Abominable
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Scraps: Alright, let’s check the recipe. We’ve got a big-ass furry creature in the woods eating livestock, a guy in a wheelchair stuck in a house with no ramps who can see the beast, but no one believes him, a bevy of beauties at a mountain retreat drinking and being all cute, and angry gun-toting beer guzzling ranchers. What more could we ask for in a campy monster movie?

Not a thing I tell you! “Abominable” mixes tension, gore, humor and good old sex appeal in a fun little romp that had me glued to the set from the first gored animal to the outstanding twist ending.

Rufus: These are the movies I love. Old fashioned man in a suit monster romps like mom use to make. There is nothing better. This movie tosses in a new spin with the REAR WINDOW cripple seeing a lot of the action through his binoculars. His inability to just run over and help the women in trouble brought a great tension to the flick. Hell, he couldn’t even open the door!

Scraps: It was a great twist indeed! Of course the phones are out, so he’s armed with only his trusty laptop to try and alert the cops (who think he’s nuts) and the girls in the next house (who think he’s a creepy perv) of the monster in the woods. Thank goodness for broadband, or he would have been really screwed!

Honestly, I went into the flick with pretty low expectations. It was on Sci-Fi, which is hit or miss, but at the same time it’s about a Bigfoot like creature in the woods, AND had Tiffany Shepis. Armed with popcorn and plenty of booze in the tumbler, I settled in for the ride. Luckily, this was one from the “hit” end of the SF spectrum. I had a blast watching this!

I touched on it briefly, but damn man, what a cast!

Rufus: I’ll drop down through the key players in this movie list-style.

Wheel Chair bound Preston Rogers played by Police Academy 5s Matt McCoy. A quick little note, check out IMDB on this guy. He has been in a ton of Bigfoot movies before this one, so he is in his element here.

The shower scene hottie played by the great Tiffany Shepis. Damn you Sci-Fi for your censor bars!!

BumsCorner fave Dee Wallace-Stone with a nice cameo.

Speaking of cameos how bout’ Lance Henrickson in a great role as a hillbilly hunter, Jeffrey Combs as a skuzzy gas station owner, Rex Linn as Farmer Hoss, and even the sadly departed Paul Gleason as the town sheriff. Man, I’m sure I left some out, but I am now tired. Let’s just say there are a lot of familiar faces here.

Scraps: I was hurt by the fuzzy censor bar on Tiffany’s butt in the shower scene. Hurt deep. Don’t toy with me Sci-Fi! There are few natural butts in the world as nice as Tiffany’s, and you deny us even the briefest of peeks! Did it take away from the story? Heck no, but now I have to go buy the DVD! Besides, there’s a wicked death scene right after she lathers herself up in the steamy water, that trickled down her back, and beads up on her soft…

Sorry, got lost in the moment. Yes, that scene that I could have watched for another 20 minutes was cut short by one of the more gruesome deaths in the flick, of which, there are some classics. This beast knows how to play with his food! My favorite has to be the male nurse though, I wasn’t expecting that…and I don’t want to spoil it for any Bums that haven’t caught this yet, but DAMN!

Also, while I could go on for a 3,000 word dissertation on the absolute need for a Tiffany Shepis shower scene in every horror moving going forward, on a serious note, the female roles did actually have some character development, and they weren’t all mindless monster fodder in bras…a step in the right direction I’m sure. Get this…they actually had dialog that explained why they were out in the woods! Crazy!

The scene at the campground with Lance Henrickson, Jeffrey Combs and Rex Linn was a riot. The “Darwin Awards” diatribe was brilliant. In fact, the whole film was filled with some great one liners, Matt McCoy delivering my favorite (in the scene with the nurse on the floor). Classic.

So…the big question. Can I watch this again and recommend it for monster movie fans? Heck yes. It was fun and campy and had some great death scenes, and the twist ending had me rolling on the floor. It came out of nowhere, but was a brilliant wrap-up to a blast of a film.

Rufus: I could absolutely watch this again. Now briefly let me give you Bums a very quick synopsis. Some months ago Preston was a happily married man. While climbing a mountain by his home, he and his wife had a spill. She died and he is in a chair. This is his homecoming. At his house he must now face the tragedy with his caregiver. The house next door gets visited by your normal good looking lady fare. One night while Preston is looking at the house with his binoculars (perv indeed) he sees something in the woods. This strings together a series of events that has Preston trying to get help from police that don’t believe him and trying to help the women who think that he is a sad, perverted cripple. Well, soon the women believe when the shit hits the fan and ole’ Satch makes himself known in wonderfully gory fashion. Great stuff!!

Now this movie had exactly what someone watching a rampaging Bigfoot movie would want. Gore? Check. Hot women? Check. Great ending? Check. Inventive deaths? Hell yeah. The only thing that I would have loved for this movie would have been more of an epic attack. Think the difference between CRITTERS and CRITTERS 2. CRITTERS had the isolated family in the house feel. This worked quite well. The second one had more of the town fighting a massive amount of the critters. Let’s hope that we get a sequel to this, with much more carnage. I know I would buy it outright.

Scraps: I liked the battle between Preston and the monster myself, but that’s just me. I’ll tell you what, if what’s left of the cast comes back for a sequel, I’ll give it a whirl. Oh, and as long as they keep the same makeup for the monster. The Ernest Borgnine look was awesome! The beast was ferocious looking, while also having an inquisitive, almost playful look about him.

I haven’t seen what’s included on the DVD, but if it’s an unedited version with some extras thrown in, and at a bargain price, this would be an easy purchase for me. I’ll give it a 4 canner.

Rufus: Even watching it held back on Sci-Fi I can give this a 4. As a fan of monster movies this movie gave me everything I could have wanted, and even threw some moments of suspense in as an added spice. Check this one out!!

Added:  Thursday, June 01, 2006
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