Man Beast (1956)

Connie Hayward mounts an expedition into the Himalayan Mountains looking for her brother, who has not returned from a previous trek trying to locate the Yeti, or "Abominable Snowman". ... See full summary »

Director:

Jerry Warren

Writer:

B. Arthur Cassidy

Stars:

Rock Madison, Asa Maynor, George Skaff

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rock Madison	...	(credit only)
Asa Maynor	...	Connie Hayward (as Virginia Maynor)
George Skaff	...	Varga
Tom Maruzzi	...	Steve Cameron
Lloyd Nelson	...	Trevor Hudson (as Lloyd Cameron)
George Wells Lewis	...	Dr. Eric Erickson
Jack Haffner	...	Kheon
Wong Sing	...	Trader

Storyline

Connie Hayward mounts an expedition into the Himalayan Mountains looking for her brother, who has not returned from a previous trek trying to locate the Yeti, or "Abominable Snowman". Arriving at her brother's last-known camp Connie and her companions find only a strange old guide, Varga. They are soon attacked by gigantic Snowmen but are not half as surprised as when Vargas reveals his secret origin and the plans he has for Connie.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | abominable snowman | yeti | monster movie | bigfoot | 

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Taglines:

Hair-raising excitement in the icy lair of man-like creatures roaming the roof of the world!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Goofs

Five expedition members (Connie, Varga, Steve, Hud and Dr. Erickson) set out at night with flares to search for the Yeti, but a couple of shots of the members out on the mountain show six persons in the group, not five. Also, in those shots, the members are tied to one another with rope, but in close-ups immediately following, none of them has any rope tied to them.

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Quotes

Dr. Eric Erickson: I could make you the most famous man alive.
Varga: Put me on exhibition? No thank you doctor. I have other plans for me... and for you.
Dr. Eric Erickson: What possible plans could you have for me?
Varga: I plan to kill you.

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Connections

Featured in Is It Real?: Ape-man (2006)

User Reviews

Not really all that terrible.

Which is surprising, given the nature of schlock purveyor Jerry Warrens' subsequent output. This entry in the yeti genre of the 1950s may be silly at times and not 100% convincing, but it's also pretty atmospheric, even spooky. Granted, the appearances of the monster were laugh inducing for this viewer, but the effects certainly could have been worse. The acting isn't as abominable as one might expect, and the protagonists aren't unlikable people. In addition, there's a delicious revelation from our primary antagonist.

Working from a screenplay by B. Arthur Cassidy, Warren tells the tale of young and headstrong Connie Hayward (Asa Maynor), who launches an expedition into the Himalayas in search of her missing brother Jim, in the company of worrywart friend Trevor Hudson (Lloyd Nelson). They meet up with others in the area including Steve Cameron (Tom Maruzzi) and Dr. Erickson (George Wells Lewis), and come to learn that local stories about beast-men aren't as crazy as they might think. What's more, their guide, Varga (George Skaff), seems to have a hidden agenda.

This viewer admits that he had a pretty good time with this one, although it helps if one is partial to monster movies and horror features set in mountainous or snowy environments. Another good thing is that Warren ensured that the running time remained very brief; there are versions running both 63 minutes and 67 minutes. Only the resolution really fell short of being satisfying.

Incidentally, Maruzzi is actually billed twice, once under his own name and once under the phony matinée idol pseudonym Rock Madison given to him by Warren. The pretty Maynor can also be seen in "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", and co-stars Skaff and Nelson had pretty extensive careers afterwards; Skaff did other genre films such as "Frogs", "Exorcist II: The Heretic", and John Carpenters' 'Someone's Watching Me!', and Nelson became a frequent script supervisor and bit player in Clint Eastwood vehicles.

A decent watch overall.

Seven out of 10.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 December 1956 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Bishop, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Warren Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White