Abominable - Entsetzlich

I have a category of movie I call a "Good, bad movie". You'll either get that statement or you won't. If you are a real movie buff, you'll appreciate the value of a good, bad movie. This is a really cool twist on the Big Foot mythology. I saw this on the Sci-Fi channel and I expected some of their usual crapola. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Certainly this isn't a masterpiece or anything. But for the obviously small budget, it was very well done. The FX were cheesy, but adequate. The script was average. But the basic plot and the cinematography set a mood that really sucks you in. It's gripping, suspenseful, and doesn't drag or bore you. Matt McCoy (Preston Rogers) was quite good, exceeding his B list status. And Haley Joel (Amanda) didn't settle for being the dumb bimbo that this part was probably written to be. She actually had a touch of depth to the character.

If you want to huddle under a blanket with your significant other and have an entertaining, suspenseful evening, I recommend Abominable.

Also, make sure you don't miss the final scene. No spoiler here, but I have to say that the final shot of the movie was B movie brilliance.

Tachyon

Matt McCoy (perhaps best known as Commandant Lassard's nephew, from the last two "Police Academy" sequels) plays Preston Rogers. A paraplegic widower, whose wife died six months before the opening credits, in a mountain-climbing accident. This has left him with agoraphobia (fear of the outdoors), which his psychiatrist has ordered him to face, head on, at the old mountain cabin.

Accompanying him is Otis, a somewhat patronizing physio-therapist. And, while he goes shopping for some non-allergenic milk, five gorgeous young women arrive at the ritzy cabin next door, for some kind of bachelorette party weekend.

Wouldn't you know it? That's when the local Bigfoot arrives, as well. And, the first victim it takes is Karen, the blonde who's more addicted to cellphones than that spokes-guy in the commercials.

Pres doesn't know it was the Monster until he sees its glowing red eyes. The first time: peering at him from the edge of the woods. The second time: peering at him right through the glass of his own backporch window, after he's been forced to tranquilize the disbelieving Otis!

Finally, we get to see the Monster full-scale. And, that's where my two-point deduction comes in. The movie's title kind of described the prosthetic Bigfoot costume! Sorry, Mr. Deak. But, that get-up made you look like a Jack Elam impersonator, with hypertrichosis, more than anything else.

Even so, the rest of the movie was very suspenseful. I empathized with Pres' self-doubt; so much like William Shatner's, in the classic TWILIGHT ZONE episode, "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet." I loved the fairly big-name cameos by various SF veterans (especially, Lance Henriksen). And, there was only one gratuitous nude death-scene, among the five women. Thank you, SciFi Channel!

Practice is finally making perfect, with your made-for-TV movies.

Just a couple nitpicks, before I go. With all due respect to that "crypto-zoologist" interviewed on the Internet? Yetis and Bigfeet are supposed to be one-and-the-same things! Just separated, geographically.

And, the name of the nearby town; Flat Woods? Written as one word, that's the name of the actual West Virginia town that had the first-ever reported case of a 4th-class close encounter. In September of 1952 (five years and two months after Roswell)!

Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy) heads back to his cabin in the mountains for the first time since an accident left him paralyzed and took his wife's life. With his nurse in tow, Preston makes his way into the high wilderness. Sadly, Preston's nurse is a useless imbecile named Otis (Christien Tinsley), who thinks that Preston is just a big baby, as well as an unwanted burden.

While he's getting settled in, Preston sees that a group of fun-loving, young women have arrived at the cabin next door. As night falls, having been abandoned for the day by Otis, Preston realizes that something else has also arrived. While he watches, in helpless REAR WINDOW fashion, his new neighbors suffer the brutal attacks of the titular titan.

ABOMINABLE is a pretty good take on the Bigfoot phenomenon. This yeti is no joke! It's no lumbering giant, and is very quick. It also has quite the tendency toward savage mutilation! The monster is well-realized and menacing.

McCoy is convincing in his role, and the rest of the cast is serviceable as monster fodder, including the wonderful Tiffany Shepis, who has the second best death scene in the movie, literally going "head over heels"! The best such scene involves Otis' "big headache", which will make gorehounds giddy with glee!

Some fantastic cameo appearances add to the fun, including Dee Wallace-Stone, Lance Henriksen, Jeffrey Combs, and Paul Gleason!

Overall, not bad, although, the one question that kept coming up was, "Don't cabins have curtains?"...

I saw the end of this on the Sci-Fi channel when it first came out and figured it was crap. And while it is pretty much crap, when I watched it yesterday, I realized it's crap with style and some sweet effects. I usually hate everything that the Sci-Fi channel sponsors but this one got my attention for some reason.

The acting isn't great but it isn't terrible either. I thought Jeffrey Combs was awesome and Matt McCoy was pretty good. Everyone else was average or worse. The story is pretty good and it was very interesting watching the special and seeing that influence came from Rear Window which is an all time favorite of mine. The gore was pretty sweet and I thought the creature looked pretty cool. I also enjoyed the ending. CHeck this one out for some B-movie fun!

Kudos to writer / director Ryan Schifrin for doing his part in keeping monster movies alive: this is actually a pretty good horror film in general, and one of the better efforts in the "Bigfoot / Sasquatch / Yeti" sub genre. It benefits from some good shocks *and* suspense, solid atmosphere, a real sense of isolation, and a formidable monster.

Schifrin is able to put a spin on his film by crossing it with "Rear Window", in which the protagonist is a paraplegic (ever-likeable Matt McCoy as Preston Rogers), who's able to tell early on that something scary is going on. He's returned home to his mountain cabin, in the company of a jerk caregiver named Otis (Christien Tinsley, also the films' creature and makeup effects designer), and notices that some attractive young women have taken up temporary residence in the cabin across from him. However, he realizes that a monster is in the area, and has to rely on his own wits since any attempt to contact authorities is met with disdain.

Veteran monster actor Mike Deak plays the creature, who's given an appropriately ugly visage by Tinsley. This particular Bigfoot is VERY nasty, and very stealthy. One of the best moments occurs when Preston looks out his window, and the creature is looking in at him. Another unqualified highlight is a characters' demise around the 77/78 minute mark. Gore hounds will laugh in appreciation.

The film isn't free from flaws, or the usual quota of truly dumb characters, but overall it's definitely enjoyable. One of its main assets is a spooky score by veteran composer Lalo Schifrin (the directors' father), and it DOES have a sense of humor to go with the chills. (Lance Henriksen, playing a hunter, tells a story of a Darwin Award winner, and then proceeds to make the classic dumb horror film mistake of wandering off on his own.)

McCoy gives a creditable, low-key performance in the lead role, and Schifrin populates his story with guest appearances by a variety of familiar faces: Jeffrey Combs, Paul Gleason, Rex Linn, Phil Morris, Tiffany Shepis, Dee Wallace. Schifrin himself can be glimpsed as a gas station attendant. For a guy who's usually not an actor, Tinsley is quite amusing in his portrayal.

Good fun from start to finish, with a priceless final shot.

Seven out of 10.