This is a film that can easily be classified as an instant cult classic, and it deserves to be seen with a large tub of popcorn and, of course, a crate of beer! We’re talking about Ryan Schifrin’s feature-length directorial debut, Abominable, which will undoubtedly conjure up images of Alfred Hitchcock. If you’re a fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 mystery film Rear Window, you’ll get brownie points. However, because of its particular cryptid taste, this one just gets better.
A creature of myth and folklore, known by dozens of names, is on display. Some refer to it as a ‘Yeti,’ while others refer to it as a ‘Sasquatch,’ and still, others refer to it as a ‘Bigfoot.’ Imagine what happens when a creature that has been seen 42,000 times in 68 countries chooses to hunt us down and there is nothing you can do about it.
So, be ready for today’s video, in which we’ll go into Abominable in great detail.
Some Things Are Better Left Unfound – Abominable (2006)
A farmer and his wife are seen suddenly waking up in the middle of the night after the former hears some kind of noise coming from outside. Thinking it to be coyotes, he decides to go outside armed with a gun along with his wife and their pet dog. Outside, they are shocked to see one of their quarter horses lying dead and from the look of things, it surely seems to have been attacked brutally.
Billy is certain that this cannot be the work of a coyote or even a bear for that matter. All of a sudden, their dog runs off straight into the jungle and it is clear that something there has attacked it too. Next, with the sound of loud footsteps approaching them, Billy along with his wife Ethel rush back inside their cottage. Just when they think that they have lost whatever that was outside, they are able to see its shadow and realize that the creature is right outside their cottage. The duo can hear it heavily grunting and decide to wait it out. Once they are sure that it’s gone, they go outside only to be appalled to see the large footprints that the creature has left behind.
The next morning, a duo of men is seen making their way towards a town called Flatwoods. They stop at a gas station and one of them is seen buying some groceries. While paying for the stuff, we learn from the gas attendant bits and pieces of a tragic accident that the man inside the car had met with, one that caused him the death of his wife. The two men are eventually introduced to us – paraplegic patient Preston Rogers and his home care nurse, Otis Wilhelm.
They are here to spend the next three days at Preston’s remote cabin up in the woods. With them finally reaching his cabin, Preston is flooded with dreadful memories of the accident. Otis helps Preston get settled in the house when it dawns upon him that he has forgotten to pick up soy milk for the latter. With Otis heading back to town to buy milk, Preston sees another car parking in front of the cabin next door. A group of girls step outside the car and head over to the next cabin, they are here for a bachelorette party.
It’s almost night, and Otis still hasn’t returned. As Preston waits for him near the window, he sees a telephone pole outside collapsed. He takes out his binoculars and looks again. There lies the pole on the road and he just cannot make out how it happened. This results in the phone not functioning too. On hearing some kind of a strange noise, he goes outside to investigate taking his binoculars.
He sees Karen, one of the girls outside trying to get hold of a reception. She is finally able to make a call and Preston is seen keeping an eye on her through his binoculars. As Preston cleans the lens of his binoculars, something comes out of the woods and makes off with her. When he looks back, he doesn’t find the girl anymore. Preston goes inside to get a torch and next find her cell phone lying on the ground.
As he starts looking into the woods using the torch this time, he sees something moving there but cannot clearly make out what it is. While he tries his best to alert the rest of the girls in the next cabin, they don’t pay heed to him and one of them even calls him a pervert. Preston is able to hear heavy footsteps again and he looks into the woods using the torch one more time.
As he sees a pair of glowing red eyes staring right back at him, the torch falls out of his hands. Frightened, he slowly makes it inside his cabin and switches off most of the lights. He is certain that there is something out there and that he isn’t imagining things. He shoots a mail to the Flatwoods Police Department telling them his address and how he thinks that a ‘creature’ in the woods abducted the woman next door. Otis arrives and Preston tells him that there’s something out in the woods but he doesn’t believe him. Instead, he starts fixing something for dinner.
Meanwhile, the farmer from the beginning of the movie along with the gas attendant and another man are seen somewhere in the middle of the woods pursuing the creature. Each of them has different versions of the monster; the gas attendant tells the rest that his grandfather saw it once and that it only comes out after dark. With the gas attendant hearing some kind of noise, the other man, Ziegler, gets up and loads his gun.
He is seen going into the woods and following a trail of what looks like blood. This leads him inside some kind of a cave and Ziegler decides to investigate. As he goes deeper inside the cave, he is startled to find Karen lying there with her stomach ripped out. With Ziegler telling her that he will get help right away, Karen tells him not to leave her and that something is coming back.
The creature comes back and drags Karen deeper inside the cave. Ziegler is able to make it back to the group and warn them but even with their armed guns, they are no match for the creature. Billy is the first one to get ambushed followed by Ziegler and the gas attendant.
Back at the cabin, Preston is able to send a message on Karen’s cell phone alerting the girls, who start panicking. They are not able to file a missing complaint against Karen as it isn’t 48 hours so they head back into their cabin. The girls are seen getting into an argument regarding whether to step out and look for Karen or not and they decide to give it another 15 minutes.
Preston is able to get a look at the silhouette of the monster and wakes Otis up who of course does not believe him. Tracy, who is seen taking a shower, is the next one amongst the girls to get attacked by the monster, the latter grabbing her through a very small bathroom window and pulling her out. Preston upon watching this is absolutely horrifying and tells Otis that they have to get out of there.
Otis thinking he is making everything up in order to go back home as he never really wanted to come to the cabin in the first place decides to calm him down by sedating him. He is about to jab Preston when the latter takes out the syringe from his pocket and injects Otis. Of course, it knocks Otis out for good. As Preston turns towards the window, he sees the monster’s dreadful face appearing right outside. The sight of the creature roaring at him knocks him unconscious.
The next scene shows the Flatwoods Police Department receiving Preston’s email. In response to his mail, a few telephone calls have been made but they could not get through because the lines are down. An email has also been sent but there has not been any response back. With Deputy McBride asking Sheriff Halderman if they should be checking him out, the latter tells him not to do so while saying Preston isn’t the same as before post his tragic accident and that he is probably imagining things up. Coming back to Preston, he regains his consciousness.
The creature has disappeared by then and Otis is still lying unconscious on the floor. He grabs hold of sharp ski gear for protection and comes across a mail from the Flatwoods Police Department clearly stating his previous email to them as a prank and that further violations will lead to a punishable offense such as heavy fines and a month’s jail time. As for the remaining three girls, they are horrified to discover that the whole bathroom is completely washed with blood and filled with pieces of broken glass.
Preston is able to leave another message on their cell phone and get their attention but the creature by then has already made its way inside their cabin breaking their front door. Preston is left with no options but to watch in horror as the creature starts attacking the girls one after the other giving them painful deaths. Only one of the girls is able to survive its wrath and make it inside Preston’s cabin.
Amanda is hysterical and in order to calm her down, Preston tells her about his tragic accident. The audience along with Amanda learns that about six months ago, he and his wife had gone on their routine climbs on the Suicide Rock when the cable that was supporting him and his wife snapped. As a result, his wife fell about 1000 feet below her death and Preston survived only to have his legs paralyzed.
Determined to survive this attack as well, Preston decides to lay a trap for the creature. He also tells Amanda to email the Flatwoods Police Department again while telling her at the same time not to mention anything about a monster. The power goes out just as she is about to shoot the mail and Preston tells her to grab the climbing gear. Amanda brings along an ax too for safety and informs Preston about the creature being right outside the front door.
Preston tells her to put on the rock climbing harness so that she can easily slide down the rope after him. With Preston down and Amanda climbing herself down, she suddenly starts getting pulled up by the creature. The beast is just about to kill her when Otis having gained back his consciousness calls the creature an ‘ass monkey’ and stabs it from behind. It goes without saying that this only enrages the beast further enough to bite Otis’ head. As it again starts to pull Amanda up, Preston tells her to unclip it and she falls free to the ground.
The duo somehow makes themselves inside Otis’ car and with Amanda starting the car, they find the monster right behind their car lifting their automobile up and not letting them escape. As the creature drops the car, Amanda speeds on the accelerator and drives away only to have the car crash into a tree. The accident has her flying through the windshield and landing on the ground. As for Preston, he is inside the car and he sees the creature walking toward Amanda.
Not knowing what to do, Preston blows the car horn and this scares the monster to an extent but very soon that feeling of fear turns into rage and he starts running towards the car from behind. Preston puts the car in the reverse and drives the car through the creature ramming it straight against a tree. The ax that Otis had stabbed him with was at the back of the beast all this while and as it gets slammed into a tree, the ax impales the beast eventually getting it stuck there.
Preston crawls his way towards Amanda who gains back her sense and together they leave the scene somehow dragging themselves. They are found by Deputy McBride, who arranges an ambulance for them. Sheriff Halderman also appears and decides to check out the woods with his officers. While the car is discovered rammed against the tree, no monster is found there. The officers start looking around and suddenly hear a crackling sound. As they turn around, they see numerous monsters with glowing eyes standing behind the trees and growling at them.
Abominable Snowman – Bigfoot
Hats off to the movie for entirely altering the personality of the creature, one that is otherwise believed to be a peaceful being unless it is provoked of course. What’s on display is a creature that is vicious, dangerous, and bigger than Bigfoot. From bragging superhuman strength, a ravenous appetite, an exceedingly destructive nature, and a merciless attitude, this abominable snowman here love to stalk and torture its victims.
It’s capable of killing many people at once; remember how it attacked Billy, Ziegler, and the gas attendant? Easily over 12 feet, this hairy creature displayed intelligence that’s bound to stun even humans for that matter. Well like it or not, it did destroy the telephone lines as well as the satellite ones so that neither Preston nor Amanda could ask the police for help. Also, let’s not disregard the scene which had it pulling Amanda up. You have got to be smart to come up with that!
Speaking of its abilities, biting off a human head is no big deal for the monster after all we know what it did to Otis. With an ability to stretch its jaws, its razor-sharp fangs were always also on display. Next, comes its claws, one swing of its claws and your wound is fatal. Then comes the fact of how easily it can invade inside cabins while breaking the main doors effortlessly. And, we all know what happens when it gains access inside. For those who don’t, most people end up dead.
Why Should You Watch The Movie?
Primarily, for three reasons! Firstly, for the monster on display. Secondly, for Neal Fredericks’ spectacular work of cinematography, and thirdly for six-time Oscar nominee and father of Ryan Schifrin, Lalo Schifrin’s brilliant background score. Coming to the monster, you do realize it is a man inside a suit, right? In case you were wondering, there is no usage of any computer-generated imagery here. The facial movements of the monster are via robotics and speaking of the grunts and growl made by the creature, it is the sound of a horse breathing but a slowed-down version.
We highly recommend that you give Abominable a definite shot!