''Snowbeast'' is a 1977 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

horror film starring Bo Svenson,

Yvette Mimieux Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career. Early li ...

, Robert Logan and

Clint Walker Norman Eugene "Clint" Walker (May 30, 1927 – May 21, 2018) was an American actor. He played cowboy Cheyenne Bodie in the ABC/ Warner Bros. western series ''Cheyenne'' from 1955 to 1963. Early life Clint Walker was born Norman Eugene W ...

, and follows the story of a bloodthirsty Bigfoot-like monster terrorizing a ski resort in the Colorado Rockies. It was directed by

Herb Wallerstein Herbert Wallerstein (November 28, 1925 – September 27, 1985) was an American director and producer. He was known for involvement in shows such as ''The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'', ''Father Knows Best'', '' I Dream of Jeannie'', and '' Mannix''. ...

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 Joseph William Stefano (May 5, 1922 – August 25, 2006) was an American screenwriter, known for adapting Robert Bloch's novel as the script for Alfred Hitchcock's film '' Psycho'', and for being the producer and co-writer of the original ''The ...

(''The Outer Limits'' co-creator, who also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller '' Psycho''). The film originally premiered as the ''NBC Thursday Night Movie'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

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), 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"
''

Bigfoot/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. In the film's climax, 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 *

as Ellen Seberg * Robert Logan as Tony Rill *

as Sheriff Paraday * Sylvia Sidney 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 Anne McEnroe (born c.1956) is an American actress who had roles in the 1980s and 1990s, including ''Wall Street'' and ''Beetlejuice''. She is married to Edward R. Pressman Edward Rambach Pressman (April 11, 1943 – January 17, 2023) was an Ame ...

as Heidi * Michael J. London as The Snowbeast

Release

Home media

''Snowbeast'' was released on VHS by GoodTimes Video/Entertainment in August 1987.

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'' 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 American 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 cre ...

'' 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 and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

panned the film, calling it "dumb", and "below average".

Blockbuster Inc. Blockbuster LLC, formerly known as Blockbuster Video, was an American-based provider of home video and video game rental services. Services were offered primarily at video rental shops, but later alternatives included DVD-by-mail, streaming med ...

'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, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale G ...

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

Citations

Sources

Books

* * * *

Websites

* * *

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 Films set in Colorado Films shot in Colorado Films with screenplays by Joseph Stefano American horror television films NBC network original films American skiing films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films