Deadly Descent

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

This begins as two mountain climbing men chat happily. They are about to become very, very sad. One appears to be killed by the "Abominable Snowman" of the title. The thing varies in size and looks more like a well-fed wolf than a snowman. It would be interesting to assume the "Abominable Snowman" eats people, but it isn't clear what happens. Next, solo skier Chuck Campbell (as Brian Tanner) hires helicopter pilot Adrian Paul (as Mark Haggerty) to take him to the top of the mountain. It seems strange that Mr. Campbell is left all alone to ski and we're assuming he's really there to find out what happened to the other man, or men. Campbell is followed up the mountain by his distraught sister Lauren O'Neil (as Nina Tanner) and leader-type Nicholas Boulton (as Rick McCabe). He organizes a team of younger actors to go up the mountain in Mr. Paul's helicopter and find the missing people...

Paul, the handsome "Highlander" star, smartly soaks himself in the local bar with a notably busty barmaid...

Those tagging along are frantic Elizabeth Croft (as Stacey), stressed Sean Teale (as Erlander) and cute Sam Cassidy (as Jon). They all have dramatic moments, with Mr. Cassidy sporting the best hairstyle. At one point, Ms. Croft is angry because Mr. Teale did not try to hit the "Abominable Snowman" with a snowball. The story is difficult to follow and the plot is confusing. Most of the cast has apparently fought together in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Like the Wars, the mountain has been claiming victims for years, and this must stop. If not, we could have an "Abominable Snowman II". Since so much of the story makes no sense, you should forget trying to figure out what has previously happened. One strength is the broadcast of this movie in color. When the main team is assembled, the colorfully styled uniforms help characterization. Best of all is Paul's helicopter, which stays dependably red.

*** Abominable Snowman (1/26/13) Marko Makilaakso ~ Chuck Campbell, Adrian Paul, Lauren O'Neil, Nicholas Boulton

In spite of what some say I don't think the core premise behind this film is a bad one.

Acting wise its not awful either and the story whilst basic, holds up well enough, setting the scene for big foot scares and action.

Where is falls down badly and really undermines everything else it tries to achieve, is in the special effects department. CGI is just bad. From the cheesy, poorly rendered big foot, that looks like a giant, rabid, hamster, to the awful, shiny plastic, helicopter effects.

If some extra thought and cash had been invested into how the creature's look and act plus other special effects, this could have worked quite well as an entertaining B-grader.

Sadly that's not the case, with the only "Deadly Descent", being one of farce.

3/10.

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.

That's how I found this garbage. I was a huge Highlander fan, the 1st movie and the TV show that is. Then it was canceled because Adrian Paul wanted to move on, do other things, damn did he aim low or what? That said, I'm also a Bigfoot fan, since the 70's with Legend of Boggy creek, campy, low budget movie, but a great film. That is why I sat through this movie. Dread man, dread. Dialog written by third graders, CGI by some teen on his laptop, and what was that creature supposed to be? I watched this so you, dear reader, won't have to.