The Abominable Snowman (1957)

The Abominable Snowman

Tom Friend is about to embark on a life changing expedition, his aim? To find the fabled creature known as the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman. Joining him on the trip is botanist John Rollason, whose scientific interest is totally at odds with Friend and his trapper companion, Ed Shelley. As the expedition moves deeper into the Himalayas, bad luck and differences of opinions dog the party, and as the confrontations draw closer it becomes apparent that the Yeti is not a dumb animal to be killed or captured.

Adapted by Nigel Kneale from his own BBC play, "The Creature", The Abominable Snowman is one of the finest early offerings from Hammer Studios. The long running (to this day) stories of a giant beast living up in the Himalayas is of course interesting stuff, much like Nesse up in her Loch, it seems their worth will never ever fade. Thankfully there is a ream of intelligence in this picture, forgoing out and out shocks in the name of horror, director Val Guest has treated Kneale's story with the utmost respect. This is more of a character story as regards men with different ideals on a supposed legend, we barely see the creature until the wonderful last quarter, we don't need to because there are other creatures on this expedition, it's very adroit and accomplished in its telling.

The cast do not let the material down, Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing takes the role of Rollason, Forrest Tucker ("Sands Of Iwo Jima") is Friend, Robert Brown ("The Masque of the Red Death") is Shelley and Maureen Connell is wonderful down in the village as Rollason's fraught wife, Helen. Now in this day and age we can get good digital transfers of old black and white classics, and here the Regalscope Widescreen brilliantly captures the snowy landscapes, firmly enhanced by Arthur Grant's gorgeous monochrome photography. So what you waiting for? The technical side is great, the story is of course excellent, all that remains to say is that the ending is perfect and seals the deal.

A British treasure. 8/10

This was entertaining to watch, especially it being the first Hammer Horror filmed in black and white.

An adventurous expedition turns into a fight for survival, with a horrifying discovery. It's similar to The Thing and Mountains of Madness, but the difference being it is less gruesome than the other two.

Forrest Tucker was drafted in to bring a bit of box office to this actually quite atmospheric tale of an expedition to the heights of the Himalayas where he - "Friend" and scientist "Rollason" (Peter Cushing) encounter the mysticism of the locals and, well slightly more than they bargained for! Clearly nobody set foot outside the studio here, and the confetti sellers must have a field day; but Cushing was always quite good at sustaining these slightly eccentric boffin roles; the rather stilted Tucker does what's required with a rather listless script and Maureen Connell offers just a little more as the leading lady that is oft provided in these adventures. The use of lighting and audio does help create a sense of menace and I did quite like the ending... Cheap and cheerful, yes - but still quite watchable.