Time for a little talk about monsters, kiddies...the things that are out there in the darkness and move about where we cant see them...one of those elements of horror cinema that is sadly falling away of late, but in the movie "Abominable" from back in 2006, Im of the opinion that at least the idea aint dead.
I recall when this movie first hit the Sci-Fi Channel...I was expecting yet another 'monster-of-the-week flick with substandard CGI effects, bad acting, and the token 'name actor whose career is floundering. I passed it by, relegating it to a "Rock Monster" or "Ogre" status, figuring I had missed nothing.
I cant remember if it was on "Chiller" or some other cable channel I was surfing the other night when I caught it just coming on...there wasnt anything else to watch, so I figured "why not?"
OK, us horror folks spend a lot of our time watching dreck, hoping against hope that on occasion, one punches through the gloom and turns out to be a genuinely inspired horror film...and I have to cast my vote for "Abominable" in this case.
First time director Ryan Schifrin took a hundred thousand dollar budget and made a film that looked like two million, easy. Obviously a project made with passion for the genre, the production values, acting, sound and cinematography were in a class that denied the lack of funds for this indie outing. You have a whos who of horror here: Neal Fredericks (The Blair Witch Project, among others) as the director of photography, a cast that includes Dee Wallace, Lance Henricksen, Paul Gleason, Jeffrey Combs, and one of my faves, Tiffany Shepis. The story is well-written and paced superbly, combining elements of Hitchcocks "Rear Window", and a dose of "Alien". The effects are inspired for the budget, and surprisingly gory in the uncut, theatrical version, and I thought the "Sasquatch" was convincing (although I agree with someone elses opinion that it looked a little like the old character actor Jack Elam, but hey, I thought HE was pretty creepy looking anyways). Heck, the sound editing was even done at Skywalker Sound, and the films poster was done by none other than Drew Struzan...a pretty impressive pedigree for a little independent film, and a sure sign that at times, all the stars align, and a diamond is formed from the coal that surrounds it.
The total package is a good old-fashioned monster movie done right and delivering the goods. Fans of suspenseful horror, gory monster flicks, and just a good time in front of the screen should definitely check this one out.
Time for a little talk about monsters, kiddies...the things that are out there in the darkness and move about where we cant see them...one of those elements of horror cinema that is sadly falling away of late, but in the movie "Abominable" from back in 2006, Im of the opinion that at least the idea aint dead.
