Snowbeast (1977)

Better Late Then Never

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

Not that great but not that bad. I thought it might be better considering the cast list. Then of course there is the script to consider also. They did a great job hiding the beast it's self. They used edge shots and a couple of long distance ones to portray, oh wait not really, the beast, plus the standard footprints in the snow. Why it would come out and start killing now is never addressed, especially why it is using humans as a food source. Bo Svenson and Yvette Mimieux play a married couple who have come to the ski lodge for Bo, an Olympic gold medalist, to ask for a job. Clint Walker is the sheriff and buys in to the beast about half way through the movie. This is after several people are killed and stashed in a barn as a larder for the beast. Poor old Clint gets killed in a calculated attack by the animal (?), Bo heads out to track it down, finds it and the beast ends up being killed from gun shots and a long fall . Even here there is no shot of the body so it is left to ones imagination as to what it looks like.

Aside from the blatant ripping off of Jaws (when they suggest cutting the first "monster" killed open I just about turned it off), the biggest problem this movie has is the mere seconds the Snowbeast has on camera. This probably was either because of a budget constraint or because the director decided to copy Jaws again and not reveal the monster too soon. But Jaws did have a long climactic battle where we see plenty of the shark, whereas Snowbeast just has our heroes repeatedly returning to the same barn and being surprised when the yeti attacks them again. Way too much of the later movie especially is seen from the creature's eyes, and we just don't see it enough. We don't even see its carcass at the end!