As a huge fan of creature-features, I thought that a film regarding the myth of the ape-like Yeti/Abominable Snowman might be a particularly guilty pleasure. I hoped to see a movie tackle a lesser-pursued mythological creature in the way that Troll attempted to do an epic tale. Sadly, directors Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta surround the legendary beast with ridiculous characters, a weak storyline, and awkwardly gory moments in an attempt to create something cohesive, which The Yeti is not. While the lore of the beast keeps the entertainment value up, overall this production has very little to say by the time its horror-genre typical body count piles up.
The film centers around Ellie Bannister (Brittany Allen, The Prodigy) and Merriel Sunday Jr. (Eric Nelsen, Cottonmouth) as they take an expedition of explorers to go into the Alaskan mountains in search of their parents. What they find is a pair of abominable adversaries out for the hunt, tearing apart expeditioner after expeditioner. But what secret agitates the pair of ferocious Yeti? Truthfully, by the time this story reached its great reveal, I was already bogged down by lackluster writing and characters I could care less about.
Gallerano and Pisciotta find themselves with a premise that only gets the narrative so far. Good and evil are apparent from the start, with no particularly interesting plot turns or events to keep us invested. At best, The Yeti weaves familiar story beats; at worst, it uses immensely convenient plot developments to push us forward until the next Yeti slaughter. And sadly, the titular monsters of the film, while present, are mostly kept to cutaways and jump cuts, with only an occasional view of what the viewer was promised. Needless to say, this leaves very little in terms of creature action, and that stays true until the very end of the film.
For those horror fans simply looking forward to blood and guts, The Yeti certainly delivers that, as some of the sequences take their sweet, grotesque time sloshing across the screen. But for anyone who went into this film with the expectation of satisfying storytelling will walk away feeling robbed. The script just goes through the motions and by the end of it we are left with nothing more than the latest B movie, which splatters blood, and not plot, across the screen.
Adam Vaughn
Adam Vaughn is a graduate of the Film & Moving Image program at Stevenson University, with a focus in Cinematography and Production. He also has a minor in Theater and Media Performance. Adam works as a freelance photographer and videographer, focusing his craft on creating compelling photographic and cinematic imagery. Adam is excited to join the Film Festival Today team and explore the world of cinema and visual arts.