I really wish the TV channels here would show more films like this in the ghetto slots rather than the cheap American TV movies that are usually screened. For me then this was a rare chance to see an early Hammer Horror movie and the great Peter Cushing's first of many with the studio, into the bargain.
I liked many aspects of the movie, not least the unexpected ecological strain to the narrative culminating in a neat plot twist at the end. Sure, the five man team hunting Bigfoot are reduced to one as per horror tradition but interestingly not one of them is ripped from limb to limb or eaten alive as might have been expected. Neither is the Yeti posited as the unthinking eat-now-ask-questions-later creature I was expecting but is instead portrayed as almost "homo-superior" with the hunting homo-sapiens in an interesting deviation from the norm, shown as being the barbarians.
The appearance of the Yeti itself is artfully shielded from the viewer, even after the team kill one with its looming close-up at the climax not shown full-face. Instead therefore, of rooting for the humans in pursuit, it's the innocent Yeti with whom we're meant to feel sympathy with the obvious comparison with modern-day man, as then, either seeking to capture rare beasts for commercial exploitation or more brutally just vaingloriously hunting them to extinction, giving the story relevance today, with our world of ever-diminishing creatures.
There's a nice ambiguity in the final scene where the viewer isn't quite sure if last-man-standing Cushing is willingly or unwillingly covering up the Yeti's existence.
I was impressed with the conveyance of the snowy mountains of Tibet, even if I was always aware of the set-bound nature of the close-up shots. The acting too was very good, with Hammer's usual mix of American and British actors trying to get them a toe-hold I would imagine in both English-speaking markets. Cushing is best as he's the only principal who avoids occasionally hamming it up, but by and large the ensemble playing is very good. Val Guest's direction includes plenty of atmospheric dread and cleverly puts suspense before horror in moving the story forward.
I really must keep a weather eye out for more Hammer films of the era, especially if they're of this high standard.
I liked many aspects of the movie, not least the unexpected ecological strain to the narrative culminating in a neat plot twist at the end. Sure, the five man team hunting Bigfoot are reduced to one as per horror tradition but interestingly not one of them is ripped from limb to limb or eaten alive as might have been expected. Neither is the Yeti posited as the unthinking eat-now-ask-questions-later creature I was expecting but is instead portrayed as almost "homo-superior" with the hunting homo-sapiens in an interesting deviation from the norm, shown as being the barbarians.
The appearance of the Yeti itself is artfully shielded from the viewer, even after the team kill one with its looming close-up at the climax not shown full-face. Instead therefore, of rooting for the humans in pursuit, it's the innocent Yeti with whom we're meant to feel sympathy with the obvious comparison with modern-day man, as then, either seeking to capture rare beasts for commercial exploitation or more brutally just vaingloriously hunting them to extinction, giving the story relevance today, with our world of ever-diminishing creatures.
There's a nice ambiguity in the final scene where the viewer isn't quite sure if last-man-standing Cushing is willingly or unwillingly covering up the Yeti's existence.
I was impressed with the conveyance of the snowy mountains of Tibet, even if I was always aware of the set-bound nature of the close-up shots. The acting too was very good, with Hammer's usual mix of American and British actors trying to get them a toe-hold I would imagine in both English-speaking markets. Cushing is best as he's the only principal who avoids occasionally hamming it up, but by and large the ensemble playing is very good. Val Guest's direction includes plenty of atmospheric dread and cleverly puts suspense before horror in moving the story forward.
I really must keep a weather eye out for more Hammer films of the era, especially if they're of this high standard.