HomeReviewsBlu-ray Review: “The Abominable Snowman” (1957)

Blu-ray Review: “The Abominable Snowman” (1957)

Movies created by Britain’s Hammer Films, particularly the well-known “Hammer Horror” productions, are gradually being released on Blu-ray. Typically, these films debut on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom first.

Then, often after several months or even a few years, they become available in other parts of the world, including the U.S., often with similar transfers and additional features.

Some have even premiered in Australia before becoming available elsewhere. Surprisingly, “The Abominable Snowman,” the film adaptation of Nigel Kneale’s television play by Val Guest, had its initial release in Japan.

A legitimate home video release by Happinet, labeled “Hammer Films Legacy Limited,” showcases the movie in 1920 x 1080i high-definition format without any apparent restoration work.

The early 2.35:1 “Hammerscope” production is effectively displayed through this transfer.

Blu-ray Review: The Abominable Snowman

The film is an intelligent and gripping adventure-thriller, which is a particular strength of the writer, Kneale.

The first two of his “Quatermass” TV plays, “The Quatermass Experiment” (1953) and “Quatermass II” (1955), were both adapted into films by Hammer in 1955 and 1956, with Guest directing both.

Despite Kneale’s disapproval of condensing his longer TV serials into shorter feature films and the casting of American Brian Donlevy in the lead role, both movies are outstanding, with “Quatermass II” being considered one of the most intelligent and suspenseful science fiction films ever made.

Between these initial two Quatermass stories, Kneale also adapted George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (1954), a significant achievement in early British television drama that contributed to Peter Cushing’s rise to stardom.

Following this, “The Creature,” featuring Cushing as scientist-mountaineer John Rollason and rising film star Stanley Baker (Zulu) as the antagonist, Tom Friend, was released.

The play was inspired by recent mysterious reports about the Yeti, an elusive creature supposedly inhabiting the Himalayas.

Public interest in the Yeti peaked around the time Kneale’s television play aired, driven by Eric Shipton’s photographs of alleged Yeti footprints in 1951, Sir Edmund Hillary’s sighting of more footprints while ascending Mt. Everest in 1953, and a 1954 Snowman Expedition sponsored by the Daily Mail.

The Abominable Snowman
The Abominable Snowman (1957)

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The television play, which seems to have been presented as a standalone episode rather than part of the Quatermass series, is not known to have survived.

However, the movie remains mainly faithful to the TV version, with the main difference being the addition of two characters by Kneale: Rollason’s wife, Helen, and their colleague, Peter “Foxy” Fox.

These characters contribute to the film’s depth, adding complexity to Cushing’s character.

The story follows the Rollasons and Foxy as they collect medicinal botanical samples in the Himalayas while staying at a remote Buddhist monastery.

Unbeknownst to Helen and Foxy, John arranges to join a second expedition led by American Tom Friend to prove the existence of the Yeti.

The early scenes focus on Rollason’s conflicting emotions. While all three Brits respect the monks and their culture at the monastery, only Rollason fully embraces it, earning the respect of the Lama.

The Lama, however, tries to dissuade Rollason from searching for the Yeti, a sentiment echoed by Foxy and especially Helen, who distrusts Friend and his American trapper collaborator, Ed Shelley.

She also worries about her husband’s safety, as he had given up climbing after a severe accident.

Unlike other Yeti stories filmed around that time, the TV play and the movie suggest that the Yeti are an intelligent and advanced race, superior to humans in many ways.

The premise posits that the Yeti may have fled high into the mountains to evade a more violent humanity, patiently awaiting their inevitable extinction.

This idea, presented by Kneale, implies that man, rather than the Yeti, is the true monster, more violent and brutal than the barely-glimpsed white-haired giants seen in the film.

The Abominable Snowman
Blu-ray Review: “The Abominable Snowman”

The primary criticism directed at The Abominable Snowman is that the exaggerated greedy and brutish traits of the ironically named characters, Friend and Shelley, are excessive.

While Stanley Baker, who played Tom Friend in the TV version, was known for portraying villains at the time and may not have been much more subtle than Tucker, there is a possibility for such subtlety.

The inelegant and, at times, rude and crude portrayal of the American characters starkly contrasts the articulate, diplomatic, and cultured Rollason but lacks depth, especially when compared to the nuanced differences among the three English characters in the first act.

Despite Kneale’s heavy-handed approach to delivering his message, it remains legitimate, albeit lacking subtlety. Furthermore, Tucker and especially Cushing deliver convincing performances, making their characters believable.

Director Guest expressed dissatisfaction with Tucker, catering to the American market, but the issue lies not with his performance but with the character’s portrayal.

However, Robert Brown, usually known for his excellent portrayal of reserved, sometimes stuffy authority figures, seems out of his element and overly theatrical.

The film appears to have had a larger budget than other Hammer films of that period.

Guest was granted a 10-day second-unit shoot in the French Pyrenees for the climbing footage, complementing Bernard Robinson’s extensive sets primarily built at Pinewood.

While the reuse of components becomes noticeable after a while, the atmospheric lighting effectively conceals much of this.

The advantages of the Blu-ray format significantly enhance the viewing experience. Previously, an excellent 35mm print was shown at the Directors Guild as part of a festival sponsored by the American Cinematheque, followed by a good DVD release by Anchor Bay in 2008.

However, this new release offers a viewing experience much closer to the original 35mm presentation. The grand monastery sets at Bray Studios appear even more vast and impressive.

At the same time, Guest’s exceptional direction of the tense action in the desolate mountains is portrayed even better, with the characters appearing more isolated in the suffocating snowy wilderness than ever before. (Guest particularly excels in handling the film’s numerous nighttime scenes.)

The region “A” encoded disc presents an unrestored version of the film, displaying varying amounts of harmful damage from reel to reel and even shot to shot at times, as does the English-only audio.

The 2.0 Dolby Digital mono (advertised as stereo on the disc) is initially muffled but improves, with the volume also changing from reel to reel. The Japanese subtitles are removable.

Similar to the Anchor Bay disc, there are no special features. (Correction: As several on the Classic Horror Film Board have helpfully pointed out, the disc, actually released in 2000, did include an audio commentary track with Guest and Kneale, a trailer, and a “World of Hammer” episode, so it is advisable to retain that DVD and to cease relying on Amazon for DVD release data.)

The film was renamed The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas for its U.S. release. The Japanese Blu-ray discussed here is available under the title 恐怖の雪男.

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Ashish Maharjan
Ashish Maharjan
Ashish, a seasoned editor and author for World Cinema Paradise, intricately weaves creativity with precision in his writing, establishing himself as a prolific content creator. Renowned for clarity and captivating storytelling, Ashish has cultivated a devoted readership, driven by his unwavering passion for words and commitment to excellence.

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