Abominable
With 42,000 sightings in 68 countries, the elusive woodland creature known as Sasquatch, Yeti, and Bigfoot is one of the most enduring natural mysteries ever known to man. Hunted by humans for hundreds of years, the formerly reclusive man-like beast strikes out against his would-be captors in a mountain-based tale of survival and horror starring Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, and Dee Wallace-Stone. Years ago, mountain climber Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy) suffered a terrible injury that left him wheelchair-bound in his remote cabin. Something strange is happening in the woods these days, though, and if Rogers holds out any hope of saving the lives of either his neighbors or the young college girls on a weekend retreat to the California mountains, he's going to have to convince the skeptical Sheriff Halderman (Paul Gleason) that something sinister is happening amidst the thick foliage of the forest and that numerous lives will be lost if they don't act fast. more..
Director: Ryan Schifrin
Starring: Matt McCoy, Haley Joel, George Andrews, Karin Anna Cheung, Jeffrey Combs
Ryan Schifrin's first film is a pleasant surprise, an old-fashioned monster movie that relies more on genuine suspense than bare breasts and blood.
Abominable goes completely over the top into an Ed Wood-meets-"Rear Window" subspecies of giddy, gory amateurish abandon.
Schifrin wisely holds off showing the monster -- because once the creature is revealed, the already shaky film takes a turn for the worse. The costume for the monster looks like a cross between a drugstore Halloween mask and leftover molds from the horror chestnut "Leprechaun."
The movie, which opened last week in Seattle and opens Friday in Los Angeles, isn't so much getting a release as an escape. The movie is directed, shot, acted and outfitted with special effects -- such as that guy (Michael Deak) in the monster suit -- so as to make American International horror films of the late '50s and '60s look like sophisticated gems.
Ryan Schifrin's first film is a pleasant surprise, an old-fashioned monster movie that relies more on genuine suspense than bare breasts and blood.
Best Music Score
Austin Fantastic Fest (2006)
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