‘There is no yeti…’
While there are quite a few films about the Yeti (Abominable, Willow Creek, The Snow Creature), the concept of a ‘serious’ horror film about the abominable snowman seems an unlikely prospect. But then you could say the same about the Mummy or the Invisible Man. When you throw in legendary genre writer Nigel Kneale on writing duties and horror legend Peter Cushing as the male lead, however, suddenly the prospect of a serious film about a big snowman begins to feel a little less distant…
British scientist, Dr John Rollason (Cushing), joins an American expedition, led by Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker), to the Himalayas, to search for the elusive and legendary Yeti. Maureen Connell also appears as Rollason’s perpetually and justifiably concerned wife.
For anyone not familiar with the writing of Nigel Kneale, it invariably involves lots of blustering and braggadocious men shouting at each other in rooms. As I love nothing more than blustering and braggadocious men shouting at each other in rooms, I nearly always love it. As the film was released in 1957, and Hammer was never the most discerning production studio anyway, there is inevitably a little racism, but it’s never too egregious or overbearing, so that’s nice. Mileage will vary on whether you find the creatures convincing or not, but I was mostly charmed by them. They’re not frightening, obviously, but they also didn’t take me out of the action the way that some other movie monsters in the early Hammer roster did (looking at you, X the Unknown).
My experience of The Abominable Snowman was slightly tempered by the fact that I watched it during a time of intense personal stress and subsequently kept falling asleep and having to rewatch the conclusion, but I’m happy to confirm it’s one of the cuddlier Hammer Horror films and well worth seeking out for fans of massive misunderstood beasts roaming the snowy wilderness.
