Abominable

Abominable
Film poster
Directed by	Ryan Schifrin
Produced by	Donna Cockrell Theresa Eastman Paul Spadone
Written by	James Morrison Ryan Schifrin
Starring	Matt McCoy Jeffrey Combs Haley Joel Christien Tinsley Ashley Hartman Tiffany Shepis Dee Wallace Karin Anna Cheung Michael Deak
Music by	Lalo Schifrin
Cinematography	Neal Fredericks
Edited by	Chris Conlee
Distributed by	Freestyle Releasing[1]
Release date	October 3, 2006
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Abominable is a 2006 American monster movie, directed and written by Ryan Schifrin. The film stars Matt McCoy, Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, Rex Linn, Dee Wallace, Phil Morris, Paul Gleason and Haley Joel. The film premiered on April 10, 2006 in New York City.

Plot

The film begins with a farmer named Billy Hoss (Rex Linn) and his wife Ethel (Dee Wallace) waking up in the middle of the night to unusual noises. They and their dog Sparky go outside to investigate, where they find a horse lying dead, violently ripped open. Their dog runs into the dark, and is attacked (and presumably killed off-screen), causing Billy and Ethel to run back in the house where they see a mysterious giant figure behind their home. Once the creature is gone, they come out again and find large footprints on the ground.

Shortly thereafter, a man bound in a wheelchair named Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy) stays in a cottage in the local woods while being watched and nursed by Otis Wilhelm (Christien Tinsley). A group of city girls named Karen (Ashley Hartman), Michelle (Natalie Compagno), C.J. (Karin Anna Cheung), Tracy (Tiffany Shepis), and Amanda (Haley Joel) arrive in a jeep with plans to celebrate Karen's upcoming marriage in the house next door. Though things may look peaceful, Preston, who lost his wife in the climbing accident that crippled him, begins to see something mysterious happening in these woods.

As night falls, a group of hunters, including Billy and a gas station clerk named Buddy (Jeffery Combs) who met Otis and Preston earlier, are out looking for the same monster that came to Billy's home, which they believe to be a deranged Sasquatch (Michael Deak). Ziegler Dane (Lance Henriksen), the third of the party, investigates when Buddy claims to have heard noises. He finds a cave and discovers Karen, who went missing when Preston saw something grab her. She is mortally wounded with her stomach torn open. When she is dragged away and killed, Dane runs out and warns the others. They open fire. One by one, the hunters are grabbed by the hiding monster and killed.

Preston tries to contact the local police after what happened to Karen. He sees that the remaining girls are looking for her. After trying to call the police, they head inside and promise to search for her later. But the Sasquatch returns and attacks Tracy, who had just finished taking a shower. As the monster pulls Tracy through a small window, snapping her in half and killing her, Preston tries to get Otis to see the creature, but it disappears. A disbelieving Otis attempts to sedate Preston, but Preston turns the tables and tranquilizes Otis. Preston then looks out a window: the creature appears, roaring at him.

After fainting in terror from seeing the beast up close, Preston wakes up, only to find that the police led by Sheriff Halderman (Paul Gleason) have responded to his initial inquiry, only to dismiss his concerns and warn him of using the line for pranks. He tries to warn the girls, who now discover Tracy gone and blood in the bathroom. The Sasquatch appears again, then heads further into the woods. Preston gets the girls' attention and warns them about the monster. After what happened to Tracy and Karen, they now believe him. He urges them to stay away from the windows and to call the police, but the beast invades their cabin. They hide: Michelle in the upstairs bathroom; C.J. in the bedroom closet; and Amanda, forced to take her chances, downstairs.

The Sasquatch hears Michelle in the upstairs bathroom, pulls her down through the ceiling, and mauls her. As it stomps through the living room, Amanda attempts to sneak out. C.J. runs into the room looking for her and screams at the sight of the Sasquatch, blowing their cover. C.J. escapes but Amanda is cornered, forcing her to leap through a window. A hysterical C.J. abandons Amanda and attempts to escape in the Jeep, but is unable to get it started. The Sasquatch overturns it. C.J. tries to rescue Amanda and get to Preston's cabin, but the Sasquatch knocks her to the ground and stomps on her stomach, killing her. Amanda is the sole survivor out of all her friends.

A traumatized Amanda runs to Preston's cabin; he quickly welcomes her in. Promising to protect her, Preston starts a plan to stop the creature from killing them both while Amanda attempts to contact police with a different message, this time about a "psycho killer", but the power goes out. The Sasquatch breaks into the cabin, and they both try to escape down the cottage's balcony using Preston's old climbing gear. The creature gets Amanda but is interrupted by an awake Otis, now knowing Preston was telling the truth, who strikes it in the back with an axe, causing it to drop Amanda. The attack does not kill it, and the enraged beast kills Otis by biting his face off. The Sasquatch continues to pursue the two remaining humans. As they get inside Preston's car, the survivors attempt to move but the creature has them and then releases the car. Amanda is ejected from the vehicle and onto the ground and knocked out. A desperate Preston then stops the monster from killing her by using his car horn which irritates the beast.

Preston then releases the brakes, causing the Sasquatch to get caught behind the car. Preston shifts gears into reverse and keeps pushing it until it is rammed to a tree, causing the axe from Otis' attack still stuck in its back to impale it. Preston goes after Amanda as the creature dies and the police finally arrive. After confirming dead bodies, Preston and Amanda are off to a hospital. However, the victims of the Sasquatch are not seen and the creature itself is somehow gone. Sheriff Halderman and his deputies then hear noises after a short search. He and his crew turn around to discover a group of Sasquatches growling at them from the trees as the movie ends.

Cast

• Matt McCoy as Preston Rogers
• Haley Joel as Amanda
• Christien Tinsley as Otis Wilhelm
• Karin Anna Cheung as C.J.
• Jeffrey Combs as Buddy the Clerk
• Natalie Compagno as Michelle
• Michael Deak as Bigfoot (credited as "Monster")
• Paul Gleason as Sheriff Halderman
• Ashley Hartman as Karen Herdberger
• Lance Henriksen as Ziegler Dane
• Rex Linn as Farmer Hoss
• Phil Morris as Deputy McBride
• Tiffany Shepis as Tracy
• Chad Smith as Deputy Parker
• Dee Wallace as Ethel Hoss
• Paul Spadone as Deputy Jackson
• Josh Wolfe as Deputy Conners

Release

Reception

At review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 62% percent of 13 critics gave the film a positive review.^[4] Metacritic gave the movie a score of 31, which corresponds to "generally unfavorable reviews", and a user score of 6.6 corresponding to "generally unfavorable reviews".^[5]

Jeremy Wheeler from Allmovie gave the film a positive review, writing, "what really makes Abominable such a fun ride is its willingness to let loose with the bloody Bigfoot carnage." Wheeler also commended the film's soundtrack, and direction.^[6] JoBlo.com positively reviewed the film. While conceding that the pace was a little slow the reviewer claimed "it a killer Bigfoot movie, which is something that I haven’t seen often enough, but it was also a well written and executed one."^[7] Mark L. Miller of Ain't It Cool News gave it a positive review having especially enjoyed the design of the creature.^[8]

See also

• Beyond Loch Ness

References

External links

• Abominable
• Abominable on IMDb
• Abominable at AllMovie