The Abominable Snowman (1957)

Plot Outline: An English botanist and an American scientist lead an expedition to the Himalayas to search for and prove the existence of the Yeti.

The Review: Another of Hammer's early sci-fi/horror vehicles is yet another prime example of just how good their output was during their prime years. Released earlier in the same year as Hammer's breakthrough film, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Abominable Snowman tends to get overlooked quite a lot. And it's a shame too because it's a quite brilliant film. Like The Quatermass Experiment, this owes it's brilliance to yet another amazing script from Nigel Kneale. Not a line of dialogue is wasted as Kneale uses every moment he has to add something to the story or the characters. Even the whole characterisation of the Yetis is done in way so that we don't know what to expect from them. None of the characters are turned into walking cliches - all of them are fully developed and their actions are completely plausible. Peter Cushing is excellent once more. I get sick of writing this statement in my reviews but it's true - the man is arguably the finest actor I've had the pleasure of watching in a horror film, in fact any film period. He just brings so much depth to his roles, even the ones which are badly underwritten. Forrest Tucker is also excellent in his role as the American. He has all of the qualities you would expect from a brash American and plays this to advantage. You can instantly compare the traditionally more intelligent British characters with the usual cocky, arrogant American characters (it's pretty true though when you look at horror films in general - the Brits are always the smart-arses). Val Guest's direction also helps the film greatly. There are some wonderful shots of the Pyrenees (doubling quite nicely for the Himalayas) which create the sense of isolation that is needed. He manages to build tension up gradually and once the expedition starts, it's just constant suspense. The Yetis' wails of misery are just some of the most haunting sounds I've heard and thankfully the Yetis themselves aren't shown until the finale. Once more, "less is more" and the less we see of the Yeti, the greater the mystery is.

Final Verdict: Another intelligent, superbly-made gem from Hammer, The Abominable Snowman is highly recommended to anyone looking for classics from the past.

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