The Yeti Review: A Surprisingly Well Done Creature Feature

PLOT: Merriell Sunday Sr. and Hollis Bannister vanished in Alaska. Ellie and Merriell Jr. mount a search, but an ancient threat stalks their expedition into the wilderness, hunting them as they seek the truth behind the disappearances.

REVIEW: If there’s one subject matter that I think is due for a revival, it’s Bigfoot. There has always been so much potential with crafting a fun horror story around the legend, and we’ve never quite gotten there. Don’t get me wrong, they certainly exist, but they’ve never really hit the mark. Now, The Yeti hopes to change that, giving the mythical beast a terrifying and powerful cinematic representation. But does it actually work?

The Yeti follows a search party in the Alaskan Wilderness, trying to find a group of people that has disappeared. They start to get taken out, one by one, as they’re hunted by an ancient being. It’s pretty standard, but I never knock a movie for that. There are times when the film is whimsical in its approach and others when it’s taken very seriously. It’s not quite as satirical as the trailer made it seem, and it’s far too competent to get a B-movie label.

If you’ve been watching this season of The Pitt, then you’ll no doubt recognize Brittany Allen, who has really impressed as Roxi. Here, she plays an explorer named Ellie, and does a great job. She has a quiet strength to her and handles the circumstances well. In fact, the entire cast does exactly what they need to. Part of me was expecting some hammy performances, but everyone is believable, and there’s no hamminess at all. And I’ll also appreciate William Sadler and Jim Cummings showing up in any genre film. I just wish they were all given a little more to do. This can definitely fall victim to “this character is just here to die.”

Most of the film takes place in the wilderness, with a dense fog surrounding the characters. Moonlight is the source of most of the lighting, and that makes for some really beautiful cinematography. It’s never too dark, but also doesn’t feel like there’s a phantom light source. I know this film had a very low budget, so it’s quite impressive to see what they were able to do with it. I will always cheer on any indie film that manages to overcome its budget. I also really liked how much they managed to hide the creature, and give us more silhouettes and a powerful sound design to color the villain throughout.

The writing for The Yeti can be a bit all over the place, failing with the smaller moments and connective tissue of scenes. Characters warn about not going near windows, then make that exact mistake themselves. Or a person screaming in the darkness, only to finally die once other characters are there to witness it. There is a lot of coincidence and character ignorance that pushes the story forward, which feels more like lazy writing than anything. A little more effort to make the moments feel natural would have gone a long way.

Overall, I liked the technical execution of The Yeti, even if it doesn’t break any new ground, story wise. You’re likely to know exactly where things are going from the jump. And there’s always going to be audience members disappointed when the creature comes out from the shadows and gets shown in full light. Thankfully, I still enjoyed it overall and will always be cheering on cheesy practical FX. There’s something oddly comforting about them. And while some more depth to the characters could have helped, I enjoyed how its all presented.

THE YETI will be released In AMC Theaters April 4th & 8th and On Digital April 10th.