Yeti, der Schneemensch

Despite the title this is really not a monster on the rampage horror movie that you might expect from Hammer. Writer Nigel Kneale goes for quirky science and director Val Guest adds atmospheric direction on a low budget in this spooky thriller.

Peter Cushing is principled botanist John Rollason searching for evidence of the Yeti in the Himalayas with an expedition team that includes dodgy Forrest Tucker who is more like a sinister Barnum type showman looking for monetary gain by capturing a Yeti.

The creature is very much kept off screen for a lot of the time as Kneale explores humanity's darker side as represented by the likes of Tucker. It is suggested that the Yeti are gentle, intelligent beings from a superior civilisation that one day will take over from humans and Rollason does not view them as monsters.

The film has a moral message aimed at perils of human greed and its penchant for destruction.

Hammer studios made a variety of films for many years before they struck gold with horror movies. One of their first steps in that direction was 'The Quatermass Xperiment', directed by Val Guest and written by Nigel Kneale who adapted his own highly successful TV production. A couple of years later Guest and Kneale did the same again with 'Quatermass 2'. Both were science fiction with some horror, and both were very, very good. Guest and Kneale had an uneasy relationship ("relationship" is probably not even the right word, Guest said he only ever met Kneale a few times), but they collaborated once again on 'The Abominable Snowman'. Despite the title it isn't a monster movie, it's more of an adventure tale with some mysticism and philosophical touches. It was successful commercially, but coming out just before the one-two punch of 'Curse Of Frankenstein' and 'Dracula' (the two movies that really put Hammer on the map) has meant it has all but been forgotten today. When people list the best of Hammer you rarely if ever see 'The Abominable Snowman' mentioned, which is a shame. It's consistently interesting, well acted, stylish and suspenseful. Sadly I haven't seen Kneale's original TV version ('The Creature') so I can't compare the two, but I really enjoyed this movie, especially the performance from Peter Cushing, soon to become a Hammer legend. Forrest Tucker is best known to people of my generation for his comic role in the popular 1960s sitcom 'F Troop'. Pairing him with Cushing might seem an odd choice at first but it really works. Their contrasting styles play off each other, and Tucker is perfect for the role of the ambitious Tom Friend. There's also a good supporting performance from Robert Brown, who later appeared as a caveman in Hammer's 'One Million Years BC'. Later still in the 1980s he played M in several Bond movies. The more Hammer movies I watch the more I am impressed by this legendary studio. "Hammer House Of Horror" yes, but also so much more. 'The Abominable Snowman' is a great example of their originality and versatility.

Hammer's first 'real' horror film – this one preceded THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN by a few months – is a quaint, quintessentially '50s monster movie, with a typical British slant: the focus is on the psychology of the characters involved, rather than pure action and thrills as you'd expect from the Hollywood equivalent. As a result, this film is quite slowly paced (although not leaden) and short on the actual adrenaline of man-vs-beast action, but nevertheless it proves to be an efficient exercise in increasing tension, helmed by the able Val Guest.

Peter Cushing takes the lead role of the kindly scientist, whose idea is to capture and study the Yeti, rather than use it to make money through entertainment. Essentially, he plays the same type of dedicated good guy as in most of his Hammer horror films, and he's great as usual. Forrest Tucker is the American co-star, his presence here to draw in the overseas markets; he's the mountaineer with a ruthless secret and essentially the film's villain. The rest of the cast are made up of pretty women (Cushing's wife), scared natives (the Sherpas) and stuffy British types (get a load of that guy 'Foxy').

The movie is well shot and has a fair few effects shots; all of them are cheap, and you can see how most were created, but they're nevertheless charming. The Yeti is wisely hidden for most of the film, only appearing in a brief shadowy instance at the climax, and is all the more thought-provoking and weirdly disturbing for it. The plot, when all is said and done, is little more than a threadbare mystery a la Agatha Christie, with the cast being picked off one by one whilst the Yetis lurk and howl in the background. The plus side is that Nigel Kneale's script is excellent and the human psychology of the key players is always true-to-life, just as in the QUATERMASS films; as a result, this low-budget movie is actually a lot better than it probably should be.

Just as the Yeti in the film stood head and shoulders over the humans, so this film stands head and shoulders over most of the horror/monster films of the 1950's.

You wouldn't think so from reading the reviews at the time though; one reviewer thought it too subtle, but that could be another way of describing it as intelligent and stylish, the qualities that make it so watchable 60 years later. The film was also saddled with a poor trailer (it's on YouTube). Obviously the marketing people didn't think the film monsterish enough; the trailer gives totally the wrong impression.

British botanist, John Rollason (Peter Cushing), along with his wife Helen (Maureen Connell) and assistant, Peter Fox (Richard Wattis) arrive at the monastery of Long Buk as the guests of the head lama. They are searching for rare plants. A team of American adventurers led by Doctor Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) also arrives, but this party is searching for the legendary Yeti.

The Americans, Tom Friend and his associate, big game hunter Ed Shelley, are loud, brash and totally ruthless as far as preservation of the Yeti is concerned. The members of the British contingent on the other hand are masters of understatement, impeccably mannered and respectful of all life including the Yeti. This was a British film after all.

Although obviously shot on a sound stage, the monastery scenes are effective replete with gongs, monks and a head lama in deep meditation. What really gives the film visual substance are the snow-covered mountain climbing sequences; they were apparently shot in the Pyrénées, but a mountain is a mountain, and these scenes open out the film.

Eventually, Rollason accompanies Friend on his quest in the interests of science, and without spoiling things too much, they encounter the Yeti. However the outcome is unexpected and gives this film the edge over the mostly cheesy monster movies of the day.

There is a touch of Val Lewton style about this film; it has plenty of mood and there is no rush to reveal the 'monster' with the best effects left to the imagination.

In the fifties, Hammer produced a few highly noted films that were scripted by Nigel Kneale and directed by Val Guest. Among them were QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT and the highly disturbing QUATERMASS II (a.k.a. ENEMY FROM SPACE). Though produced on low budgets, these productions were of a higher quality than most of the usual Science-Fiction releases at the time.

Kneale's literate screenplays were directed towards a more sophisticated audience and Guest's direction displayed much creative imagination, proving that innovation can often override a limited budget.

The story begins as botanist Peter Cushing teams up with crass hustler Forrest Tucker for the purpose of finding the ever elusive Yeti, despite protests and warnings from Cushing's wife (Maureen Connell) and the llama. As the research team progresses on its expedition, they begin to find subtle clues that the yeti may truly exist. While they sleep, they are awaken by the sounds of strange wailing in the night. Upon investigating, they find large footprints of something not apparently human.

Cushing, an honorable man of decent principles, is outraged when he learns that Tucker's real aim is to capture and cheaply exploit the yeti for monetary and personal status gain. During the night, a claw reaches into the tent, sending their superstitious guide out into the night in a fit of total panic. The other members, with the exception of Cushing who tries to maintain his sense of reason, become more and more unhinged as they fear that the creatures are now stalking them. Member Macnee (who claims he once caught a glimpse of one on a previous expedition) believes that they are trying to psychically attack him and he falls to death. Cushing asserts that Macnee was mentally unstable and fell victim to his own frightened carelessness, while Tucker cynically feels that they deliberately drove him to his death.

Tucker proposes a reckless trick to entrap one of the creatures in a cave with a steel net, as his trapper buddy stands by with a gun, just in case. As Cushing and Tucker wait in a nearby tent, a raging blizzard breaks out. Cushing deduces that the Yeti may actually be intelligent beings, perhaps the missing link between man and ape and are a lost chapter in our history of evolution. He feels its possible that they may actually be biding their time, waiting for mankind to die out, so that they can then take over. Tucker only has money-money-money on his sleazy mind and thinks the scientist has flipped-out from cabin fever and is off on an intellectual tangent. Besides, being the hollow man he finally reveals himself to be, Tucker couldn't care less.

The pair hear the hunter's scream and a roar from the cave. They find his dead body with an expression of sheer horror on his face and see that the steel net has been ripped to shreds. As the remaining two members decide to hold-up in the cave til morning, Cushing then hears the radio announcer saying that they are strongly advised to leave their gear and get out of the area immediately. There is only one problem: The radio was busted earlier and is not working, and Tucker says that he didn't hear any such announcement.

I won't say anymore. In many ways Kneale's intriguing story (based on his acclaimed BBC serial THE CREATURE) bears allegorical similarities to Huston's TREASURE OF THE SERRA MADRA, in that the characters are actually pursuing a myth and are inevitably destroyed by their own greed and paranoia. Like TWILIGHT ZONE and OUTER LIMITS, the science-fiction premise takes on supernatural overtones and serves as a cautionary morality play. Though some may think that that old "there are some things that man should not meddle with" message is a preachy cliche, it does have validity when the man's sense of perception, judgement, personal ethics and real motives are highly in question.

Director Guest creates an absorbing atmosphere of mounting terror from beginning to end as the characters' (and the viewers') smugness and complacency is gradually devoured; then the unknown takes over, and total helplessness and fear become the terrifying and tragic results. What at first seemed far-fetched now becomes all too real. This skillful technique was effectively employed in the Quatermass films as well as Tourneur's memorable scare classic NIGHT OF THE DEMON.

The B & W photography evokes the proper dark, eerie mood which leaves you with that unsettling feeling that something truly is out there and it's inevitably closing in on you. Though many critics and viewers felt that the highly overpraised BLAIR WITCH was original with its idea of the unseen menace that preys upon your doubt and paranoia, it's now obvious that it was nothing more than a slipshod rehash of these notable films that were produced decades earlier.

As long as you're not expecting some stupid, slasher monster movie, sophomoric puns and another overblown demo roll of special-effects, then give this unique, intelligent film your serious consideration. It may leave you haunted and disturbed.