Pluskylang Great Film overall

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

tomsview 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 also was 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.

Theo Robertson This is the feature film adaptation of a 1955 BBC play called THE CREATURE that was made by the same production team who made THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT from 1953 . That ground breaking serial changed the face of British television and even today remains one of those rare examples of how cerebral science fiction television can be . You have to bare in mind that high concept thrills and spills aren't really the ethos of the QUATERMASS serials and despite the intelligence involved will seem very slow and talkative when compared to say DOCTOR WHO . In fact it might even be a mistake to compare the original BBC serials to their Hammer counterparts which are far more simplified versions of the originals . We will never know how effective THE CREATURE was as a drama because it was never recorded for prosperity but one thinks this film adaptation is relatively faithful to it and this might be the problem with THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN If you're going in to this film thinking you're going to be watching some creature feature B movie you're going to be very disappointed . I first saw this as a teen thinking it was total rubbish with a bunch of human characters spending nearly the entire running time walking up a mountain , stopping to talk , more walking , stopping to talk , more walking and the eponymous Snowman not appearing till the very end . It's not a horror film and it's not really an adventure film either though it does sometimes gives the pretence that this is what it wants to be at some points though it's not very well developed and none of this is helped by an obvious lack of budget with painfully obvious small studio exteriors . There does seem to be a strong subtext at the loss of empire . The British are portrayed as being open minded , scientific and fascinated by foreign cultures and people and always cool as a cucumber in dangerous situations . The Americans are vulgar, loud mouthed philistines always ready to shoot first and ask entirely dumb questions later and prone to hysterics when things get start getting tough , all which is typical of the British mentality of the time with the realisation that the pink bits on the map have nearly disappeared . Peter Cushing resurrecting his role from the original BBC play was always good at playing these gentlemanly professor types and he's likable here and is a nice foil to the Americans THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN suffers from the feeling that it doesn't know what it's trying to be . The little Englander politics are very well done but not much else is . The sedate pace is a bit too sedate then when the story does start taking off it more or less ends at this point which means you'll leave the film feeling rather disappointed . I know I was

AaronCapenBanner Val Guest directed this atmospheric thriller set in the Himalayas at a remote monastery, where Dr. John Rollason(played by Peter Cushing) is a botanist with his wife(played by Maureen Connell) and associate Peter(played by Richard Wattis). He is awaiting the arrival of American Tom Friend(played by Forrest Tucker) so that they can undertake a scientific expedition to find the legendary and elusive Yeti. John is dismayed to learn that Friend is really a showman who plans on killing the creature for display, but also uses a corpse to attract a live one as well, which is exactly what happens, though not in the way they expected... intelligent story, fine direction and performances, and an eerie feel all combine to make this a memorable thriller, which discreetly keeps the Yeti mysterious.

bob-790-196018 I enjoy most Hammer pictures for their skillful storytelling and good production values, but this is that rare Hammer film that seems to me incompetently made.We wait and wait for a glimpse of the Yeti--even after one has been killed and is lying there in the pursuers' camp, we do not see what it looks like. Finally two live Yeti show up for a brief "cameo," and they look like two guys in gorilla suits.The Yeti hunters include Forrest Tucker as a pushy, loud-mouthed American and Peter Cushing, an English gentleman who by comparison seems rather prissy. (No stereotypes in this film!) These two and their three sidekicks climb a mountain with enough equipment for an army--guns, oxygen canisters, steel traps, a cage, and much else. There follows a series of foolish or stupid actions, with people raging at each other and at the mountain in general, firing off rifles, and so forth. One Yeti hunter sets what amounts to a bear trap and catches a member of his party instead. Forrest Tucker hunts for a missing member of the group by firing of round after round with his pistol, thereby killing himself by means of an avalanche.Meanwhile, Cushing's wife realizes that the hunting party is in trouble and simply rushes off to climb the glaciated mountain to find her husband. She did take time to put on a coat.Tucker intends to capture a Yeti alive and bring it back home to exhibit it and make a lot of money. I kept wondering how he planned to climb back down the mountain with a live Yeti. Perhaps they would loan him some of their gear.It was as if the movie were really "Laurel and Hardy Hunt the Yeti," only without the laughs.