedition. Finally, only Friend and Rollason are left to face the Yeti. This 1957 film was one of the earliest Hammer pictures, made just before "The Curse of Frankenstein" put the studio on the map and created its signature style. The script by Nigel Kneale is actually adapted from "The Creature," a one-act teleplay broadcast in 1955 that also starred Cushing. As the creator of the Quartermass series, Kneale's scripts for "The Quartermass Experiment" (a.k.a. "The Creeping Unknown") and "The Enemy from Space" (a.k.a "Quartermass II") had laid the foundation for Hammer's future success. Again director Val Guest was brought in to work behind the camera. Kneale's script is first rate and suffers only at the end when the confrontation with the Yeti fails to meet our heightened expectations. Guest's direction is limited because the set for the Himalayan mountainside was on the studio's back lot, intercut with stock footage of mountaineering that fails to convey any sense of reality. Cushing's performance is solid, as you would expect, and he works well off the blustery Tucker, who gets to ham it up as the high-handed American. This DVD includes audio commentary by Guest and Kneale, the original theatrical trailer, and the Peter Cushing segment from "World of Hammer."
Rating: 
Summary: Ice Screams!!
Review: "THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN"This is an unexpectedly involving movie with a great look. Forrest Tucker is greedy Tom Friend looking for a new side show attraction in this pristine black and white widescreen transfer of a gripping, thoughtful, artistic Hammer Films classic from the 1950s. Tucker, aided by Peter Cushing's sensitive scientist Dr. Rollason, set off into the Himalayas to find the legendary eponymous creature in a surprisingly intelligent adventure. Vast, lonely mountain vistas and a large, finely detailed monastery make a believable setting in which the hunters ponder life, their dilemma and the great yeti - who apparently has the ability to play mind games until the hunters become the hunted! The sound design, including the hair-raising, echoing, whale-like moans of the yeti and the oriental music score add considerably to the authentic atmosphere. In the entertaining bonus audio track, Droll director Val Guest and writer Nigel Kneale make reference to the similar adventures of millionaire Tom Slick as a source of inspiration. When it's all over, you will long remember the sad, wise eyes of the snow beast and will have no doubts about who the real monsters are. This is the best of the sub genre of bigfoot/abominable snowman films. And yes, there are others. (DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment, no regional code restrictions, not rated, 88 minutes)
Rating:
Summary: Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker take on the fabled Yeti
Review: "The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas" finds botanist John Rollason (Peter Cushing) encounters American Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) at a monastery and joins a sortie led by Friend to find the legendary Yeti. The crass American wants to bring the Abominable Snowman back as a carnival exhibit. However accidents, Friend's recklessness and the Yeti methodically reduce the membership of the expedition. Finally, only Friend and Rollason are left to face the Yeti. This 1957 film was one of the earliest Hammer pictures, made just before "The Curse of Frankenstein" put the studio on the map and created its signature style. The script by Nigel Kneale is actually adapted from "The Creature," a one-act teleplay broadcast in 1955 that also starred Cushing. As the creator of the Quartermass series, Kneale's scripts for "The Quartermass Experiment" (a.k.a. "The Creeping Unknown") and "The Enemy from Space" (a.k.a "Quartermass II") had laid the foundation for Hammer's future success. Again director Val Guest was brought in to work behind the camera. Kneale's script is first rate and suffers only at the end when the confrontation with the Yeti fails to meet our heightened expectations. Guest's direction is limited because the set for the Himalayan mountainside was on the studio's back lot, intercut with stock footage of mountaineering that fails to convey any sense of reality. Cushing's performance is solid, as you would expect, and he works well off the blustery Tucker, who gets to ham it up as the high-handed American. This DVD includes audio commentary by Guest and Kneale, the original theatrical trailer, and the Peter Cushing segment from "World of Hammer."
Rating:
Summary: Ice Screams!!
Review: "THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN" This is an unexpectedly involving movie with a great look. Forrest Tucker is greedy Tom Friend looking for a new side show attraction in this pristine black and white widescreen transfer of a gripping, thoughtful, artistic Hammer Films classic from the 1950s. Tucker, aided by Peter Cushing's sensitive scientist Dr. Rollason, set off into the Himalayas to find the legendary eponymous creature in a surprisingly intelligent adventure. Vast, lonely mountain vistas and a large, finely detailed monastery make a believable setting in which the hunters ponder life, their dilemma and the great yeti - who apparently has the ability to play mind games until the hunters become the hunted! The sound design, including the hair-raising, echoing, whale-like moans of the yeti and the oriental music score add considerably to the authentic atmosphere. In the entertaining bonus audio track, Droll director Val Guest and writer Nigel Kneale make reference to the similar adventures of millionaire Tom Slick as a source of inspiration. When it's all over, you will long remember the sad, wise eyes of the snow beast and will have no doubts about who the real monsters are. This is the best of the sub genre of bigfoot/abominable snowman films. And yes, there are others. (DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment, no regional code restrictions, not rated, 88 minutes)
Rating:
Summary: An Unknown Gem
Review: (These comments refer to the film, not to the DVD or VHS editions perse) Vasquez Rocks is quickly being circled by the communities in the Santa Clarita Valley. In 1940's Hollywood, a caravan of panel trucks and cars would depart around two o'clock in the morning for the long and arduous drive to shoot there on location. From Hollywood proper and the studios one used to take Cahuenga thru the pass, out to Balboa, past the dam, and out (now "old") Balboa up into the mountains and thence into the desert. It gets both raging hot (therefore the early departure, to arrive before the sun rose) and terribly cold. Get as far as Vasquez Rocks, and it snows in the winter sometimes. There is no raging beast, no graphic violence. This black-and-white film may be considered slow-paced for those with a taste only to MTV-quick-cuts films. The trick here is to get into the mood of the characters, and the solid acting allows this to happen with ease. Let it not be the cold of winter in a southern California desert, but the rarified air of the Himalayas, with a deadly mystery growing even as the storms build that you explore. It's a good old film. Not many DVDs are going to be sold at ..., but this will be a popular collector's item once the price drops to the appropriate ... range for this type of film. And pay close attention to the ending - it happens quickly. -M.
Rating:
Summary: Sinister, thought-provoking and well-made.
Review: A team sets off into the Himalayas to find the legendary yeti in one of the most gripping and intelligent horror/science fiction films ever made. The lonely mountains and the sombre monastery make for isolated and moody settings, there dialogue is suitably dark, the characters are all interesting, notably Peter Cushing's zoologist who broods over the fact that maybe it's not the yeti who are the real monsters. A film which is truly worthy of being described as a classic, genuinely suspenceful and terrifying even after several viewings.
Rating:
Summary: The Call of the Wild.
Review: Before Frankenstein cursed, before Dracula horrified, Hammer Studios found the Abominable Snowman. This is an intelligent sci-fi/horror flick that poses probing questions of man vs. nature. The austere tone of the film is enhanced by the bleak B&W photography, and captures the grim atmosphere of remote Tibet. Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker disagree over what to do with the creature, even before capture. Tucker is American Tom Friend, and his interest is strictly commercial. Cushing is John Rollason, a dedicated scientist. Rollason is more interested in solving the scientific conundrum than gaining a profitable circus attraction. As their expedition reaches distant heights and snowy peaks, strange cries in the night presage tragedy. The script takes an unusual perspective as it suggests that the yeti are not missing-link predators, but intelligent, superior beings. Questions of man's relevance vs. nature's inevitability rank this film well above the more common sci-fi/horror schlock of pseudo-science and cheesy special effects. Soul-searching aside, goosefelsh rises when the men realize that killing one yeti caused a chorus of plaintive wailing across the mountains. Whatever they are, they are communicating with each other, and they are coming this way. Darkness and howling winds add to the eerie atmosphere as the expedition succumbs to madness and death. Ironically, the yeti are passive, and standby as the feeble men self-destruct. The director suggests terror without overt display. You may feel compelled to quickly turn and see what lurks behind you. The film ends on an enigmatic note. This movie is fine for collectors of classic horror flicks, and for the ranks of HammerHeads assembled. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Himalayan Menace
Review: British botanist Peter Cushing encounters American adventurer Forrest Tucker in a Tibetan monastery, who is intent on finding the elusive Yeti - the "abominable snowman." They pool resources on a mutual climb, and Tucker's team succeeds in actually bagging one of the legendary beasts. Things go very badly from that point on, as the Yeti has family, who are no happier about the shooting of one of their own than we would be. A chilling game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with the isolated mountain climbers haunted, driven mad, and killed off by their unseen enemy, one by one... This is one of Nigel Kneale's most intelligent scripts, and that is saying a lot. It covers a lot of bases, including questions of evolution and race, secret societies, and the nature of mysticism and psychic phenomena. The cinematography is stark, the atmosphere thick with menace. The musical score is lush and hauntingly effective. The performances are terrific, and the ending employs more than one clever surprise twist.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Himalayan Menace
Review: British botanist Peter Cushing encounters American adventurer Forrest Tucker in a Tibetan monastery, who is intent on finding the elusive Yeti - the "abominable snowman." They pool resources on a mutual climb, and Tucker's team succeeds in actually bagging one of the legendary beasts. Things go very badly from that point on, as the Yeti has family, who are no happier about the shooting of one of their own than we would be. A chilling game of cat-and-mouse ensues, with the isolated mountain climbers haunted, driven mad, and killed off by their unseen enemy, one by one... This is one of Nigel Kneale's most intelligent scripts, and that is saying a lot. It covers a lot of bases, including questions of evolution and race, secret societies, and the nature of mysticism and psychic phenomena. The cinematography is stark, the atmosphere thick with menace. The musical score is lush and hauntingly effective. The performances are terrific, and the ending employs more than one clever surprise twist.
Rating:
Summary: What if we are the savages?
Review: Dr. John Rollason (Peter Cushing who played Winston Smith in "1984") leaves his lovely devoted wife Helen (Maureen Connell) behind to become part of an expedition that includes Dr. Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) and others; each has their own agenda. The local Lama (Arnold Marlẻ) knows what they seek and that that each person in the expedition may fide what he seeks.
Will they survive?
If anyone should survive will he/she have learned something?
What about you?
One year later Forrest Tucker one again chances the cold Alps to find "The Crawling Eye" (1958)
| 
