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Shadow's Title: "Time To Go Tibet"

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Man Beast

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Man Beast

Good old Jerry Warren. Today he is probably best known for taking a foreign made film, chopping it all up, filming a few new unnecessary and nonsensical scenes, editing it all together and releasing it under a new name. Frankenstein Filmmaking at its finest. Before heading down this particular cinematic path – which he deemed much easier than making an entire movie from scratch – he managed to direct three full films: Man Beast (1956), The Incredible Petrified World (1959) and Teenage Zombies (1959). With Man Beast, in order to help lure movie goers to the theater, he created Rock Madison, a fictional actor whose name was a combination of Rock Hudson and Guy Madison – two big box office draws of the day. He would resurrect the nonexistent Rock Madison nine years later for Creature of the Walking Dead, a film comprised of a Mexican film titled La Marca Del Muerto and suffering from the typical Warren hack job, with new scenes inserted and a new English dubbed dialog track. So let us now take a look at the first film “starring” Rock Madison, Man Beast:

We start off with some aerial footage of snowy mountains. This is obvious stock footage and while the mountains in question are no doubt supposed to be the Himalayas, given the plot of the film, we have no way to confirm that what we are seeing is actually said mountain range. Soon enough, the peaceful scene is interrupted by a CLOWN. If you don’t know what a CLOWN is, then the next two paragraphs are for you. If you’re a regular reader and you do know what a CLOWN is, then skip the following two paragraphs.

A CLOWN is a Continuously Lurking Omniscient Wearisome Narrator. You know the type…they chime in unexpectedly, more often than not at a film’s beginning, to impart some piece of obscure arcana that the film’s producers thought was vital information relevant to the movie’s story. This is usually comprised of references to some past event involving atomic bombs, twisting known scientific principles into near unrecognizable technobabble to better fit the movie’s ideas or just prattling on aimlessly about a whole lot of nothing. CLOWNs have been known to interject their often near incoherent ramblings into the film in question at all manner of junctures – the beginning, throughout the middle as well as the end. In essence, they represent the producer’s contempt for the audience, personifying their efforts to explain things for the idiots the filmmakers perceive the audience to be (and often they are quite right). Thusly, CLOWNs infest B-Movies from the 1950’s at only a marginally lower degree than white trash at your local Walmart.

Of course CLOWNs are not to be confused with another breed of annoying narrator – the type that physically shows up in the film, usually only once and at the very beginning. Most times they are located within a laboratory or library of some kind and lecture the audience on all manner of pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo, occasionally opening a book or playing with their nearby chemistry sets in order to stress a point. These narrators are known as a PAIN or Pontificating Attendant Irksome Narrator. There is of course that rare specimen that is a mixture of the two breeds, but they are so seldom seen and heard that a name has yet to be coined for them.

So what does the CLOWN say? “The mysterious Himalayas, spanning the entire distance between India and Tibet. Somewhere up in this vast, desolate section of our world live a strange species whose existence has baffled science for centuries. In recent years many anthropologists have pondered the new reports of these creatures. The question is always the same: are they man or beast?” It should be noted that Mr. CLOWN sounds like he just finished smoking about five packs of cigarettes and desperately needs a glass of water. Anyway, after that we get our title card, opening credits and bombastic musical theme.

We open with Connie Hayward and Trevor "Hud" Hudson as they come traipsing up a barren hillside in the Himalayas and enter a small wooden building, which appears to be the local bar or the local trading post or the local cheap motel. Hell, maybe it’s all three. They’re looking for Dr. Eric Erickson and the local man who runs the place and who doesn’t speak English very well says that Erickson left “tomorrow” meaning yesterday in actuality.

Another white dude appears from behind a tent flap and introduces himself as Steve Cameron. We learn that Connie is here to find her brother James. Steve says that he met James and that her brother left about ten days ago in order to set up camp for Dr. Erickson’s expedition. Erickson himself left the previous day. Connie says that they will just have to follow them. I wonder why. Her brother has only been gone for ten days and has not been reported missing. What news does she have that she has to talk to her brother ASAP? Did their family win the lottery? Did someone else in the family kick the bucket? Is she knocked up by her brother’s best friend? Whatever it is, it must be important.

Sometime later, the three white folks are sitting around a stove for warmth. Connie has inexplicably changed from her hiking gear into a sleeveless dress and heeled shoes! WTF!? Why even pack such an outfit? Is she expecting to attend a dance or ball or something? Is there a posh nightclub nearby where wealthy sheepherders will buy her drinks and attempt to woo her into their tents for the night? This is the freaking Himalayas, not Saturday night at the Ritz!

We learn from their discussion that Dr. Erickson is in search of the Yeti, which Steve describes as “a kind of people covered with hair that lives above the 21,000 foot level.” No one knows if they are man or beast. This surprises Hud, who thought all along that Erickson was in search of fossils, not a living organism. Connie holds her hands over the stove for warmth. If you’re cold, how about putting on some warmer clothes, you dipshit! She wants to know if these Yeti are dangerous. Steve says that he has seen four different expeditions set out to find one, and each has lost at least one man. Of course, he didn’t say that those lost were killed by a yeti. They could have fallen off a cliff, got buried in an avalanche or froze to death in blizzard for all we know. He’s not being very precise.

Upon hearing this, Hud says that he won’t let Connie go any further, she will have to remain there. Steve says that they can't go any further anyway, as they won’t be able to get guides, adding that the locals will have nothing to do with Yeti hunts. They will only follow a guy named Varga, who is currently with Dr. Erickson. Connie asks Steve if he knows where Erickson’s camp is and when he says he has a rough idea, she asks him to lead them to it. She says that it is urgent that she find her brother and that she will pay any price to do so. Wow, again, I have to wonder just WHY she needs to find her brother so badly. Has there been a change in their parents’ will and she needs to find him in order to ensure that he suffers a tragic accident before returning home to claim her inheritance? Has an old girlfriend turned up, claiming to be pregnant with his child? Or worse, has Connie found out that one of them is adopted and now they are free to give into the forbidden passion they have denied themselves for years? WHY?!!!

Steve says that she is very determined and she agrees, adding that she is very determined to save her brother’s life. AHA! Now we have something of a reason for wanting find him! Maybe test results have come in showing that he has a rare disease that will kill him if he doesn’t get it treated soon! In that case though, why did he even leave the country in the first place? Gah! I’m getting too caught up in this line of thinking. Time to move on.

So Steve guides Connie and Hud on their trip to Dr. Erickson’s camp. Lots of stock footage of three people climbing and ascending rocky terrain now follow, interspersed with a few close ups of the actual actors pretending to climb on some rocks in order to give the entire sequence a more cohesive feel. It would work better if the clothes the actors were wearing were better matches for the clothes the people in the stock footage are sporting, though it appears the producers did try to emulate them as best as possible. To ramp up the excitement level from 0 to 1, the three deal with a small avalanche as they ascend a rock face. This is of course achieved though additional stock footage as well as a few small rocks dropped on the struggling actors.

Finally, after what seems like about three hours, they reach a sizable ledge. Steve wants to push on while there is daylight left, but Hud is beginning to turn into a man-bitch and whines that he is too tired to go one and that they should camp here for the night. Steve agrees to stay, but Connie, who is apparently footing the bill for all this, says that they will keep going. Steve seems okay with this, but Hud whines a little and pouts as they continue on. Naturally, even more stock footage is hauled out now.

The next thing we see is the trio sitting at a fire. Normally folks will sit around a fire, but since the camera needs them all in frame, they are all sitting hunched up on one side of it. For some unknown reason, the actor playing Steve is staring right into the camera and continues to do so while delivering his first few lines. It really did appear like he was reading from a cue card. It’s pitch black behind them, so it is unclear whether they are outside, within a cave or lost in some strange dimension. We learn that they’ve been hiking for two days and still have not caught up to Dr. Erickson. Hud is in full on whinefest mode, bitching about everything, but Connie reins him in, saying that they will be maintaining their sunrise to sunset schedule. As part of his complaining, Hud wonders why he is in such a predicament “just because your brother…” Before he can say any more, Connie cuts him off. What? WHAT? Her brother what??? What is going on with this family?! Sheesh, at this point I’m more engrossed in these family dynamics that any possibility of seeing a Yeti. Connie reminds Hud that he volunteered for this trip and that if he wants to turn back, he is free to do so. Hud just stomps off to whine to himself.

Connie and Steve now converse alone. She again mentions her brother but not why she wants to locate him. They discuss the Yeti and what Steve thinks about them. During half this exchange, Steve is looking right into the camera. I don’t think that guy could remember his lines all that well. It seems that they should be catching up to Dr. Erickson’s group the next day. Plus, the entire time this scene has unfolded, Steve is flexing his hand over the fire, most likely to warm it up after being in the cold all day. I just wonder if the poor guy is suffering from frostbite or something similar. The amount of time he holds his hand over the flame would thaw out a rack of ribs anywhere else. Fade out.

Fade in. We see the three amigos tromping over some rocky terrain that looks more like California than Tibet. They pause so Steve can look for the other group with his binoculars and Hud can complain some more. The latter wonders again why he is even out there and Connie reminds him that it was because he wanted to help her, “or so you said.” Steve locates Dr. Erickson’s group in the distance, ascending a steep slope, outlined against the mountains in the distance. He fires off a pistol in hopes that they will hear it.

Further up the mountain, we see Dr. Erickson’s group. There are only three of them as well: Erickson and two local guides, one of whom is named Kheon. The latter stops the group, claiming to hear gunshots. Erickson agrees and wonders where it is coming from, as this area is too high for hunters. I hate to say it, but my first impression of Erickson is one of those academics who knows barely enough to teach high school English, but comport themselves like an esteemed professor at Oxford. In other words, Grade A Annoying. He uses his own binoculars to locate Connie’s group and then says that they will wait for her group to catch up with them.

One odd thing about this scene: when Steve first spots Erickson's group through the binoculars, we see them walking up a barren slope, with nothing around them for several hundred yards. When we get a close up of Erickson's group, they are now on a set that has a huge rocky backdrop behind them. If you're gonna use so much stock footage, at least TRY to make sets match up!

So the two groups meet. Erickson recognizes Steve Cameron, who introduces Connie and Hud. When Erickson learns who her brother is, he is surprised that she came way up here to find him. “I had to” she says and offers no further reasoning. Erickson says that they are not far from the base camp and should be there tomorrow. He suggests that they make camp for the night at their current location and offers to help Connie with her things. He does this by awkwardly reaching out and pulling her backpack from her shoulders, which seems to throw both of them slightly off balance. I know it wasn’t meant to be, but the whole maneuver seemed creepy in a way, as if he was eagerly and gleefully removing her clothes rather than a backpack.

The sun goes down and it is now day-for-night. Connie, Steve and Erickson sit around a fire as the good Doctor explains why he made the trip to find a yeti. He shows her a sketch that represents what most scientists believe them to resemble. He says that he would die happy if he had a chance to study them. Kheon gives him a funny look from across the campsite when Erickson says this. Foreshadowing perhaps? Erickson keeps throwing handfuls of dry grass on the fire. This causes the flame to briefly flare up and then die down again. He does this over and over. I don’t know how he expects the fire to stay lit when he’s not giving it anything substantial to feed upon. Then again, that high in the mountains, what is there readily at hand that could be used to keep a fire going? What do the native people of Tibet use? Or are they smart enough to stay in the lower elevations and leave all that dangerous mountain climbing to the overly curious, foolish white folks?

The next day arrives and the combined party of six stomps their way up the mountain. They arrive at one spot and Kheon proclaims that they will camp here tonight in preparation for a big climb tomorrow. He points at a nearby mountain to emphasize his point. Erickson is excited as he regards tomorrow’s trek as finally passing into Yeti country. Hud begins to whine, saying he has no plans to “go up there.” Rather than fearing the climb itself, he is worried about the Yeti. He is beginning to lose it and I can see that things will only get worse from this point onward. Erickson offers him a drink to help calm his nerves while Kheon eyes them both suspiciously and then gives Connie an odd glare.

Later, when it’s dark, Connie and Steve converse while wrapped in blankets. She explains that she has felt something was wrong all day and relates how Kheon stared at her. She tells Steve that the native guide is watching them even as they speak. Steve tries to nonchalantly turn and look in Kheon’s direction and sure enough, the local is staring daggers at them. He then looks away. Steve notes that all he knows about Kheon is that he works for a guy named Varga. Steve then promises to keep an eye on Kheon during the ascent the following day.

The next day arrives and we are subjected to even more stock footage of people mountain climbing. This is beginning to remind me of the endless walking scenes featured in Monster From Green Hell. It’s almost funny, because all the shots of the actual actors were shot in and around Bishop, California. Not only does the scenery not match up very well, but the gear worn by the actors doesn’t look thick enough to keep anyone warm in such cold temperatures. Old Dr. Erickson is sporting what appears to be a thin down jacket and hoodie that resembles something I used to wear to school in the 9th grade…and I know from experience that those things did not keep you warm in the slightest and actually retained more moisture than they repelled.

The group stops for a breather and Connie says that the more she sees of the country, the more she is convinced that the Yeti are a myth, seeing no way for anything to survive in such a barren, cold landscape. Hud asks Kheon if he has ever seen a yeti. “No see,” the guide answers. Then Hud asks if he knows anyone who has seen a Yeti. The guides reply? “See Yeti…die!” Well, that was very reassuring. The group presses onward. They struggle through the deepening snow and finally reach the camp set up by Connie’s brother. Alas, the camp is in ruins and there is no sign of anyone. Not a good sign. With night quickly approaching, they hurry to set up their own tents.

Morning rolls around and Hud tells Connie that while Steve and Erickson went further up to find her brother, the native guides have abandoned them, vanishing during the night. Hud whines some more and Connie realizes that they will never get along, as it has been one continuous argument since they left home. I wonder, were these two a couple? Were they just flirting with the idea of being a couple or did Hud have the hots for her and agreed to help her on this trip to get into her good graces as well as improve the chances of getting into her pants? No matter what the situation was before, she’s made up her mind that Mr. Complainer is not the male she sees in her future.

Elsewhere Steve and Dr. Erickson stomp through the snow, stopping to have a smoke by a large boulder. They can find no sign of Connie’s brother. Erickson figures the Yeti are to blame, but that they shouldn’t tell Connie that. They get up and continue on, oblivious to the big, hairy Yeti that is watching them from the top of the boulder. When they return to camp they find Hud and Connie chatting with the peculiar looking native guide Varga. Varga explains that while with the first expedition, he set out one day to find fresh tracks and when he returned to camp, he found it as they did, abandoned and in ruins. Since then he has spent several days in the area looking for anyone, but the wind has obliterated any prints in the snow. He does say that Connie’s brother Jim might be holed up somewhere nearby and that they can still find him.

Erickson speaks privately with Varga, espousing his theory that Yeti are to blame for the disappearances. Varga claims to have been up this high in the mountains more times than any man alive, and he has yet to see any Yeti or any Yeti tracks. Erickson can’t discount the reports of reputable scientists and looks forward to seeing for himself the next day. He asks Varga where a good place to start is and the guide suggests a particular ridge that has intimidated previous climbers. The Doctor doesn’t seem phased by the possibility of a hard climb.

The next day arrives and the endless stock footage of people climbing is rolled out again. I have to wonder if the number of characters in this film is due to the number of people in the stock shots. We saw groups of three earlier, thus why Erickson had Kheon and another nameless guide in his group. Alas, the more I watch, I realize that this can’t be right, for now the characters ae comprised of five people: Connie, Hud, Steve, Erickson and Varga. Yet we see six people in the stock shots. Maybe that sixth guy is the mysterious "Rock Madison!" I have to wonder if all these stock shots were lifted from the same source. Eventually they reach a point where the group splits, with Erickson and Varga heading one way while Connie, Hud and Steve go in another direction. Varga says to fire a shot if they find anything, but to be careful, as it could trigger an avalanche. As they part, Hud and Steve both remark on how strange Varga seems to them, while Connie defends him as someone trying to help.

You got it, more stock footage ensues as we follow Connie’s group. At one point we even get to see a Yeti that is chest deep in snow. What it’s doing there is never explained. Was it tunneling up to the surface from below? Did it slip into a pocket of air? Was it just taking a nap? Who knows. The group takes a break and Connie informs Steve that while she said that she needed to find her brother urgently. She never explained why.

This is it! We are finally going to find out why this broad is so hell bent on finding her brother! The suspense is damn near killing me. She explains that her brother had taken some experimental injections back in the states. After he left, the doctor told Connie that if he didn’t return from such a high altitude, he would die. The altitude factor was only discovered after he had left.

That’s it?! He was just on some new, sketchy meds? What were these experimental injections for? To keep his hair from falling out? To help lose weight? To curb his lycanthropy? I guess we will never know. Hud pipes in and says that they need to return and get a “real” rescue mission in gear. When Steve asks what he means by that, Hud reveals that he doesn’t trust Varga. He wonders why Varga never mentioned the other guides that vanished. Plus he’s felt all day like they were being watched. The three decide to head back. We get a quick shot of a Yeti stumbling through the snow.

Wherever Erickson and Varga are at, the guide is pointing out all the nearby locations where previous expeditions have claimed to have seen Yeti or found tracks, including one led by a guy named Bishop who vanished the previous year. Varga was the guide for that expedition, but claims he wasn’t with the group when Bishop went missing. They leave to rejoin the others, Varga commenting how Connie is lucky to have Steve. When Erickson suggests that Hud is her man, Varga just says that the good doctor is not as observant as him. I dunno. You’d have to be pretty blind to not see Connie losing interest in Mr. Complainer and gradually warming up to Steve.

Erickson and Varga return to camp to find Steve and Connie, but no Hud. They claim he went out to meet the other two and if they have not seen him, they had all better go out and look for the fool. They head back out and locate Hud who claims to have found and followed some tracks. This excites Erickson who wants Hud to lead the group back there at once, despite night approaching.

Now we get stock footage of people climbing through snow…at night! They finally reach a large crevasse in the side of the glacier and enter. Within it's as dark as a cave, so each person wields a flare for illumination. At one point we see a Yeti wielding a club that looks like a big dried salami. As it steps forward Varga looks at it and shakes his head no. The creature nods and backs away.

I’m not sure what communicating "no" to the creature accomplished because within seconds Hud spots either the same Yeti or a different salami-wielding one. He lets out a girly scream as the beast approaches in the dim light. Connie sees one and screams. Steve goes to her defense. Erickson stares wild-eyed at everything. Varga just stands there, smirking at it all. Steve produces a pistol and aims it at the Yeti threatening Connie. Varga produces his own salami and throws it at Steve’s head, knocking him out. The Yeti runs around the dark some, which in the sequence of shots shown, makes it look more like the creature is doing a side-step dance routine more than anything. All of this is transpiring in near total darkness. When we see each person, that is all we see, as if they were alone in a void. A couple shots do show the Yeti closing in on Hud, but you never get the impression that all of this is transpiring in one location. Anyway, the creature raises its salami at Hud, who back away and steps right over a ledge. His girly scream echoes as he drops down out of sight into the depths of the glacier. Out of sight, out of mind and out of the movie. He’s dead. Fade out.

Fade in. We are back at base camp. In one tent Connie is imploring Steve to leave, but he says that Erickson is too excited about discovering a real live, breathing, pooping Yeti that he won’t want to leave.

Hold the phone. What happened after Hud did his swan dive into the depths of the glacier? There was still a Yeti running (dancing?) about with a lethal salami. Did it just decide attacking one guy was enough for the day? Did it saunter off to another cavern somewhere? What about the others? Did they try to follow it or were they too shocked by Hud’s whiny demise that they opted to return to camp rather than risk being bludgeoned to death by an angry Yeti jacked up on cold cuts? Is there a missing film reel?

Anyway, Connie wants to bail, saying that Varga will stay with Erickson. Steve is beginning to think that Hud was right about Varga. There is something fishy about the guy. I guess neither of them saw the way he signaled to the Yeti. They head over to Erickson’s tent, hoping to talk sense into him, but the Doctor is so engrossed in jotting down his notes that he really doesn’t wish to talk. Steve insists and expresses his theory that Varga was the one who threw the salami…er…the club that knocked him out. Erickson isn’t buying it.

Varga returns and while talk is made of heading back down the mountain, Erickson wants to see the cave again before they leave. Varga agrees to lead him there the next day, before exiting the tent. Steve tries to get Erickson to see that Varga is a wee bit on the shady side, but the doctor refuses and insists on being left alone to continue his work. Steve and Connie leave and return to the other tent. She wants to leave ASAP, but he wants to return to the cave with the other two, just to see what Varga is up to, claiming he will be prepared this time. They talk some more and it’s obvious the two are growing closer. He calls her “honey” and she lets him get away with it. They make plans for the next day. She will head back down the mountain and wait for him at the last place they camped on the way up. He will accompany Erickson to the cave and try and talk some sense into him. Yeah, right. Have you ever seen a scientist think clearly when a new discovery is at hand? They are already dreaming of the accolades from their peers and are too blind to see things logically.

Note - It is at this point that the movie enters its final segment, so if any of you really feel the need to watch this film and not know the ending ahead of time, skip the rest of this section.

Before they set out, Varga claims to have found Steve’s gun and returns it to him. The three then head to the glacier and the cave. When they are gone, Connie heads back down the mountain, unware of the Yeti lurking behind her tent and watching her. The three men stop for a break where Erickson notes how the climbing never seems to affect Varga’s stamina. As they continue on, a pair of Yeti watch from “hiding” places in the snow. Seriously I think Mr. Magoo could have seen them. Varga is in the lead and takes the opportunity to rearrange some rocks nearby. I’m not sure why, but suddenly there’s an avalanche and Steve is seemingly buried in the snow. Erickson wants to look for him but Varga’s demeanor now changes. He says that he is in charge now and tells the doctor to do what he says, and then orders him to march up the hill.

Varga leads Erickson to a cave (Ro-Man’s Bronson Canyon hideout no less) and within, behind an area portioned off with hanging pelts, he leaves Erickson for a bit, returning having changed his shirt. What follows next is a conversation in which we learn that Varga is part Yeti. He opens his shirt to reveal a hairy chest that would make Gillette stock drop faster than their stupid real man campaign. The recent avalanche was timed to take out Steve, no doubt signaled by his rearranging of the rocks. We learn that most Yeti are still very primitive. Varga is a fifth generation Yeti and he hopes to continue mating his kind with human women in order to breed out the Yeti genes and appear as regular humans. Uh...if the Yeti genes were gone, wouldn't that make you human rather than just appear human? Plus, once again, we have another inhuman species that wants nothing more than to have sex with human women. Well, get in line, morons. Human men have been trying to have as much sex with human women as they can for millennia and we don’t exactly have the best record. Now Varga plans on mating with Connie (again, get in line, pal). Erickson repeatedly offers his help with the overall situation, but Varga refuses. He has no other choice than to kill Erickson in order to maintain his secrets. He produces a gun and says that perhaps they will meet again in some other incarnation. Erickson looks like he just deposited six meals worth of poop in his drawers and then BAM…a shot is fired and Erickson is no more.

Below, Connie waits for Steve at the agreed upon location. Peering out from behind a nearby rock is a Yeti. Of course, she doesn’t notice. Varga appears and says that there was an avalanche and Erickson has been hurt, requiring her assistance. Steve however was lost in the slide. She refuses to believe it and he shakes her like a rag doll. She calls out for Steve, who comes hauling ass down the mountain. The nearby Yeti tries to intercept him, but he pulls out his gun and the Yeti is madeto eat a lethal dose of lead.

Having fired all his shots at the Yeti, Steve is now forced to tackle Varga mano a mano. Alas, Varga is considerably stronger, owing to his Yeti heritage and Steve is getting his ass handed to him when he finally is able to grab a rock and knock Varga upside the head, momentarily rendering him unconscious. He and Connie then continue to haul ass down the mountain.

Varga awakes and sees the two escaping below. They look up and see him. Varga then affixes a rope to the rock face with a piton and proceeds to lower himself towards his escaping prey. Rather than running like hell, Connie and Steve just watch as Varga begins his descent. Alas, while Varga might be an experienced mountain man, even experts have bad days. The piton that he used to tether his rope comes loose and he plunges hundreds of feet to the canyon floor below to bounce around like a rubber ball. Well, the little model figure representing him did just that on the miniature set. I suppose he’s dead.

Connie closes her eyes as he falls, as if witnessing something horrible (no, that would be this movie). Steve comforts her and she says, "Take me away from here, Steve. Take me away!" My sentiments exactly, sweetheart! Get me outta here! They head out. Let's hope they make it. At the very least, they have a four day trip back to the trading post. Plenty of time to get waylaid by angry Yetis, get lost and run out of food, slip and fall, get buried in an avalanche, freeze to death in a storm...you get the idea. We get one last shot of snowy mountains.

The End.

Review

There isn’t a whole lot that can be said about this movie to help set it apart from other horror flicks of the 50’s. Is the movie good? Nope. Does it suck outright? Not always. The film just seems so…amateurish to me. I can see a group of high school kids making a movie like this as a first effort in filmmaking and indeed, it was the first full film made by Jerry Warren. There is lots of room for improvement, but given what they had to work with, the end result is adequate enough. I suppose the worst thing that can be said about the film is that it can be boring, especially when forced to watch all that stock footage.

The first thing that really sticks out to me about this film is the sheer cheapness to it all. It’s glaringly obvious that the abundance of stock footage used in this film impacted the production in several ways. The costumes worn by the cast are definitely designed to match the clothes of the mountaineers seen in the stock footage. Even actress Virginia (later knowns as Asa) Maynor’s hairstyle is made to resemble that of the single woman featured in those scenes. Plus, I’m pretty sure that depending on how many people are seen in that footage, the movie features the same amount in certain sequences, thus influencing how the story unfolds and who is walking with who. All this is just slightly amusing in the long run and aside from the sheer amount of the stock shots, really doesn’t have an overwhelmingly negative impact on the finished product. Along with the mysterious “Rock Madison,” screenwriter “B. Arthur Cassidy” also seems to be an invention of Jerry Warren, who would later serve as writer on several of his films under the pseudonym "Jacques Lecoutier."

The Yeti suit doesn’t look half bad when compared to other monsters of the day. There were certainly worse and better looking Yetis from the time period. The suit itself is a re-worked gorilla costume from the film White Pongo (1945). The problem with the suit arises when trying to film it in the snow. I’m sure the suit was already a bit unwieldy and deep snow isn’t exactly the easiest thing to walk through, so when adding the two elements together, you get a silly-looking Yeti that is not in the least way nimble in what is supposed to be its native environment.

As one might expect, the acting isn’t exactly riveting. Every player seems to behave like they are in a different type of movie, whether it be a comedy, drama, documentary or Shakespeare in the park. Then again, they have only the thinnest of characters with which to work. Standard fare for cheap 50’s monster flicks. In the end, Man Beast is a rather boring, plodding film that only diehard aficionados of 50’s monster cinema will appreciate. Most will find it painfully difficult to get through the entire running time, which at a few seconds over sixty-two minutes, seems far longer. This one doesn’t even qualify for the “so bad it’s good” category of B movies and is strictly for the true lovers of monster films from this time period.

00 Min – Starting off with stock footage is NOT a good sign.
03 Min – Why is she in a dress? Are they going dancing after dinner?
05 Min – Stock footage alert!
09 Min – Damn, but it got really dark outside.
11 Min – That is NOT the Himalayas.
16 Min – Stock footage alert!
19 Min – Stock footage alert!
22 Min – Camp in ruins. I wonder of that is Dyatlov Pass.
25 Min – A Yeti! Finally!
28 Min – Stock footage a…oh, never mind.
29 Min – There he is! It’s Rock Madison!
36 Min – Stock…oh, forget it.
39 Min – Now that was a girly scream from that guy.
40 Min – 3-D comin’ at ya!
50 Min – Avalanche!
53 Min – Gillette has their work cut out for them.
58 Min – Somebody call PETY! (People for the Ethical Treatment of Yetis)
62 Min – The End. Finally! I was about to throw myself over the nearest cliff.

Steve imparts some wrong information.

Steve: “You mean you don’t know the purpose of Dr. Erickson’s expedition?”
Connie: “Only that he’d been preparing it for years.”
Steve: “Well, his purpose is the capture one of the abominable snowmen. That’s what the natives call the Yeti.”

Shadow’s Comment: Don’t you have that backwards? Abominable Snowman is how Westerners labelled the Yeti, which is a name used by the locals, along with Meh-Teh.

• A cocktail dress is standard gear when hiking through the Himalayas.
• Tents, cots, blankets, climbing gear and food for a week will all fit in a standard size rucksack.
• There is a Yeti hiding behind every rock outcropping in the Himalayas.
• Yeti do a side step before attacking.
• Yeti love hard salami.
• Yeti have just as much difficulty walking in deep snow as you or I.
• For a scientist, jotting down your notes takes precedence over EVERYTHING.

Hud explains why he doesn’t want to go any further.

Hudson: “No, it’s not the climbing. It’s the Yeti. I have a feeling.”
Dr. Erickson: “Come on, Hudson. We need a drink.”

Shadow’s Comment: Make mine a double!

Shadow's rating: Three Tombstones

The Good

• Attractive female lead
• Decent Yeti suit
• Adequate location photography

The Bad

• "Dancing" Yetis
• Cave seems more like a warehouse
• Not enough monster action

The Ugly

• Too much stock footage
• Thrill-less climax
• Actually, quite boring overall

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