The search for Bigfoot has increased over the past few
years, in part fueled by the series FINDING BIGFOOT. Combined with previous
efforts to find the elusive beast we’ve seen how groups of people have banded
together to search for this creature. But before all of that there were movies
being made about not just the search but encounters with Bigfoot or creatures
like them. One of the most famous was THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK which fueled
the films of its producer/director Charles B. Pierce. Another was the schlock
drive in classic SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED. But one that rarely gets the
attention it deserves is ABOMINABLE.
Made in 2006 on a minor budget the film didn’t play many
theaters but became a hit on cable TV. I can remember it airing to little
fanfare but after watching it I was stunned. The movie is far better than one
would expect.
Matt McCoy stars as Preston Rogers, a well off young man who
lost his wife during a mountain climbing accident a year earlier that left him
bound to a wheelchair. His doctor feels that the best thing for him to do to
get over the sadness and guilt he still feels for his wife’s death is to send
him back to the cabin they shared near the mountain she fell from. Accompanied
by a less than sympathetic nurse named Otis (Christien Tinsley who also helped
with the creature effects) they reach their destination. Having forgotten a few
supplies Otis leaves Preston behind in the cabin for the short trip to town.
While he’s gone new neighbors in the cabin next door arrive,
a group of young women out to celebrate the impending wedding of one of their
group. Preston hears them arrive, stereo blaring and watches as they unload and
go into their cabin. He’s later caught looking at them through binoculars
making them assume he’s a peeping tom. Looking into the woods he’s stunned to
see a pair of red eyes looking back at him, bumps his chair and is knocked
unconscious.
After a nap Preston wakes wondering why Otis hasn’t
returned. Looking outside he sees a telephone pole blocking the road. Attempting
to alert the girls next door they assume he’s doing more window watching and
ignore him. One of the girls goes out to use her cell phone and after looking
away for a moment, Preston sees she’s disappeared and her cell phone is laying
on the ground.
A side note has three friends in the woods attempting to
track down the best that killed the dog belonging to one of them during a short
opening segment. As they do so they hear something in the woods. As one of them
tracks it down, he finds the first missing girl as well as the beast,
hightailing it back to the campfire and more fire power. But the odds of their
surviving are slim.
Unable to get to their cabin because of his condition
Preston is helpless to do anything but watch as the beast attacks and abducts
another girl which the rest later discover. He yells to them and attempts to
get them to his cabin but the beast attacks again. Not all will make it but one
does. Now Preston and the girl must do what they can to survive before the
beast returns.
Director Ryan Schifrin does an amazing job of telling the
story using glimpses of the creature throughout the film but finally delivering
with some great looking special effects to allow the viewers to see the
creature full on. This doesn’t cheat the viewer with a movie that never shows
the monster in question but is used sparingly leaving you wanting more. He
builds the tension nicely here, forcing the viewer to feel concern for Preston
who is unable to do much confined to his wheelchair but not giving in at the
same time.
While watching I kept thinking that the film felt like a
combination of Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW melded with a Bigfoot film. I was
pleased to find that this was what Schifrin was going for in the extras as he
talked about the film. It does so in such a way as to not be a rip off of the
classic film but putting its own twist on the idea and it works marvelously.
The acting is something that could have killed this movie.
In the hands of terrible actors the movie would have been difficult to watch.
Not to worry. McCoy does a fantastic job. Having seen him before I often
wondered why he was never a much bigger star than he was. Haley Joel as Amanda,
the girl that makes it to his cabin, also turns in a great performance. Her
character isn’t the standard dumb blonde bimbo here but someone capable of
helping Preston as the two of them face off against the monster. Familiar faces
to horror fans will be found here as well. Dee Wallace and Rex Linn are the
wife and farmer attacked in the opening sequence, Jeffrey Combs and Lance
Henriksen are the two friend accompanying Linn when they go searching for the
monster, Paul Gleason and Phil Morris are the sheriff and deputy respectfully
going to check on things and Tiffany Shepis is on hand to do what she does best
which is be a scream queen.
Without giving it away or supplying any clues one more thing
needs noted and that’s the ending of the film. Where some movies on the subject
leave you hanging or completely cheat you (as in WILLOW CREEK which I found to
be a major disappointment) this one delivers what I think is one of the
greatest endings of a horror film in some time. Enough so that I found myself
smiling before the end credits began rolling.
MVD is releasing this film as part of their MVD Rewind
collection, complete with old mom and pop video store packaging. Not only that
they’re releasing it with a brand-New 2K High-Definition transfer from the
original camera negative giving it the greatest looking picture possible on
screen. Extras are plentiful here with an audio commentary track with Schifrin,
McCoy and Combs, an introduction by Schifrin, BACK TO GENRE: MAKING ABOMINABLE
a featurette on the making of the movie, deleted scenes and extended scenes,
outtakes and bloopers, SHADOWS Schifrin’s USC student film, BASIL & MOBIUS:
NO REST FOR THE WICKED a short film written and directed by Schifrin with a
score by his famous father Lalo Schifrin, the original 2005 version of the
film, an improved version of the film with some minor alterations, the original
theatrical trailer, a poster and still gallery, a storyboard gallery and a
collectible poster.
This is a must have movie for both Bigfoot fans and horror
fans. It delivers on all levels. Even fans of suspense films will want to make
a point of watching this one. I know for myself I plan to keep this one handy
so I can enjoy it again in the near future. I truly enjoyed it and can’t
recommend it enough.
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