Deadly Descent (2013)

Must See Movie...

Memorable, crazy movie

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

RELEASED TO TV IN 2013 and directed by Marko Mäkilaakso, "Deadly Descent: The Abominable Snowman" (aka "Abominable Snowman") details events in the Washington Cascades after someone goes missing on Mount Glacier (Chuck Campbell) and his concerned sister (Lauren O'Neil) amasses a team to rescue him, utilizing the services of an alcoholic helicopter pilot (Adrian Paul). Unfortunately, their rescue effort is hindered by a couple of hulking, hairy beasts.Being a TV movie that debuted on Syfy, you can expect cartoony CGI, not just for the ferocious creatures but other things as well (e.g. the helicopter and explosions). If you can handle that, this is a decent entry in the Big Foot/Yeti genre. The tone is serious, akin to "Sasquatch Hunters" (2005) and "Sasquatch Mountain" (2006), albeit taking place almost entirely on the peaks during winter. While it's not quite as good as those two, it's not far off.The notable score has a reverent quality and Lauren O'Neil shines as the female protagonist. The director doesn't fail to respectfully highlight her beauty. The mountain scenery is magnificent and there's quite a bit of thrilling ski & snowboarding sequences. The second act has the protagonists held up in an abandoned ski lodge on the heights.The creatures, by the way, are never referred to as Yeti or the Abominable Snowman in the movie. The original title of the flick was "Deadly Descent" and the whole Yeti/Abominable Snowman element was added simply to market the movie. I'm sharing this for anyone who might complain that Yetis only dwell in the Himalayas, not the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.THE FILM RUNS 85 minutes and was shot in Bulgaria. WRITER: Nathan Atkins.GRADE: C+/B-

This is an okay movie for the SyFy channel. Most of their movies are not all that good in my opinion. This one is about a team of mismatched people who go after a missing brother/friend up on an Alaskan mountain. Two trekkers have disappeared on the high peaks. Guess why? Killed by a snowman, brown and huge no less. Now the question arises where does something so big not only get enough to eat but how would they maintain a viable population base? I know digression from the movie theme. Not so bad a film as some of the movies on this channel. Anyway several friends and spouses decide to go on a rescue mission after Search and Rescue can't find the missing brother/husband. Of course this leads to incidences that can not be figured out. One of the rescuers doesn't find the same track as the others and ends up falling in a crevasse (?). He now has a broken leg plus is spitting blood (sign of a punctured lung). So now the rest have to find a way to get the cripple out of the hole and transport him to safety. I guess they didn't bring any pain meds since the hurt guy just keeps screaming from time to time. The creature attacks the group on their way to safety and carries off one of he team. Now I don't know about you but if this were to happen in real life don't you think there would be not only sightings but if it killed like it does in this film hunters from the government trying to track it down and kill it? Returning to a semi-haven bar/resort where they find the missing guy. The entire group is now trapped in the building. So of course the animal attacks and injures one of the group. Trying to escape they run into another creature and retreat into the building. Now they are under attack and there is the typical panicked person. He is controlled and they now wait for the attack. The creatures break in and drive the humans back. Shooting at them drives them back momentarily but they return on the attack and drives the people back into another room. From this room the remaining people descend into the basement. The creatures leave with one of the guys. The remaining humans do what we do best, improvise a defense. They find three grenades and set up some traps which leads to them blowing up the building and the one yeti but some how the other one survives and chases them down the mountain. One by one the whole group has perished and it is now down to three. One falls and breaks his leg so the remaining two leave him with a grenade. Using it starts an avalanche but the big foot comes through it. They get picked up in a chopper and one of them throws a grenade down its throat which of course kills it. So-so movie in my opinion.

The opening sequence of this SyFy production confused me . With a title involving both Abominable and Snowman in the title I was fully expecting the action to take place somewhere in the Himalayas only to notice that the location didn't really look like the Himalayas . Not necessarily a criticism because how many science fiction films have you seen supposedly set on another planet often resemble Earth , especially a strip of land in California if it's a Hollywood movie or a sand pit in Surrey if it's a British television show . As it transpires the setting is indeed North America which leads me to think why is it known by another title when DEADLY DESCENT would be the more fitting name for the film ? Being a Syfy production you know what to expect and just to drive the point home it stars Adrian Paul so you really know what to expect - not much . It does contain all the flaws of the Syfy channel , one of Hollywood blockbuster standards and the budget of a TVM . This probably explains the oft quoted criticism on this page that the monsters are achieved via some very poor CGI that never convinces and one wonders if the producers could have just gone for men dressed up as monsters The story plays out as you'd probably expect with a team of people trekking out to a remote wilderness miles away from any potential help then suddenly realising they are being stalked by a danger that is not human . That said DEADLY DESCENT tries to stop being entirely predictable and is slightly more bleak and nihilistic than you'd probably expect and if it wasn't for the poor CGI might have been held in better regard on this page

Abominable Snowman (2012) * (out of 4) If you're expecting SyFy to make good on last year's horrible BIGFOOT then you're sadly going to be disappointed. A group of professional snowboarders and skiers take to the mountains to look for a couple missing friends but soon they run into the title characters. ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN is yet another horrid bigfoot/yeti/snowman movie and it's a real shame. I love the actually myth of the creature but it's just mind-blowing that so many of the films have been downright awful. I'll start with the good right up front. The performances here were actually much better than you typically see in a film like this. Now for the bad stuff. We'll start with the actual monsters, which are among the worst you're ever going to see. Last year's BIGFOOT turned the creature into an awful looking Godzilla-sized monster. This film here makes them look like something a cat would cough up in the middle of the night. The actual look of the creatures are perhaps the worst I've ever seen. We can start with the fact that they're never the same size as in one scene they'll be the size of a car and then the next scene they're bigger than a large tree. Their size changes throughout but their hairy look and design make them look like a bear. In fact, my three-year-old son came out of his room while I was watching this and called them a bear. Even worse is that the awful CGI has a blurry look to them and it's just so bad that you have to wonder who signed off on them saying they'd be okay for a movie. The story is all rather predictable but with the lack of comedy, scares or drama, the thing just feels slow and boring. Lets all hope that one day the genre gets these monsters right but at this point lets hope no more turn up on SyFy.