Man Beast

This was the unequaled Jerry Warren's first production. He didn't write it so it's not as goofy as, say, "The Wild World of Batwoman" or "Frankenstein Island". For a low-budget B-movie it does alright for itself. There are probably too many shots of people hiking in the mountains, but the dialogue seems realistic in most scenes and the story does build nicely to an unexpected climax. In fact, Varga's revelation is kind of creepy. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to find it, but if it came across my path I'd check it out.

Got the video of this in a lot of horror films that we bought, and was surprised at how well done this little low-budget film was. It definitely stands as one of the better Yeti films of the period, most of them are fairly sluggish and without any real terror. This one is just over an hour, and has a nice pace with a concise story. Good acting by all except the female lead, good locations that are mostly realistic (except for some shrubs sticking out of the snow in an area where no shrubs would exist), fairly scary Yeti creatures. Some may not like the idea presented here that the Yeti are dangerous to humans, and perhaps prefer to think of them as kind and peaceful, how some other films portray Yeti, but let's remember that Yeti have not been proved to exist and are most likely imaginary creatures. Sorry to pop the politically-correct balloon regarding Yeti.

In Director Jerry Warren's MAN BEAST, a trio of climbers sets out on an expedition in the Himalayan mountains, in search of Dr. Eric Erickson. Once they find him, it's still quite a slog up the mountains in search of the brother of the only woman in the group (Asa Maynor).

Soon, sheer horror ensues. Well, sort of. When the titular terror finally makes its appearance, it's a bit underwhelming to say the least. However, though inept in every way, this film gets credit for being an early entry in the Bigfoot / Yeti / Abominable Snowman movie subgenre.

In spite of this, be prepared for soul-squeezing dullness beyond description. This is a Jerry Warren movie after all, setting the tone for all of his future brain hammers...

This wasn't that bad, you only have to sit through this film for only 67 minutes, its sort of a quick story about the growing popularity of Yetis, Abdominale Snowmen, the Sasquatch, etc... in the 1950s, which grew its highest in the 70s. "Man Beast" is a fun movie too watch if you're not feeling critical about movies at the time. ... Plus, there's not as much talk in this as there is in other bad 50s b-sci fi films.

Which is surprising, given the nature of schlock purveyor Jerry Warrens' subsequent output. This entry in the yeti genre of the 1950s may be silly at times and not 100% convincing, but it's also pretty atmospheric, even spooky. Granted, the appearances of the monster were laugh inducing for this viewer, but the effects certainly could have been worse. The acting isn't as abominable as one might expect, and the protagonists aren't unlikable people. In addition, there's a delicious revelation from our primary antagonist.

Working from a screenplay by B. Arthur Cassidy, Warren tells the tale of young and headstrong Connie Hayward (Asa Maynor), who launches an expedition into the Himalayas in search of her missing brother Jim, in the company of worrywart friend Trevor Hudson (Lloyd Nelson). They meet up with others in the area including Steve Cameron (Tom Maruzzi) and Dr. Erickson (George Wells Lewis), and come to learn that local stories about beast-men aren't as crazy as they might think. What's more, their guide, Varga (George Skaff), seems to have a hidden agenda.

This viewer admits that he had a pretty good time with this one, although it helps if one is partial to monster movies and horror features set in mountainous or snowy environments. Another good thing is that Warren ensured that the running time remained very brief; there are versions running both 63 minutes and 67 minutes. Only the resolution really fell short of being satisfying.

Incidentally, Maruzzi is actually billed twice, once under his own name and once under the phony matinée idol pseudonym Rock Madison given to him by Warren. The pretty Maynor can also be seen in "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", and co-stars Skaff and Nelson had pretty extensive careers afterwards; Skaff did other genre films such as "Frogs", "Exorcist II: The Heretic", and John Carpenters' 'Someone's Watching Me!', and Nelson became a frequent script supervisor and bit player in Clint Eastwood vehicles.

A decent watch overall.

Seven out of 10.