A Sasquatch would never parade his crime in front of an open window.
Abominable (2006): 9 out of 10: Abominable is a 2006 American horror film directed by Ryan Schifrin. The movie blends elements of creature horror with classic slasher tropes, delivering an intense survival thriller centered on the legendary Sasquatch (or Bigfoot or Yeti or Abominable Snowman. I seem to use them interchangeably below).
The film follows Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy), a man with a spinal cord injury who returns to his remote cabin in the woods six months after a traumatic accident that killed his wife. Confined to a wheelchair and cared for by his disinterested nurse, Otis (a delightful Christien Tinsley), Preston gets out the binoculars and goes all James Stewart.
Across from his house is a group of young women on a bachelorette getaway. However, their vacation turns into a nightmare when they become the target of a massive, bloodthirsty sasquatch. Through his binoculars, Preston watches in horror as the creature picks off the women one by one.
Ignored by the police and his nurse, the wheelchair bound Preston desperately tries to contact the girls to save thier lives.
The Good
The Good: It is a slasher film, but instead of Jason, we get a Sasquatch. And it is a real Sasquatch, not some normal sized guy in an adapted monkey suit.
But there is more. First, this is a ridiculously loaded cast. Paul Gleason (Die Hard), Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), Lance Henriksen (Aliens) and Jeffrey Combs (Beyond Re-Animator) with some recognizable character actors and some great performances by the bachelorette girls.
Abominable hits all the high points of a good slasher film, quality gore (check), unstoppable monster (check), plenty of cannon fodder (check), well lit shower scene (check).
But then Abominable does something that elevates it. It borrows from Rear Window of all things and creates a wonderful puzzle box where our wheelchair protagonist, that people think might have gone crazy due to grief, is the only one to see the monster and cannot get word out to those he helplessly sees attacked.
I have often said if you are going to make a film, a good script doesn’t cost more than a bad one. There is no reason not to have a kick ass story. Abominable has a kick ass story.
The Bad
The Bad: If Abominable has a weak point in the casting department, it unfortunately is our lead, Matt McCoy. He seems a bit of a charisma black hole in this one. And he is on screen a lot.
Even when the script seems to write a meet/cute romance with final girl Haley Joel, he simply cannot pull it off. I think a large part of the disappointing ending is because of the lack of connection between those two.
The Ugly
The Ugly: There is a post credit scene that is inexplicably before the credits. If you watch creature features, you know the drill. What is more disappointing in the actual ending with Matt and Haley going off in different ambulances and the movie just seems to end with no genuine connection between the two.
In Conclusion
In Conclusion: This is a superb movie. I don’t like Bigfoot movies. It may be because of my childhood trauma of watching Rankin/Bass’ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and being scared out of my mind by The Abominable Snowmonster of the North.
Whatever the reason, it has never been my cup of tea. I love the monster in Abominable. What I love even more is the fine tuned watch like set-up to create the perfect circumstances for some delightful set pieces.
It is as if the filmmakers went to the Bigfoot movie with an old-fashioned eighties slasher film mentality and then mixed in quality screenwriting and acting. A home run choice with a solid cast and a lot of fun on screen.
