Snowbeast

SNOWBEAST is about the Rill Ski Lodge, its 50th anniversary celebration, and the huge, hairy monster that wrecks it all.

The wanton slaughter starts right away, leaving unwary skiers slumped on the slopes. Of course, lodge owner, Carrie Rill (Sylvia Sidney) won't entertain the idea of closing the place down. After all, what are a few deaths, when a winter carnival is at stake?

Enter Gar and Ellen Seberg (Bo Svenson and Yvette Mimieux). He's an 8 foot tall man in need of a job and a confidence boost, and she's his long-suffering wife. Can they put their soap opera marriage on hold long enough for Gar to help track the creature? When 9 foot tall Sheriff Paraday (Clint Walker) gets involved, it takes a while to convince him, and then the hunt is on.

As made-for-TV, killer Bigfoot movies go, this one's not too bad. It's also fairly talky, and has several lengthy shots of people just skiing along, like they're in a travelogue.

THE BEST PARTS ARE: #1- When the beast attacks the lodge, ruining the night for the winter carnival queen! #2- The monster's assault on the sheriff's camper! The yowling yeti unleashes an avalanche of -conveniently placed- logs that defy physics and all logic, by hopping into the camper sideways!

A frigid feast of furry fun!...

As you have read Snowbeast is an awful yet endearing "Yeti" film with an all-(ex)star cast. The shockingly familiar "JAWSesque" plotline is quite at home on the slopes of Crested Butte complete with a washed-up Biathlete (that's the ski and shoot type not...you know), a doubting sheriff, a nervous ski-lodge operator, and the usual cadre of hapless and nameless victims... Oh, and a big guy in a fur suit with scary hands to play Bigfoot.

Other reviewers have mentioned the unintentional humor which abounds here. The script was written by Outer Limits' Joseph Stephano with Roger Patterson as consultant. Patterson is eminently qualified as he was responsible for that now famous shaky film of Sasquatch marching through the woods we've all seen too many times. Since Patterson's Bigfoot looks a lot more convincing than the one in Snowbeast he maybe should have been consulting with the make-up department. He seems to know a thing or two about dressing actors up as manbeasts. Stephano is a great TV writer in most cases. He pulled this off in a couple of days I would think.

While some B-movies are for the aficionados only this one is for everybody. Anyone of any age watching this will appreciate it's lack of merit and it's almost purposeful lack of sophistication. It's silly but fun and might make your next trip to a lonely ski slope a little tingly, if you could find a lonely ski slope anywhere in the country. If you want to see what they used to look like check out "Snowbeast."

This was filmed partially in Crested Butte, Colorado for the ski slope shots, and 30 miles away in Gunnison, Colorado for fill shots. They shot the 'Winter Wonderland' High School dance sequence in the gym at the high school. This was a pretty big deal for all of the students. A real "Hollywood" movie! I remember Yvette being very petite and very quiet during her on-camera parts. One of the shots has Bo sitting in the middle of a bunch of students in the bleachers. Look close (and quick) and you'll see a geeky guy in glasses behind him. I remember wearing a bright shirt that day. We all had to sign the waivers and promise to be polite and quiet. The director would lay out what was going on in that particular shot and how we were supposed to act. They replaced the glass in one of the gym doors so the Beast could stick his arm through it. They seemed to be careful to not let us see the whole beast. Only parts of it. Bo was a large guy, as I remember. And nice. I was a freshman or sophomore at the time so this was being filmed in the 1976-77 time frame. My friends dad was principal at the time. I remember him being very stressed about all the diversions. Not education friendly I guess. But it was a neat learning experience in another way. And I get to say I was in a movie with Yvette and Bo. Thanks.

For a low budget, made-for-TV movie from 1977, this one packs quite a wallop. Sure, we never really get to see the monster and there is an abundance of non-professional extras on hand, but the lead performances (Bo Svenson, Yvette Mimieux and Clint Walker) are just fine. There are two very strong qualities which take this film into the recommendable range. One is the excellent location photography. Sure, the Colorado mountains are gorgeous, but the stedicam work around the slopes really add to the tension. Second is the musical score. It is just excellent, so far about the norm for a TV movie of the era. I don't have the composer credit at hand, but it's my guess that there was a connection between him and Joseph Stefano, who wrote the film and was a veteran of Outer Limits, also noted for its engaging musical score. Anyway, between the music and the swooping camera work, this film is often genuinely creepy, almost from the first few minutes. And bless her sweet soul, isn't Yvette gorgeous? She sure grew from the Time Machine into a beautiful woman. Final word: it's hard not to notice the plot similarity between this feature and Jaws. Made two years after the Spielberg classic, we're still dealing with a monster on the loose and a town that doesn't want to admit it for fear of losing tourist dollars. Maybe Jaws on the Slopes would be a good subtitle here.

I watched this on DVD after acquiring a 10 pack called "Vault of Horror". I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. The acting ranges from competent to embarrassing, you never really see the monster, the storyline apes Jaws from scene to scene, but somehow it works if you watch it in the right frame of mind. Most of all it brought back memories of my childhood of watching those low-budget 72 minute TV movies they used to show from 8:30 to 10:00.