It would be easy to say that Abominable is abominable, but it turns out that it’s not too bad. Though the show did appear on the Sci-Fi Channel we’re now treated to the full, uncensored cut.
Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy) is returning to his cabin on the mountain. Preston is confined to a wheelchair after a mountain climbing accident left him paralyzed and his wife dead. He’s under the care of his nurse Otis (Christien Tinsley). Otis goes into town for supplies and some hotties move into the cabin next door. Preston wheels out onto the porch and with his trusty binoculars watches the girls move into the cabin.
The girls include Amanda (Haley Joel), Michelle (Natalie Compagno), CJ (Karin Anna Cheung), Tracey (Tiffany Shepis), and Karen (Ashley Hartman) and seem to be having a bachlorette party. One of the girls is out trying to find a cell signal when a shadowy beast takes her off into the woods. Preston happens to witness this and now has to warn the other girls that there’s danger in the woods, but his wheelchair prevents him from doing it. He also gets no help from Otis, who thinks that he’s just hallucinating.
Meanwhile Farmer Hoss (Rex Linn), Buddy (Jeffrey Combs), and Ziegler (Lance Henriksen) are out hunting the beast that menaced Hoss and his wife (Dee Wallace-Stone). Preston tries to contact the local sheriff (Paul Gleason), but he thinks that it is a prank and doesn’t send help. Soon all of our characters will encounter the menace from the forest (who can unhinge his jaw to accommodate oversized meals) and not all will survive.
Abominable is one of those movies that I thought was going to suck, but ended up having a better opinion of when the final credits rolled and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would turn out to be. It could be described as a mixture of Jaws and Rear Window.
Jack Elam's long lost love child?
Our hero is wheelchair bound and we’re left wondering how he’s going to defeat the monster. The monster is something too. The titular beastie can unhinge his jaw which allows for one gruesome death scene. It’s also a bit amusing that the Abominable one also has a striking resemblance to cowboy character actor Jack Elam.
It’s also always nice to see genre vets Combs, Henriksen, Wallace-Stone in cameos. We also get our next to last look (this was one of his last films) at character actor Paul Gleason. If I did have one complaint it’s probably one that will cut director Ryan Schifrin to the quick. I liked the movie and have high hopes for him in future projects, but my complaint is about the score of the film.
It feels over-scored. For example, there’s a heavy pulse of music as Preston is looking out with his binoculars which cumulates in a musical sting when he sees that the telephone lines are down. I didn’t think that this was necessary and the music sounds too loud to me. The reason that I think that Schifrin will appreciate those comments is that the movie was scored by his famous father Lalo Schifrin. Sorry, that’s just my opinion. What is excellent though is the beautiful poster art and box art that grace the DVD box.
Abominable is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 television. Special features include a commentary with writer/director Ryan Schifrin and actors Matt McCoy and Jeffrey Combs. There’s also the 37 minute “Back to Genre: Making Abominable.”
Jeffrey Combs and Lance Henriksen provide cameos
It has interviews with writer/director Ryan Schifrin, creature designer/actor Christien Tinsley, Matt McCoy, Haley Joel, Rex Linn, Tiffany Shepis, Dee Wallace-Stone, Jeffrey Combs, and composer Lalo Schifrin.
Next are 6 minutes of deleted and extended scenes and 4 minutes of outtakes and bloopers. Another interesting extra is Ryan Schifrin’s USC 8 minute student film “Shadows.” Finally there are two Abominable trailers, a poster and still gallery, storyboard gallery, and the screenplay on DVD-ROM. There’s also a booklet in the case with an essay by Schifrin on making the picture and a tribute to the late Paul Gleason.
Abominable was a pleasant surprise and a decent rental if you’re looking for one. If you liked it when it aired on the Sci-Fi Channel now you can see all the gore and boobies that they didn’t want you to see (mean folks those Sci-Fi censors). I’m hopeful for Schifrin’s future projects and found myself enjoying this effort.
Abominable is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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