The Abominable Snowman
Anchor Bay (1957)
Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
In Collection
#419
5*
Seen It:  Yes
(6/13/2011)
013131107692
IMDB   6.1
91 mins UK/English
DVD  Region 1   NR
Forrest Tucker Dr. Tom Friend
Peter Cushing Dr. John Rollason
Maureen Connell Helen Rollason
Richard Wattis Peter Fox
Robert Brown Ed Shelley
Michael Brill Andrew McNee
Wolfe Morris Kusang
Arnold Marlé Lhama
Anthony Chinn Major-domo
Fred Johnson Yeti
John Rae Yeti-eyes
Director Val Guest
Producer Aubrey Baring
Michael Carreras
Anthony Nelson Keys
Writer Nigel Kneale
Val Guest

This is a so-so early Hammer horror film from Nigel Kneale , who also wrote The Quatermass Experiment . Forrest Tucker and botanist Peter Cushing lead an expedition to the Himalayan Mountains (actually the Pyrenees, but who's complaining?) in search of the legendary Yeti. Several mysterious locals tell them to stay away with the sort of cryptic warnings found only in horror movies, but they carry on regardless. As expected, the furry beast is alive and well and mangles the explorers one by one until the predictable final showdown. The monster isn't shown very often and looks silly when it finally shows up, but there is a fair amount of atmosphere, and the stars are always fun to watch. Director Val Guest 's career continued to slide from its 1940's highs until, by the '70s, he was making leering nonsense like The Au Pair Girls . — Robert Firsching
Edition Details
Series Hammer Collection
Chapters 22
Release Date 5/23/2000
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio 2.35:1
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono
Layers Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 4/2/2002
Owner Thomas Eisenmann
Store Best Buy
Purchase Price $19.99
Condition Excellent
Reviewed Widescreen Review
Bit Rate 192 KB
Anamophic Yes
Links IMDB

Features
Anamophic
Audio Commentary with Director Val Guest and Writer Nigel Kneale
Theatrical Trailer
Exclusive "World Of Hammer" Episode Entitled Peter Cushing

Widescreen Review
Story Synopsis:
Forrest Tucker and his exploration team travel to the Himalayas to rendezvous with botanist John Rollason (Cushing) in search of the man-beast known as Yeti or...The Abominable Snowman. Isolated on a snowbound peak, the group discovers that the race of giant monsters really exists and that they are capable of invading the thoughts of human beings. (Laurie Sevano)

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 2.32:1 DVD exhibits good quality, especially when compared to the LaserDisc reviewed in Issue 33. The imagery exhibits finer detail than is apparent on the LaserDisc, though edge enhancement is noticed throughout. The gray scale is nicely presented with good contrast and a nice gradation between deep blacks and bright whites. The picture is occasionally hard-edged, with apparent pixelization and artifacts. Overall, the picture is quite pleasing for its age. Though bettering the LaserDisc, the DVD is generally mediocre compared to other anamorphically enhanced titles.

Soundtrack:
The Dolby® Digital 2.0-channel soundtrack is big fat mono. When ProLogic®-decoded, the audio is properly placed in the center channel. The soundtrack has been cleaned up to remove excessive background noise and other artifacts. The poor fidelity and the muffled sonic character interferes with the intelligibility of dialogue. It is clear from listening to this soundtrack that the original source was in poor condition.