No one was more excited than I when Britain’s Hammer Studios returned with a vengeance a few years ago. From their remake of Let The Right One In to the intense ghost story The Woman In Black, it was wonderful to see the UK’s premiere horror brand bringing some good scares back to the screen. The company now hopes to continue its roll into 2014, with a reboot of the Hammer classic The Abominable Snowman getting underway.
The original version of The Abominable Snowman was made way back in 1957 and starred Hammer mainstay Peter Cushing as the leader of an expedition into the Himalayas in search of the fabled yeti. Accompanied by a group of gun crazy Americans with their own designs on the yeti, Cushing’s nice-guy scientist faces avalanches, the freezing cold and a strange monster that may or may not be the missing link in evolution. The film is actually an odd one for Hammer, with a far more introspective and slow-paced plot that would surprise those who only know Hammer from the blood and breasts of the Dracula and Frankenstein films.
Hammer’s reboot of The Abominable Snowman will follow the same basic plot as the original Cushing version, with an expedition ascending up an unclimbed peak and accidentally awakening the fabled monster. Whether or not it will take the time to dwell on the evolutionary implications of the yeti, or draw out the original’s emphasis on mistaken monstrosity, will have to be seen.
Hammer has a good slate coming up in 2014, with the sequel The Woman In Black: Angel of Death, and The Quiet Ones, starring Jared Harris. The Abominable Snowman would represent a foray into the studio’s proclaimed desire to re-imagine some of their own original films. I do not know how they will ever find an actor able to equal the quiet reserve of Peter Cushing, but it will be interesting to find out.
What do you think of Hammer’s plans to redo The Abominable Snowman? Are there any original Hammer films you’d like to see rebooted? Let us know in the comments.
