Snowbeast (1977)

Load of rubbish!!

hyped garbage

Disapointment

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This pretty typical made-for-television thriller plays as you would expect it to and never deviates from that clichéd 'monster movie' plot line : small, isolated attacks lead to a remote locale being attacked by unstoppable monster. Heroes hunt the best while young females scream and die. Hold your fingers up while we tick off the plot points: we've got the authorities who will do anything to cover the story up (check), we've got the nosy female reporter who risks her neck (check), we've got stupid people going off on their own to investigate and getting butchered (check), we've got an attack in a popular place leading to screaming crowds and general chaos (check), we've got stilted acting, unnecessary padding, and lots and lots of B-movie atmosphere.In the thirty years of similar television movies which followed this, nothing much really changed. You can guarantee that there will be no sex, violence, or profanity; and you just know that for the "horror" effect we'll get to see some brief glimpses of brutalised corpses to whet the appetite. These come and go with little effect. Where the film does succeed is the splendid location - we're in the snowy mountains here, and at every opportunity we get location shots of forests, slopes, mountain tops, and endless masses of snow. Having been in similar locations myself (except without the snow, this is Britain we're talking about) I can vouch for the silent, menacing atmosphere in these sort of places and you can almost feel something lurking in the bushes, just out of sight, ready to pounce.Okay, so it's atmospheric. What else does this anaemic thriller have to offer us, besides the endless shots of people skiing, that is? How about the hilariously cheesy acting of the three leads. Bo Svenson "stars" and sleepwalks his way through a career in oblivion as a past-it skiing champion who hasn't been on the slopes in ten years - yet predictably finds himself confronting his inner demons and biting the bullet when the time comes for him to. Let's face it, you can't get much more wooden than this, folks. What about the local lawman, a butch guy known only as "Tony", who appears to have been picked for his male model looks rather than any acting skill whatsoever (there were lots of '70s actors around like this). For the female lead, who better than than middle-aged Yvette Mimieux (so alluring in THE TIME MACHINE). These B-movie types are fun to watch and there's even a not-bad Clint Walker on hand as a tough sheriff.Elsewhere we get plenty of poor actresses screaming loudly as they get attacked, far too brief shots of the yeti's ugly mug as he jumps out of the darkness, and a really tacky gimmick which has just about every scene fading into a blood-red colour (trust me, this gets old very quickly). And check out that cheesy dialogue: "I'll be able to identify her when I see her face", "She ain't got one!". The "thrilling" ending has the wounded yeti (shot several times) being stabbed to death with a ski pole - not exactly a glamorous way to go. In all, SNOWBEAST is good fun, and when all is said and done, you can sit back and watch all the JAWS rip-offs to enjoy yourself. Not bad at all.

A bigfoot-type creature in the snow upsets people on holiday.Generally speaking, I don't review horror films but the horror element here is very mild, in fact this could almost be described as a dumbed down episode of The Outer Limits (1963-65) but filmed in colour. In fact Outer Limits writer Joseph Stefano wrote Snowbeast.The music here is vital as we hear so much of it, the composer also scored TV's Fantastic Journey (1977) and Wonder Woman (1978) so he really knew what to do with music in fantasy TV.The snow locations, the music, the creature itself all come together to make this well worth watching, but maybe they could have cut out about 10 minutes of character-making conversation (aka small talk) as I found myself looking at my watch a few times. But all in all: good stuff!

This is in the Drive-In 50-pack Collection. I remember seeing this one on TV a long time ago. I watched recently and the film is adequately good. One of the better films in the Drive-in pack to me.The film is not your top-notch Hollywood Horror film but it is worth watching if you are a fan of horror and Bigfoot / Yeti (Abominable Snowman). Just keep in mind when watching the movie is was made for TV in the 1970s.The story is mediocre, nothing extraordinary, but the film does have a story. It's not overrun by a Yeti just out killing people which is good to me. I like a good horror story not a monster on film just mindlessly killing throughout the film.I would say worth watching if you ever catch it on TV or acquire it in a film pack.6.5/10

An annual Colorado skiing event is terrorised by a Yeti.Not to be confused with 2011's Snow Beast. Veteran TV director Herb Wallerstein's 1977 outing is a competently made, poor mans, TV version of Jaws but doesn't reach the summer blockbusters depth, tension or flair. Written by Joseph Stefano (who wrote the screenplay for Psycho) offers the expected slow talky dialogue which is broken up by the occasional glimpses of the Yeti, Bigfoot-like Snow Beast. Robert Prince music is fitting, notable is a set up where the beast is glimpsed at a window which it then smashes through in front of a hall full of children and skiers. Endless Snow beast POV shots aside, the snowy on location shoot adds atmosphere with cinematography from Frank Stanley. The acting is of its time but better than today's low budget attempts and the man in a suit and real looking blood is still more effective than the bad CGI Syfy channel productions being put out.It has higher-than-usual production values especially considering it's a made-for-television movie. As Yeti films go, it's worth checking out especially for those wanting a 70s fashion nostalgia ride.