Abominable (2006)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Ryan Schifrin

Writers:

James Morrison (story)
Ryan Schifrin (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Some Things Are Better Left Unfound

Plot:

A man, crippled in an accident, returns to the woods after rehabilitation, certain that he'll not see Bigfoot again.

Plot Keywords:

Woods | Bigfoot | Cabin | Police | Shower Scene

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Matt McCoy	...	Preston Rogers
Haley Joel	...	Amanda
Christien Tinsley	...	Otis Wilhelm
Karin Anna Cheung	...	C.J.
Jeffrey Combs	...	Clerk
Natalie Compagno	...	Michelle
Michael Deak	...	Monster (as Mike Deak)
Jim Giggans	...	Reporter
Paul Gleason	...	Sheriff Halderman
Ashley Hartman	...	Karen Herdberger
Lance Henriksen	...	Ziegler Dane
Rex Linn	...	Farmer Hoss
Phil Morris	...	Deputy McBride
James Morrison	...	Dr. Seussmeyer
Tiffany Shepis	...	Tracy

MPAA:

Rated R for monster violence and gore, language and some nudity.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Red Circle Productions

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: When one of the campers is grabbed by sasquatch.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Deputy McBride arrives on the scene, Preston tells him to "...bring in the calvary." He should have said "cavalry".

Quotes:

Clerk: Another Darwin Award comin' up.

Movie Connections:

References Jaws (1975)

Soundtrack:

Sunday View

"Sasquatch" meets "Rear Window."

Matt McCoy (perhaps best known as Commandant Lassard's nephew, from the last two "Police Academy" sequels) plays Preston Rogers. A paraplegic widower, whose wife died six months before the opening credits, in a mountain-climbing accident. This has left him with agoraphobia (fear of the outdoors), which his psychiatrist has ordered him to face, head on, at the old mountain cabin.

Accompanying him is Otis, a somewhat patronizing physio-therapist. And, while he goes shopping for some non-allergenic milk, five gorgeous young women arrive at the ritzy cabin next door, for some kind of bachelorette party weekend.

Wouldn't you know it? That's when the local Bigfoot arrives, as well. And, the first victim it takes is Karen, the blonde who's more addicted to cellphones than that spokes-guy in the commercials.

Pres doesn't know it was the Monster until he sees its glowing red eyes. The first time: peering at him from the edge of the woods. The second time: peering at him right through the glass of his own backporch window, after he's been forced to tranquilize the disbelieving Otis!

Finally, we get to see the Monster full-scale. And, that's where my two-point deduction comes in. The movie's title kind of described the prosthetic Bigfoot costume! Sorry, Mr. Deak. But, that get-up made you look like a Jack Elam impersonator, with hypertrichosis, more than anything else.

Even so, the rest of the movie was very suspenseful. I empathized with Pres' self-doubt; so much like William Shatner's, in the classic TWILIGHT ZONE episode, "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet." I loved the fairly big-name cameos by various SF veterans (especially, Lance Henriksen). And, there was only one gratuitous nude death-scene, among the five women. Thank you, SciFi Channel!

Practice is finally making perfect, with your made-for-TV movies.

Just a couple nitpicks, before I go. With all due respect to that "crypto-zoologist" interviewed on the Internet? Yetis and Bigfeet are supposed to be one-and-the-same things! Just separated, geographically.

And, the name of the nearby town; Flat Woods? Written as one word, that's the name of the actual West Virginia town that had the first-ever reported case of a 4th-class close encounter. In September of 1952 (five years and two months after Roswell)!