A Botanist looks to satisfy his scientific curiosity by joining an expedition into the Himalayas in search of the fabled Yeti but instead discovers the unfriendly side of human nature. Val Guest adroitly directs this science fiction/horror hybrid in which Nigel Kneale’s intelligent screenplay is more concerned with philosophy and morality than action set pieces. Guest keeps the story moving while the characters pontificate and disagree over moral issues. In Hammer fashion, the film’s low budget is pushed to the maximum with grand set designs such as the Lama’s abode and his Buddhist sanctuary while expertly splicing in stock footage and second unit work to sustain the illusion. It’s not perfect but works rather well. Peter Cushing is excellent as the Botanist Dr. John Rollason who is imbued with compassion, knowledge and curiosity. Forrest Tucker is the ugly American Tom Friend, a role that allows him to deliver his lines like a punch in the face, a man as thick in the head as he is in the torso. The peripheral characters each give excellent performances and seem fully invested in the story: I take this as a sign of the Director’s brilliance as Val Guest has helmed some of the best Hammer films!
The story involves Dr. Rollason serendipitously joining Friend’s expedition while studying fauna in the Himalayas. It’s inferred that he knew Friend’s group was coming and had planned to join while not sharing this information with his wife and cohort. He soon discovers that the expedition isn’t out to collect scientific knowledge but to capture a live Yeti and transport it back to a sideshow for profit. The group is soon faced with strange sounds and footprints high in the mountains and left with strange psychological impressions. Rollason theorizes that the creatures may be psychic and able to influence their minds and perceptions. Soon all Hell breaks loose! A Yeti is shot and killed, and its brethren come back to claim the body. Violence and madness ensue mostly off camera (budget restraints, no doubt) but we’re left with the wake of turmoil and confusion amid the explorer's demise…one by one. Finally, Dr. Rollason is confronted by the towering Yeti and their sad eyes, full of wisdom and grace, impart their true intentions. As the lone survivor, he tells the Lama that he failed to discover the Yeti, but we know it’s either a purposeful lie or he was “brainwashed” by the psychic powers of the Hominid.
If we’ve inherited the Earth, it is but for a brief time, poisoned by radiation and destroyed by greed, while another species waits high in the virginal Himalayas biding their time. I suspect they will make a better world than we have.
Final Grade: (B-)
