The Abominable Snowman
The frontiers of knowledge push back the boundaries of ignorance, but there is only so much a man can learn in a lifetime, and some things are simply not meant to be known; Doctor John Rollason and his wife Helen along with their assistant Peter Fox conducting research into the hardy botany of the upper reaches of the snowy Himalayas, they are guests of the monks and Lama of monastery of Rong-Ruk who use the unique plants for their medicinal properties.
Joined by a second group led by ambitious American Tom Friend along with photographer Andrew McNee and trapper Ed Shelley, their interest in the treacherous mountain passes is of alarm to the Lama though Rollason tries to assuage the concerns of his host, but carrying a reliquary which contains a carved tooth which can only come from an uncategorised species Friend is resolved in his plans to find a specimen.
Helen furious but unable to dissuade him, with experience of the valleys her husband joins Friend, McNee, Shelley and guide Kusang on their ascent, the Sherpa a man who claims once to have seen the mythical Yeti, known to some as the Abominiable Snowman of the Himalayas, Rollason believing that rather than a missing link it may be an example of a parallel development to man, existing in isolation and subsisting on small animals and roots.
Directed by Val Guest who was already familiar with the ideas and scripts of Nigel Kneale from his adaptations of the television serials which became The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2, The Abominable Snowman was slightly different, The Creature a television play broadcast in 1955 with a comparable running time and so a more direct translation across the media with minor changes which were made by Kneale himself, and preserving several of the cast.
Peter Cushing, Arnold Marlé and Wolfe Morris returning to the roles of Doctor Rollason, the Lama and Kusang with the characters of Helen and Foxy (Maureen Connell and Richard Wattis) introduced for the film version in order to allow a more rounded production, the limitations of the already ambitious live television broadcast prohibiting parallel storylines, location footage was obtained by sending a unit of doubles in masks and goggles to La Mongie in the French Pyrenees, almost two kilometres above sea level, in January 1957.
The main production taking place in Bray for the sets of the monastery and Pinewood for the expansive mountaintops, dressed with artificial snow made of polystyrene and salt, the gentle and genuine scientific curiosity of Rollason is set against the pragmatic approach of the misleadingly named Friend played by Forrest Tucker, his true motives apparent as his cruel approach to life becomes clear, unwilling to leave without physical proof.
“Anthropoid X” presumed to have descended from a third lineage alongside the great apes and Homo Sapiens rather than being a “missing link,” with thirteen inch feet and perhaps standing eight feet tall capturing one is no small task, The Abominable Snowman another intelligent and humane script from Kneale which sees Rollason appalled to find he has been coerced into joining a hunting party but forced to cooperate in order that they might survive.
The Yeti and its cousin the Sasquatch of North America, and other cryptids such as the Loch Ness Monster and the Chupacabra distinct to the areas from where the stories sprang from, they are nevertheless universal, driving interest all across the globe, The Abominable Snowman and Friend’s determination to have his part in and draw profit from “the new age of awareness” partially inspired by a 1954 expedition sponsored by the Daily Mail to find one following the discovery of footprints during the ascent of Everest the previous year.
Friend’s irresponsible behaviour driven by a determination to parade his find on television, alive or dead, expressing the conflict of science and exploitation of the natural world, it is he who becomes the example of what Rollason terms “man the destroyer,” and also known as The Snow Creature and The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas it is a melancholy film of the sadness inherent in wisdom in the face of ignorance driven by the haunting wailing in the night drifting across the snows.
Restored by Hammer in 4K from the best available elements, The Abominable Snowman is supported by new commentaries with Toby Hadoke, Andy Murray, Toby Roan and Heath Holland, an archive commentary from Kneale, Guest, Marcus Hearn and Ted Newsom, an audio essay on monsters in film and a video essay on why “less is more,” new documentaries on the film, the now-lost original television play, the design and construction of the sets, cinematic cryptids, a discussion of the genre cinema of the era, an archive interview with Guest and photographs taken by Kneale when he visited the set.
The Abominable Snowman will be available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from Hammer from Monday 31st August
