Review of Abominable

It seems like writer/director Ryan Shifrin put a lot of time and energy into lobbying and trying to convince famous B-movie icons to make guest appearances in his long-feature debut film. And with great success, I must add, since "Abominable" features no less than 4 relatively big and popular names of the horror/cult movie business. It must be quite impressive to sit in a bar with your friends and be able to say that you managed to recruit Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, Paul Gleason and Dee Wallace Stone for your first film! But does it honestly matter that much, really? The roles of these four hardly qualify as cameo appearances and their added value to the plot is zilch. Instead of focusing so much on these guest appearances, Shifrin perhaps should have put even a bit more thought in the script and main character drawings. The story definitely shows potential and more depth than your average Bigfoot/Sasquatch flick (traditionally a sub genre full of hideous stinkers…), but eventually it still lacks something. The story centers on a man returning to his cabin in the Flatwoods, severely traumatized and condemned to life in a wheelchair following a terrible mountain climbing accident in which he lost his beloved wife. Quite a shame, because according to Jeffrey Combs' sleazy character she was a fox! He rapidly spots a giant hairy monster with spooky eyes amidst the trees, but his cynical male nurse doesn't believe him and the four sexy babes next door assume he's just a sick pervert when he's waving around his binoculars and trying to get their attention. Yes, "Abominable" is actually a bit of a mixture between Hitchcock's classic "Read Window" and low-budget budget backwoods horror. Three of the four babes (including Tiffany Shepis, so nudity guaranteed!) are butchered rather fast, but our crippled whiny hero teams up with the – cutest- remaining girl and makes a run for it. The plot is silly and predictable, but at least it's never boring and there even are a few notable moments of suspense if you keep your expectations low. The Bigfoot creature looks like a sleazier and trashier version of Harry (from "Harry and the Hendersons") and has the ability to swallow someone's entire face in one single gulp! Speaking as an avid blood & gore fanatic, I think "Abominable" should have shown a lot more beastly massacres and grotesque make-up effects. Maybe next time Shifrin could try to spend less of his budget on cameo appearances and more in the gore department.