A botanist (Paul Langton) is up in the Himalayas on an expedition with his photographer buddy (Leslie Denison), looking for some exotic plants. One day, the lead Sherpa (Teru Shimada) tells Langton that another Sherpa's wife was kidnapped in the night by a mythical monster, the Yeti, aka the Abominable Snowman. He wants Langton to halt his trek to help look for it, but he refuses, so Shimada and his men mutiny. Soon, they find and capture the monster and cart it back to the States for research purposes. In Los Angeles, customs stops them while they try to figure out how to categorize the beast as animal or human, and it escapes, shambling about the city, causing havoc. This is almost certainly the first Yeti movie, but any potential for interest or originality is lost due to: 1) an unsympathetic jackass—the botanist—as hero, and 2) a budget so low that the monster looks like a tall, thin dancer wrapped in carpet wearing an fur ear-flap hat, with the same shot of him coming out of darkness and going back again re-used several times in the film. Maybe they only had the poor schmoe playing the monster for a day or two of filming. There is also lots of tedious narration, especially in the first ten minutes, and repeated footage of people climbing through the snow to help pad this out to 70 minutes. The character of the Sherpa is moderately interesting for the gumption he displays in standing up to Langton. The most bizarre aspect of the film: it was directed by W. Lee Wilder, brother of Hollywood legend Billy Wilder (SOME LIKE IT HOT, SUNSET BLVD). Quotable quote, as the authorities warn the populace about the beast: "Tell everybody to stay off the streets and remain calm—that goes for everyone!" [Netflix]
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
THE SNOW CREATURE (1954)
A botanist (Paul Langton) is up in the Himalayas on an expedition with his photographer buddy (Leslie Denison), looking for some exotic plants. One day, the lead Sherpa (Teru Shimada) tells Langton that another Sherpa's wife was kidnapped in the night by a mythical monster, the Yeti, aka the Abominable Snowman. He wants Langton to halt his trek to help look for it, but he refuses, so Shimada and his men mutiny. Soon, they find and capture the monster and cart it back to the States for research purposes. In Los Angeles, customs stops them while they try to figure out how to categorize the beast as animal or human, and it escapes, shambling about the city, causing havoc. This is almost certainly the first Yeti movie, but any potential for interest or originality is lost due to: 1) an unsympathetic jackass—the botanist—as hero, and 2) a budget so low that the monster looks like a tall, thin dancer wrapped in carpet wearing an fur ear-flap hat, with the same shot of him coming out of darkness and going back again re-used several times in the film. Maybe they only had the poor schmoe playing the monster for a day or two of filming. There is also lots of tedious narration, especially in the first ten minutes, and repeated footage of people climbing through the snow to help pad this out to 70 minutes. The character of the Sherpa is moderately interesting for the gumption he displays in standing up to Langton. The most bizarre aspect of the film: it was directed by W. Lee Wilder, brother of Hollywood legend Billy Wilder (SOME LIKE IT HOT, SUNSET BLVD). Quotable quote, as the authorities warn the populace about the beast: "Tell everybody to stay off the streets and remain calm—that goes for everyone!" [Netflix]
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