‘Half man! Half monster!’
The Snow Creature – promoted as Snow Creature – is a 1954 monster movie produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder (Fright; Phantom from Space; Killers from Space), based on a story and screenplay by Myles Wilder.
It was the first modern era yeti/abominable snowman-themed movie. The use of the Los Angeles storm drain system as the film’s climactic setting can also be seen in the 1954 giant ant film, Them!
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Botanist Frank Parrish (Paul Langton – It! The Terror from Beyond Space; The Incredible Shrinking Man; Invisible Invaders) and photographer Peter Wells (Leslie Denison – The Return of the Vampire; The Son of Dr. Jekyll) lead a scientific expedition to the Himalayas.
The team encounter and capture a yeti with the help of Subra (Taru Shimada – War of the Worlds; Revolt of the Zombies), a revenge-seeking sherpa whose wife has been captured by the creature.
The yeti is taken back to the United States, but escapes from a refrigerated unit and runs havoc in the Los Angeles sewers…
Reviews:
“With a storyline so utterly bereft of imagination, The Snow Creature could be the work of only one man: W. Lee Wilder, Billy’s monumentally untalented brother. The movie is cheap and tacky and stupid, all of which I can forgive. It’s also mind-numbingly boring, and that I can’t.” And You Call Yourself a Scientist!
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” …nothing is made of the original concepts or the LA scenes. Long minutes are wasted with people plodding over one mountain range or another, or sitting and talking about rudiments […] Well, it’s got some nice footage of propellor planes.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
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“Beyond the singularly tacky monster suit (it’s nothing but a bunch of cheap furs sewn haphazardly together), the excessive reliance on voice-over to propel the story, and a cast that deservedly spent most of its respective careers playing characters with names like “Farmer,” “Policeman,” and “Japanese Ambassador,” The Snow Creature suffers from the deadliest of all shortcomings. It’s boring.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
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“The Yeti was big and ferocious looking if one overlooked the cheap costume (you could see folds in the fabric as it walked). But it never challenged a male unless cornered, even ones half it’s size. Didn’t mind jumping females though. Killed one and chased another. But all off screen. We heard a couple of screams, but no actual footage.” Not the Baseball Pitcher
Choice dialogue:
“Suppose you did kill one. How would you know it’s the one you’re after? If there’s one yeti there must be a whole civilisation, or a whole tribe of ’em.”
Cast and characters:
Paul Langton as Frank Parrish
Leslie Denison as Peter Wells
Taru Shimada as Subra
Rollin Moriyana as Leva
Robert Kino as Inspector Karma
Filming Locations:
Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: The Telltale Mind | VHS Collector
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