''Snowbeast'' is a 1977 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

starring Bo Svenson, Yvette Mimieux, Robert Logan and

Clint Walker Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne (TV series), Cheyenne Bodie in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC/Warner Bros. Western (genre)#Film, western series ''Cheyenn ...

, and follows the story of a bloodthirsty

Bigfoot Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

-like monster terrorizing a ski resort in the Colorado Rockies. It was directed by Herb Wallerstein from a

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

written by Joseph Stefano (''The Outer Limits'' co-creator, who also wrote the screenplay for

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's 1960 thriller '' Psycho''). The film originally premiered as the ''NBC Thursday Night Movie'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on April 28, 1977.

Plot

Gar Seberg (Svenson) and his wife Ellen (Mimieux), return to his home town, a ski resort in the Colorado Rockies. Gar is a former Olympic skiing champion, and is looking for work. As they arrive, the town's annual Snow Carnival is spoiled by the disappearance of some vacationers. Resort owner Carrie Rill (

Sylvia Sidney Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy ...

), fears losing business and tries to keep the disappearances a secret, but there are witnesses, who say that the culprit is a

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...

/Sasquatch. As it is revealed that the missing people were brutally killed, the local sheriff (Walker) spreads the story that there is a lone savage bear on the loose. Carrie's grandson Tony (Logan) gives Gar a job at the resort, but also tells him that he must stalk and kill the monster. Ellen was previously in television and had worked on a documentary about Sasquatch sightings, so Gar has an open mind and is reluctant to kill the beast—until he sees the remains of the first victim. Then the monster comes to town, killing the mother of the carnival queen and sending the town into a panic. Gar, Ellen, Tony and the sheriff go to the woods and track the monster. The creature attacks Gar, who shoots it, but the beast is still alive, so Gar picks up a ski pole and impales it, causing it to fall off the cliff and die.

Cast

* Bo Svenson as Gar Seberg * Yvette Mimieux as Ellen Seberg * Robert Logan as Tony Rill *

as Sheriff Paraday *

as Mrs. Carrie Rill * Thomas Babson as Buster Smith * Jacquie Botts as Betty Jo Blodgett * Jamie Jamison as John Cochran * Richard Jamison as Ben Cochran * Liz Jury as Mrs. Blodgett * Richard Jury as Charlie Braintree * Annie McEnroe as Heidi * Michael J. London as The Snowbeast

Release

Home media

''Snowbeast'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

by GoodTimes Video/Entertainment in August 1987. It was released on (Blu-ray) in 2018 by Retromedia Entertainment and includes 2 versions of the film, the original version at 88 minutes and a shorter CBS Late Movie recut at 72 minutes.

Reception

Retrospective reviews

Later reception for ''Snowbeast'' has been more negative, with many critics calling it a poor quality ''Jaws'' rip-off. Fred Beldin of ''

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

'' felt that the film was a significantly less effective take-off of Stephen Spielberg's ''Jaws'', with the title monster not scary once it is fully revealed. Beldin concluded his review by calling the film "one of the weaker entries into an already tepid horror subgenre." Zack Handlen from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' offered the film similar criticism, while also pointing out that director Wallerstein was not as gifted a filmmaker to enable the film to rise above being just another poor ''Jaws'' rip-off. ''HorrorNews.net'' stated that, while the film showed promise, it was undone by an over-reliance on cliches, POV shots, and ski footage.

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

panned the film, calling it "dumb", and "below average". Blockbuster Inc.'s ''Guide to Movies and Videos'' awarded it one out of four stars, while refusing to comment about the film. In his ''Video Sourcebook'',

Thomson Gale Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research a ...

rated the film one and a half out of four stars, stating that the film was 'neither scary or funny'.

Citations

Sources

Books

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Websites

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External links

* * * {{TCMDb title, 414112, Snowbeast (1977) 1977 films 1977 horror films 1977 television films 1970s monster movies American monster movies American natural horror films Bigfoot films Films based on urban legends Films scored by Robert Prince (composer) Films set at ski resorts Films set in Colorado Films shot in Colorado Films with screenplays by Joseph Stefano American horror television films NBC original films American skiing films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1977 science fiction films English-language science fiction horror films