This is a rather interesting movie from Hammer Films. Despite the studio being known for its horror movies, this one really isn't--especially since it turns out that the Yeti are rather gentle creatures and the humans are the monsters! Much of the reason it isn't a horror film is because at of 1957, the studio hadn't yet switched their focus to horror. I really think if they'd made it just a few years later, the focus would have been quite different.

Although Forrest Tucker received top billing, clearly Peter Cushing was the lead in the film. Cushing agrees to go on an expedition led by Tucker but ultimately discovers too late that Tucker is an idiot! Instead of a serious expedition to determine if the Yeti exists, it's a one-man crusade for glory and riches--no matter who is hurt in the process. The film really excels when it comes to human interactions as people are the most horrible things in the film! And, when you finally do see the Yeti face to face, you rather feel sorry for it! There isn't much I didn't like about the film. At first, I thought the writing was bad because members of the expedition behaved so stupidly. However, this later was logically explained. About the only quibble, and it's minor, is that it was obviously filmed in a studio as you could not see the people's breath and the snow, at times, looked a bit unreal. Still, the film was intelligently written and interesting and ending on a note that made you think.

The Abominable Snowman has adventurer Forrest Tucker and botanist Peter Cushing in the Himalayas looking for the elusive and shy creature the Sherpa natives call the Yeti.

The Sherpas have a healthy respect for these creatures as they seem to possess some powers and abilities that apes or man don't have. Just where on the evolutionary ladder are they?

It turns out that Tucker is something of a bunco artist and not what his billing says he is. Cushing is the only one on the trek who has concerns for the yetis themselves.

An interesting a good film from British Hammer Studios.

Hammer's first 'real' horror film – this one preceded THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN by a few months – is a quaint, quintessentially '50s monster movie, with a typical British slant: the focus is on the psychology of the characters involved, rather than pure action and thrills as you'd expect from the Hollywood equivalent. As a result, this film is quite slowly paced (although not leaden) and short on the actual adrenaline of man-vs-beast action, but nevertheless it proves to be an efficient exercise in increasing tension, helmed by the able Val Guest.

Peter Cushing takes the lead role of the kindly scientist, whose idea is to capture and study the Yeti, rather than use it to make money through entertainment. Essentially, he plays the same type of dedicated good guy as in most of his Hammer horror films, and he's great as usual. Forrest Tucker is the American co-star, his presence here to draw in the overseas markets; he's the mountaineer with a ruthless secret and essentially the film's villain. The rest of the cast are made up of pretty women (Cushing's wife),scared natives (the Sherpas) and stuffy British types (get a load of that guy 'Foxy').

The movie is well shot and has a fair few effects shots; all of them are cheap, and you can see how most were created, but they're nevertheless charming. The Yeti is wisely hidden for most of the film, only appearing in a brief shadowy instance at the climax, and is all the more thought-provoking and weirdly disturbing for it. The plot, when all is said and done, is little more than a threadbare mystery a la Agatha Christie, with the cast being picked off one by one whilst the Yetis lurk and howl in the background. The plus side is that Nigel Kneale's script is excellent and the human psychology of the key players is always true-to-life, just as in the QUATERMASS films; as a result, this low-budget movie is actually a lot better than it probably should be.