I revisited THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1957) last night for the
first time in years. My memories of the film were that it was a solid effort
but that it was slow and dry at times. This viewing proved I was wrong on both
counts.
I’ve not done a full survey but this might be the best Yeti
film of all time. The script is literate, involving and clever in its
narrative. Nigel Kneale was always a brilliant writer of speculative fiction
and my feelings that this story was one of his weakest were ridiculous. This
story shows all the hallmarks of his better-known works such as the Quatermass
tales and his 1989 adapted screenplay for The Woman in Black. He creates well defined
characters quickly and with the kind of details that build over the course of
the film. This approach is complimented by the usual intelligent direction by
the great Val Guest.
Guest is one of the under sung heroes of British fantastic cinema.
Responsible for a long list of classics including the first two Hammer
Quatermass films, THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961) and WHEN DINOSAURS RULED
THE EARTH (1970) he was always good at getting the right moments onscreen in an
exciting way. His crime and war films show his immense skill as well and I
highly recommend his lesser-known pandemic drama 80,000 SUSPECTS (1963) to see
how talented he was as a writer too. With these two men leading this production
it should be no surprise that the quality is very high and the resulting
picture is excellent. Maybe the last time I watched THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN I
was distracted or in a foul mood. Regardless, it is a fine movie and worth many
future viewings.
No comments:
Post a Comment