The Yeti

THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF THE HIMALAYAS-1957-Dr. John Rawlinson (Peter Cushing) a botanist doing research in the the Himalayas joins up with a boisterous American climber Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) to find the legendary Yeti. Friend wants to capture one alive and show it on US TV. Rawlinson just wants to prove it exists. There's a lot of climbing and soul searching and Friend turns out to be a cutthroat swindler. After a little Yeti they capture escapes (actually rescued) the group finds some large footprints. Later a big clawed hand appears sticking in their tent. Their guide goes mad when he sees one and runs away (but somehow makes it back to the village) and the head Lama there acts very mysterious. The Yetis seem to have some kind of mental power over the group who hear voices and do crazy things. After Friend is killed in an avalanche Rawlinson meets the snowmen and we get our only view of them too. Rawlinson's wife leads her own expedition and finds hubby nearly frozen to death. Nursed back to health the doctor now admits he was wrong. There is no Yeti waiting for man to die off.

When I was a kid my friends and I were always disappointed by the brief glimpse of the Yeti but today THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN holds up well despite this. The acting is great. Director Val Guest probably took a big chance in not showing too much of the creature in the monster laden age of the late '50's but he still does a good job of story telling. He also made ENEMY FROM SPACE the same year which was also penned by SNOWMAN's screenwriter Nigel Kneale. 

This Hammer production is based on a BBC TV drama entitled THE CREATURE (also written by Kneale).

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Gamma One Returns

SNOW DEVILS-1967-Another crazy art-deco designed Italian science fiction movie directed by Antonio Margherriti (Anthony Dawson in the US prints). 

After a weather station in the Himalayas is destroyed the commander of space station Gamma One Rod Jackson (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart aka Jack Stuart in American prints) is sent to investigate. A woman lieutenant Lisa Neilson (Ombretta Colli aka Amber Collins in American prints) insists on going along because her fiance was a victim of the destruction and she believes he is still alive (“I don't know. Call it woman's intuition, ESP or whatever you want”). Wilbert Bradley is their crazy talking Sherpa guide Sharu. After their “heli-jet” and other equipment are destroyed in a freak accident,the group must go on foot which becomes a 4 person mission when the Sherpa guides (except for Sharu) run away. Seeking shelter in a cave they encounter big bluish hairy “snow devils”. 

They are actually aliens from a dying planet trying to flood Earth and then freeze it so they can live there. For some reason their skin and fur change color in a few scenes. When the group is held captive they somehow escape and drug the aliens. They kill the leader and go back home to find the Earth plagued by storms, floods and polar meltdowns so they must find the hidden alien base before all is lost! 

The buildings, ships and SFX look like Gerry Anderson's FIREBALL XL-5 and the story is similar to one used on TV'S VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA! If it seems a little episodic that's because it's all part of the Italian “Gamma One” space series which also includes the THE WAR OF THE PLANETS and THE WILD WILD PLANET. (last review)

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