The Abominable Snowman

Plot synopsis:
Titles and credits run over wide shots of the Himalayas. We open with a party on horseback approaching a Buddhist temple. Inside the courtyard some monks work as others chant in prayer. The majordomo (Anthony Chinn) announces himself and enters the Lhama's (Arnold Marle) chamber with refreshments. Dr. John Rollason (Peter Cushing) and his assistant, Peter Fox (Richard Wattis) examine some plant specimens the Lhama has provided the pair to study. The Lhama explains the plant is used to treat skin rashes. Explaining that it is the wrong time of year to collect fresh specimens, the Lhama offers his supply to Rollason. The Lhama comments on Fox, known affectionately as Foxy, not liking the tea provided. He mentions that Rollason's wife is brave to come to such a hard, rough place. The Lhama displays his ability to read people very well. Rollason volunteers that he has come to know the mountain, the people, and customs very well through climbing, but an accident caused him to give it up. Another party is six days overdue. The Lhama presses Rollason for details; He seems to sense their visit is not purely a scientific one.Foxy returns to their lab and sleeping accommodation with a plant sample. He asks Helen Rollason (Maureen Connel) for specimen jars. Foxy informs Helen he is ready to leave, "So I'm ready. The sooner we get out of here, out of this infernal country with its cold, and bad smells, and the superstition." Helen also reminds him of his dislike for Tibetan tea. Foxy asks Helen to take the jars to her husband. The Lhama continues to inquire about the arriving party and specifically about a man by the name of Friend. The Lhama asks point blank, "What is this man searching for?" Rollason is uncomfortable and hesitates to respond, but the Lhama demands an answer and Rollason's interest. Rollason explains his interest is purely a pursuit of scientific knowledge. The Lhama predicts the arrival of Rollason's wife. He then tells Helen she will remain under his protection while her husband engages in his climbing expedition. Both Rollasons register surprise. The Lhama dismisses himself leaving John Rollason to explain his decision to his wife. She is dead set against his climbing and confronts her husband with her concerns over his obsession, "with the creature." Outside the monks prepare a ceremony as the party arrives.Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) arrives, and like the stereotypical "Ugly American" begins shouting at the locals and ordering his Sherpas around. Kusang (Wolfe Morris) takes the brunt of the abuse. Rollason comes out to greet Friend. Friend introduces the other members of his expedition, Ed Shelley (Robert Brown) and Andrew McNee (Michael Brill). Friend introduces McNee as Jacques. Helen invites all to join them for dinner of stew. Ed Shelley tells all that will listen, "I don't know what's worse about it? The stink of everything or the ignorant natives or the filthy food they eat or what. You tell me." When Shelley finally gets to the heart of the matter--the Abominable Snowman, Helen informs him, "It doesn't exist." McNee tells the assembled that he saw their footprints on a prior expedition. Friend shows Rollason a silver container housing a tooth. He believes it is a Yeti tooth. The silver cylinder had been stolen from the monastery some time earlier. Friend intends to return it to the Lhama. Outside the monks start their ceremonial dance. Friend explains his climbing plan and it includes no porters, just the five men. Friend invites Rollason along for his expertise. Rollason, Helen and Friend go to see the Lhama with the tooth. The Lhama explains the tooth was carved and that the Yeti is imaginary. The Lhama warns Rollason that he expects only good intentions on his involvement. Rollason doesn't fully understand or appreciate the advise.The next morning the party departs. Before they leave, Helen makes one last attempt to dissuade her husband, "It's those men, Friend and Shelley. I don't trust them and I don't like them." The party sets off and notices three men shadowing them. It is apparent McNee is in no shape for the climb and the three men are definitely following them. Then shots ring out and Kusang is convinced, "These men bandits. They kill us." Rollason sees their faces through his binoculars as Shelley scares them away with gun shots of his own. Rollason recognizes the men from the monastery but tells Friend otherwise. They continue their climb up to the hut and provisions placed there earlier. They eat and discuss their plans. Friend asks Rollason for his expert advise, such as what they live on. Rollason tells him, "Small animals, hares, mice, voles...roots and plants under the snow." Friend finally explains the real purpose of their expedition. He intends to capture a creature, alive if possible. McNee senses something outside. They exit the hut to see, but it is late. They bed down for the night. Rollason and Friend go back outside for a smoke and to talk. Friend tells Rollason his interest is commercial and he intends to both learn and profit from his expedition.At the monastery, the Friend Expedition porters pester Helen and Foxy for their money. Friend refused to pay them until he returned. Helen is convinced the party is doomed. Foxy goes to talk to the Lhama, but he is in deep meditation and ignores Foxy. Rollason digs up a highly nutritious species of moss, confirming his theory about how the creatures manage to survive in such a harsh environment. McNee volunteers he doesn't trust Tom Friend and observes Rollason doesn't either. Rollason asks why he came. McNee explains the obsession with finding the creatures and that he paid Friend to join the expedition. It is now apparent that McNee is dangerously unsuited for the trek. McNee walks into a spring trap. Rollason tries to free him, but the arrival of Shelley, who set the trap, is able to free McNee's leg. Shelley explains they have already caught a Yeti. They help McNee back to camp. Kusang and Friend show Rollason their Yeti, but Rollason explains it is a Himalayan monkey. Rollason does his best to treat McNee's leg. A weather report on their portable radio indicates a blizzard coming in twenty-four hours. Rollason accuses Friend, "You're nothing but a cheap fairground trickster." They scuffle and damage the radio and any future weather reports. A commotion outside, brings them all to investigate. They find the monkey is gone and the cage door torn off its hinges. They see sixteen inch long footprints in the snow. Back in the tent McNee sees a hand of the creature exploring inside. Kusang's screams brings the party to the tent. Kusang bolts the encampment and runs back to the monastery. Friend notices that the traps they set earlier are torn apart. McNee stirs in pain, despite narcotics administered by Rollason. McNee falls back to sleep after Shelley shoots and kills one of the creatures. They follow a bloody trail back to the body lying in the snow. Friend pronounces the find as dead, and at least eleven feet tall.At the monastery, Kusang arrives exhausted and still frightened. Helen witnesses his arrival and tells Foxy. Helen goes to see the Lhama, but gets lost in the building. She explains to the Lhama she saw Kusang and the Lhama confirms only that her husband is in danger but he can do nothing. Foxy takes her back to their quarters. Helen proposes to go find her husband by engaging the porters. They were not paid by Friend, so she pays them with her own funds.McNee is better the next day. Rollason tells him they are moving to the cave and they have a dead creature. They hear the cries of something echoing in the mountains. McNee is strangely drawn to the calls and walks away from camp. He falls from a cliff and is killed. Friend believes the creatures killed McNee. "It was the sound of that howling. He couldn't stand it; It drove him mad," Friend accuses. Several reports from Shelley's rifle brings Rollason and Friend running back to the cave. Shelley is hysterical. He recounts that two very large creatures ran towards him. He is convinced they are after him personally because he killed their comrade. Friend proposes to set a trap in the cave and use Shelley as bait for the creatures. Shelley reluctantly agrees to the plan. Rollason returns to McNee to bury the body. Helen, Foxy and the porters walk up the mountain in search of her husband. Friend explains to Rollason that the tungsten steel net will stop anything. He gives Shelley a cleaned and loaded weapon, but since he wants it alive and Shelley is far too trigger happy, he actually gives him a gun loaded with dummy ammunition. Rollason and Friend return to the tent. A blizzard kicks up and Friend can barely see the cave from the tent. Rollason tries to convince Friend to be satisfied with a dead Yeti, but Friend is adamant--he will settle for nothing less than a live specimen. The creatures spring the trap, and as expected, Shelley fires at them. Rollason and Friend notice the net torn to pieces and Shelley is dead. Rollason attributes the death to a heart attack from fright. He also notices the dummy ammunition. The Yeti came for their dead comrade but left without it.Rollason and Friend bury Shelley next to Andrew McNee. They return to the cave to wait out the storm. Rollason proposes that the Yeti can read their minds, and that they may be just waiting for humans to go extinct to take their place in the world. The cold, altitude, and exhaustion cause them to hallucinate. Rollason hears a weather report on the broken radio. Rollason begins to panic and is cured with oxygen. Next Friend begins to hear calls for help from Shelley. Friend overpowers Rollason and exits the cave to search for Ed Shelley. Revolver shots by Friend start an avalanche that buries him alive. Rollason searches for Friend but finds no trace, and returns to the cave. He sees two creatures inside the back of the cave. One approaches and stares at Rollason.Helen is awakened by the distant howls of the creatures. She exits the hut to get a bearing on the sounds. Foxy wakes and sees that Helen has gone and sets out to search for her. He quickly returns and rousts the porters to join him on the search. Helen finds her husband nearly dead in the snow and large footprints near his body. They return to the Monastery and the Lhama consoles Rollason. To keep their secret and the only chance to keep them alive, Rollason lies and tells the Lhama they don't exist. "There is no Yeti," are the final words uttered by the Lhama. We close with a panoramic shot of the mountains.

Tags: suspenseful

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