Snowbeast (1977)

Snowbeast (1977) is a made-for-TV turkey in which hunky ski-lodge manager Tony Rill (Robert Logan), his old friend and former Olympic ski pro Gar Seberg (Bo Svenson) and wife Ellen (a silver-haired Yvette Mimieux, nearly unrecognizable from her memorable appearance as Weena in The Time Machine, 17 years earlier) take on a murderous snow yeti that's threatening to derail the annual winter carnival.

Even though it's written by Outer Limits alumni Joseph Stefano (who happened to have penned my favorite episode of that brilliant series, The Forms of Things Unknown), it's an utterly forgettable film, which makes me wonder why I still remember it after happening upon it some Saturday morning in the late 70s (no doubt broadcast on the local monster matinee show, KPHO's The World Beyond).

The yeti itself doesn't look too bad, for what you see of it, but Snowbeast's most notable aspect is its almost embarrassing resemblance to a film that came out a few years earlier and enjoyed some popularity... a little sleeper hit called Jaws. Snowbeast hits more than a few notes that will resonate with Jaws fans.

Jaws: Opens with a tourist, or "summer girl", getting killed by an unseen monster while swimming alone.

Snowbeast: Opens with a winter girl getting killed by an unseen monster while skiing alone.

Jaws: The authorities investigating the disappearance of the first victim find only partial remains, the audience seeing only a bloody arm lying on the beach.

Snowbeast: The authorities investigating the disappearance of the first victim find only partial remains, a bloody arm lying in the snow.

Jaws: The figure of authority at the beach, Mayor Larry Vaughn, denies the seriousness of the situation, so as not to cause a panic before the town's Fourth of July festivities.

Snowbeast: The figure of authority at the ski lodge, owner Carrie Rill, denies the seriousness of the situation so as not to cause a panic before the lodge's Winter Carnival.

Jaws: Fishermen catch a shark, mistakenly thinking its the one that has been doing all the killing. Protagonists Matt Hooper and Martin Brody, confident the wrong shark has been caught, want to cut it open and examine its stomach, but are denied permission.

Snowbeast: Local authorities shoot a bear, mistakenly thinking it responsible for the killings. Protagonists Gar and Ellen Seberg, confident the wrong animal has been killed, want to cut it open and examine its stomach, but are denied permission.

Jaws: The killer shark disrupts the Fourth of July celebration, causing a panic on the beach in which children and old people are stampeded.

Snowbeast: The killer yeti disrupts the Winter Carnival celebration, causing a panic in the lodge in which children and old people are stampeded.

Jaws: Determined to kill the shark, our three leads head out in a small boat to its territory, hoping to lure it out of hiding. The shark eventually severely damages the boat, stranding them.

Snowbeast: Determined to kill the yeti, our three leads head out in a small RV to its territory, hoping to lure it out of hiding. The yeti eventually severely damages the RV, stranding them.

Jaws: Forced to work around a temperamental mechanical shark that didn't often perform as expected, director Steven Spielberg used skillfully staged POV shots to imply the presence of the shark without having to actually show it.

Snowbeast: Forced to work around a mediocre yeti costume that apparently wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny, director Herb Wallerstein used POV shots to imply the presence of the yeti without having to actually show it. HOWEVER... unlike in Jaws, Snowbeast relies so heavily on these shaky-cam POV shots, you start to wonder if the yeti costume got lost in mid-production.


Here are some more fondly remembered snowbeasts...

The Forms of Things Unknown (1964, The Outer Limits)

"The Forms of Things Unknown", one of my favorite episodes from one of my favorite anthology series, the classic The Outer Limits.

Apparently originally intended to be a pilot episode for a new series before being welcomed to the Outer Limits canon as the final episode of the first season, "The Forms of Things Unknown" is a uniquely beautiful and haunting episode.

After poisoning playboy and would-be blackmailer Andre (Scott Marlowe) with a spiked martini, Leonora (Barbara Rush) and Kasha (Vera Miles) are transporting his body through the storm-whipped French countryside when Leonora becomes convinced that he's still alive. After popping the trunk and finding Andre’s lifeless body, Leonora flees hysterically into the wet forest, convinced she saw him blink.

Kasha pursues her through the rain until coming upon a secluded house occupied by a blind servant, Colus, (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) and a wild-eyed young man, Tone Hobart (David McCallum), who claims to have invented a time machine. Not a traditional time machine that neatly transports passengers into the past or future, but one that operates under impenetrable rules, causing “things” from the past to tumble temporarily into the present. The most recent “thing” to tumble through is Andre, alive.

“Forms...”, directed by TV veteran Gerd Oswald, is notable for its dramatic use of light and shadow, obscure angles, sweeping camera movements and wild hand-held shots, all of which combine to give the episode a surreal quality that distinguishes it amid the already impressive standards set by the series as a whole.

Watching this episode, its hard to believe this was merely a television episode. Check out these gorgeous screen caps.

The ladies are delivering their poisoned cocktail to Andre, who has ordered them to bring it to him where he stands, waist deep in a lake.

Nervous Leonora lights a cigarette.

Kasha checks the trunk.

In pursuit of Leonora.

A lightning flash reveals an ominious figure to the audience, but not to Kasha.

Wandering in the night.

The women sense something is wrong upstairs.

Colus lets them into the parlor.

Leonora tries to recall a detail of the night's adventure.

The mysterious Tone and Colus.

Tone's time machine would look at home in an exhibit of modern art. It's never entirely clear what the machine is doing. Apparently in an earlier draft, the "machine" is revealed to be nothing more than a useless creation of the mad Tone. But in the final episode, it is definitely doing something supernatural.

Andre "tumbles" into the present.

Kasha (in shadow) prepares to bury Andre's body.

A whimsical trinket.

The time machine is in a room at the end of this hall.

Kasha and Leonora plot their next move.

Colus opens the door for Kasha.

When Leonora first enters the time machine room, the image is inverted, exactly as it appears below, suggesting the disorienting nature of the invention.

Leonora is caught up in forces she can't comprehend.


This episode is available on DVD on the The Outer Limits (Original Series) Season 1, Vol. 2.