The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas Review

The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (1957) (DVD)

Director: Val Guest

*** Rating

To me, if anyone mentions Hammer Films, I usually think of Peter Cushing and the many roles he has had in their films. Some people may have seen their 70s classic, but they overlook a lot of their older work, such as this one. The Abominable Snowman started out as a T.V. series call "The Creature" written by Nigel Kneale. Cushing even reprised his roll as British scientist, John Rollason for the movie.

The film follows Dr. John Rollason (Peter Cushing), his wife, Helen (Maureen Connell), and a colleague, Peter Fox (Richard Wattis), who have traveled to a remote location in the Himalayas, ostensibly to study rare plant specimens. However, Helen and Peter soon learn that John had an ulterior motive, when he reveals that a ragtag group of explorers, headed by Dr. Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) are on their way to meet up with John. They plan to lead a small expedition further into the mountains, in search for the infamous abominable snowman, or Yeti.

I really did enjoy this film. The beginning comes across as being slow, but it setups the tension that will develope later on when the men are on the mountain, hunting for the Yeti. Though most of this film was shot in Hammer Studios in the U.K., one would never know with such well made sets. The Pyrenees in France were a well chosen stand in for the Himalayas. Guest takes the Jaws approach to his monster and shows very little of it throughout. The filmgoers imagine works better than anything that can be designed by production. This film is different from most Hammer Films, because the monster isn't really monsterous. The Yeti seems like a misunderstood giant, hiding in the mountain, waiting for humans to die off so they can live in peace. Very different from later Hammer Films. Cushing turns in a great performance as usual, though if you haven't seen any Cushing films, this is not the one to start with.

The musical score was written by Humphrey Searle, his only score for Hammer Films.