Available On Demand and coming soon to BluRay and digital download from WellGo USA!
Directed/Written by Gene Gallerano, William Pisciotta.
Check out the trailer here!!
It’s 1947 and after one expedition to the Alaskan wilderness ended with the entire team of explorers going missing, another excursion consisting of a team of experts is put together to rescue the missing team which includes billionaire Meriell Sunday Sr.(Corbin Bernsen) puts together a team of experts, including two soldiers (played by Linc Hand and Jim Cummings), an explosives expert (Gene Gallerano), son of the billionaire Merriell Sunday Jr. (Eric Nelsen), and gifted cartographer Ellie Bannister (Brittany Allen). Ellie’s estranged father Hollis Bannister (William Sadler) was on the earlier excursion, giving Ellie a personal investment in the trip, though she hasn’t seen him for years. Once in the Alaskan wilderness, the team gets lost, but eventually is able to track down the cabin where the team was last seen and a not-so mythical creature known as the Yeti.
THE YETI is a classically-made, practical effects-laden, good old creature feature. And they just don’t make movies like this anymore. Well, they do. But usually films of this sort have a very low budget, so they are bound to have the seams of production and lack of funds show though here and there. While most likely, THE YETI was made on a limited budget, filmmakers Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta make the best of it, making the film look as if it could have been made in the fifties and sixties, the golden age of the creature feature. So there is the feeling that certain sets are used and reused, such as the wilderness spot where the explorers stop to rest and argue seeming to be the same spot where the climax takes place and any other scene that takes place in the woods for that matter. It’s little things like that that annoy nit-pickers, but only endears me to the film for being creative on a limited budget.
One of the other things that occurs in creature features is that you always had to wait to see the monster. While there were snippets here and there—a clawed paw slashing an innocent, a shadow or a quick glimpse of the creature, it wasn’t until the last act that we actually see the monster. It’s a stable of creature features, mainly because the monster wasn’t really that scary once the curtain is pulled back. Well, though they do hold back a good view of the monster until late in the game, the good news is that the Yeti looks damn intimidating once it is revealed, towering over the explorers, covered in realistic fur and sporting an articulated face and not just a monkey mask. A lot of work was put into this practical effect and it looks the part. It seems, in certain scenes, the monster is worked as some kind of puppet with the mouth and large arms being moved by artists offscreen. It reminded me a bit of the way Ludo from LABYRINTH moved in certain scenes.
I usually don’t look at other reviews, especially those on IMDB, as the “reviews” seem to be made by the worst of the remedial class, but I made the mistake of peeking and seeing a lot of people ripping all over THE YETI for all these factors I listed before. Those who are ripping on this film for being low budget simply haven’t seen enough horror movie and definitely haven’t seen the sheer amount of horrible Bigfoot movies available out there. THE YETI may not have the largest budget, but the filmmakers have been able to recreate that awesome, Saturday afternoon movie creature feature vibe perfectly. And I love it.
What adds to the quality of THE YETI is a cast to die for. First you have two elder actors, Corben Bernsen and William Sadler as explorers with conflicting views on how to treat the monster they are hunting. These two actors are definitely not phoning it in with Bernsen offering a fierce performance as Merriell Sunday Sr. and Sadler plays some heart-warming but gruff beats as well. But that’s not all THE YETI has in star power. Filmmaker Jim Cummings is charismatic, yet unique as the laid back soldier who fancies the lead, Ellie. He’s not playing your typical hero-type, but still stands out in the cast. Finally, Brittany Allen, who was last seen as Dexter’s mother in DEXTER: ORIGINAL SIN, embodies classic Hollywood beauty. She looks like a cross between Grace Kelly and Toni Collette here, showing tragic beauty, but still comes off as tougher than most in her group of explorers.
I’m going to give THE YETI four feets and three toes.
Sure, I’d have liked to have seen more Yeti too, but what I did see, I liked a whole lot. THE YETI offers strong performances from its cast, a fun story, and enough bits and pieces of Yeti to entertain. Though it isn’t big budget, it shoots for the stars and turns out to be a wonderful ode to creature features of old. If you grew up loving those old monster movies, THE YETI is going to be a whole lotta fun.
