Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2018
Images from the Internet
Abominable (Special Edition)
Directed by Ryan Schifrin
Red
Circle Productions / MVD Rewind Collection
94
minutes, 2006 / 2018
Some
form of the Sasquatch, or big foot, has been the subject of horror films for so
many films over a span of decades that it could easily be classified as a
sub-genre on its own; for example, there is another film called Abominable due out in 2019, which
features an animated and kid-friendly Yeti. Personally, I feel the reason for
the proliferation of this monster is a move that mixes the mystery of the dark
and dangerous woods and a bit of the werewolf motif, i.e., a creature that is
not normalized in culture (such as a lion, or wolf), but still human-line and…
possible. Director Schifrin also points out during the commentary that the Bigfoot is one of the few well known monsters
that is not under copyright. More times than not – okay, nearly always – the
beastie is a guy in suit (including here), which is okay with me because it
depends on how it looks and how it’s used that matters.
This
re-release version of the 2006 film is a two-disc combination of Blu-ray and
DVD, both discs identical with one exception which I’ll get to in the next
paragraph. For point-of-reference, I only put in the Blu-ray disc.
Right
off, there is an option for an 8:35 minute contemporary introduction by the
director, Ryan Shifrin, who discusses how the film was taken from its original
format and made into 2K HD from the original camera negative, with some extra
production values (e.g., redoing the CGI glowing eyes). For this reason, there
is both the original and HD version available on the Blu-ray disc only, hence
the two-disc difference.
 |
| Matt McCoy |
Starting
the film, there is a prologue about some scared farmers, namely Dee Wallace
Stone, who I think of more in The Howling
than the overrated ET, and veteran
character actor whom you’d recognize in a sec, Rex Linn (that’s just the start
of the many cameos, but I’ll get to that later, too). After, we are introduced
to the protagonist, Preston, played by Matt McCoy who most people probably
remember from many television
appearances, but to me he’ll always be Lloyd Braun (“Seinfeld”). After an
mountain climbing accident that cost him his wife and the use of his legs, he
has now returned to a cabin he owns in a wooded area, doing the Jimmy Stewart /
Rear Window thing, seeing all through
a window with binoculars. He’s caught on that there is something literally
afoot out there in the dark.
The
others in the locale are Preston’s nurse and caretaker, the obnoxious and
creepy Otis (Christien Tinsley, who also did the effects and make-up for this
release, is a master make-up artist on the likes of “American Horror Story,”
“Westworld,” and he won an award for Gibson’s The Passion of Christ), and a group of five young women partying in
the cabin next door, which is apparently the only two in the vicinity. Soon,
one of the women becomes missing, and only Preston has an idea of what’s going
on.
As
for Biggie, we see him in bits and pieces, such as his glowing eyes, and the
inside of his mouth, but we do get the classic monster-in-woods-POV-shots with
starburst flare around it, as he watches his potential prey. A group of
attractive and nubile women in peril; isn’t that special. Dare I say shower scene? Well, it is way back in
the good-old-days of 2006. Make Horror
Movies Great Again?
 |
| Haley Joel |
Okay,
okay, I know I’m kinda mocking this as a throwback to the ‘80s, and yeah, in
some ways it is, but don’t get me wrong: considering some of the hokey bits,
such as the way the creature looks when we finally get to see it in full, it’s
still a very effective film and honestly, quite enjoyable.
I
read a review recently about the horror genre in general (sorry, but I can’t
remember the source…if you know it, tell me and I’ll add it in), and it posited
that jump scares are overused and they customarily have sudden loud sounds and
spiked, dissonant shrieks in music to enhance the effect. Well, this film
definitely relies on that formula, but they manage to use it quite effectively.
Also, what Hitchcock liked to do is leave some cinema “space” on one side so
you expect the jump to come from there, and then come from the other side. This
is another tool that this film uses effectively because it doesn’t overdo it,
unlike Carpenter did in the original Halloween,
which kinda ruined the fear in the film for me.
A
large cast means a numerous kill count, and this one goes hog wild. Not only
are there the people in the two houses as potential fodder for the freak, but
there is also a string of very impressive cameos (see, told ya I’d get to it)
that show up throughout, such as those I mentioned before, Lance Hendricksen,
Jeffrey Combs (the Re-Animator,
himself!), Paul Gleason (the principal in The
Breakfast Club and a high level police officer in Die Hard; he passed away the same year this was originally
released), Phil Morris (who was the Martian Manhunter on “Smallville,” and best
known as lawyer Jackie Chiles on “Seinfeld”), the underrated and yet arguably
the one with the longest film credit list Tiffany Shepis as one of the members
of the inevitable slumber party Bigfoot massacre. The entire cast does
incredibly well for the budget we’re talking about at the time, considering it
was shot on film stock. And may I say, Haley Joel’s sustained lip gloss in both
volume and longevity considering the activity is impressive.
 |
| Dee Wallace Stone and Rex Linn |
Speaking
of body counts, the deaths are nice and gruesome with some fine effects. The
gore looks great and there’s lots of it, building up to near the end. Despite
the addition of some CGI in post-production, most of the SFX by Tinsley are
practical and look great.
As
with most Blu-rays, as I’ve said numerous times, there is a teeming of extras,
so let’s get to the ones I haven’t mentioned yet. Because they had all the
original negatives, they were able to put together some nice raw footage for
the “Deleted and Extended Scenes” (6:13). Everything that was excised feels
right, especially the last one as it gives out too much infomraiton; it’s left
in much more subtly, which works better. Then there’s the “Outtakes and
Bloopers” (4:09), which is time-coded footage with errors. Some of it is quite
amusing and during one scene filmed over and over due to laughing, I kept
thinking, “This is film stock and I bet the director is pissed.”
Some
of the minor extras are different sound choices, two trailers for this film
(and a few for other MVD Rewind releases), a “Poster and Still Gallery” and “Storyboard
Gallery.” On a larger scale, there is the original cut of the film, which I saw
parts of and there is a definite difference is some aspects and the way scenes
are present, but I just skipped and jumped.
 |
| Jeffrey Combs |
It
starts to get more serious with “Back to Genre: Making Abominable” featurette, a 37:15 documentary of the making of the
film from story to distribution, broken up into chapters filled with interviews
with most of the cast. Now, long making-of documentaries tend of be tedious,
but this really was interesting all the way through. It kept a nice pace and also
avoided the fluff. Nice!
There
are two short films included by the director, one of them being the 8:07
student film, “Shadows.” Shot in black-and-white, which follows a paranoid, wealthy
artist who is afraid to leave his house hearing about local murders on the
radio (the only voice you hear throughout). He is not nice guy to others, but
is that his fear or sense of privilege? The other one is “Basil & Mobius:
No Rest for the Wicked” (16:16), which follows two British scallywags as they
try to steal some secret plans from a mob boss who runs a gambling house in
Jolly Olde (played by Malcolm McDowell). There is gunplay, martial arts, quick repartee
dialogue, and even a couple of zombies (one is Kane Hodder). These films are
touched with some humor, and quite excellent fun.
Last
up is the full length commentary, which I found very impressive. Just so you
know, I usually write the main part of the review before watching the extras,
so it was nice to hear some confirmation on some of my comments (e.g., the Rear Window connection and the lip
gloss). Recorded in June 2006, it features Schifrin, McCoy, Combs and the
film's editor Chris Conlee. Now, what I thought was remarkable was that while
McCoy was there for most of it, Combs and Conlee’s comments are edited in (sans
McCoy) for just the scenes with Combs’ Clerk character. This cut down on the over-talking
and made everything clear. What’s more, the content of the conversation was
kept to the film, so while there is some humor, it’s pretty straight forward
and hardly any filler. A great commentary from beginning to end, and I don’t
say that very often.
There
is a folded, printed poster that also comes with the Special Edition, which is
neat. The only thing missing, that I could think of, was captioning, but I’m
not holding that against anyone.
I
have to say, for a throwback via homage of some of the great horror films of
the 1970s-1990s (though Rear Window
was 1954), this is an effective thriller, and a fun time all around on so many
different level.
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