Abominable (2006)
Directed by Ryan Schifrin
Starring Matt McCoy, Haley Joel, Christen Tinsley, Karin Anna Cheung, Tiffany Shepis, Jeffrey Combs, Natalie Compagno, Paul Gleason, Lance Henriksen, Rex Linn, Dee Wallace Stone

Matt McCoy stars as Preston, a rich guy who lost his wife, as well as the use of his legs, in a rock climbing accident several months before. Still having trouble dealing with what happened, his doctor has one of the male nurses taking him back to his mountain cabin to help him face his fears. Shortly after arriving, a group of young women arrive at the house next door for their own weekend getaway. Still dealing with the memories from the accident and not wanting to even be there, things get worse when he starts to notice something moving out in the woods. Granted, his asshole of a nurse refuses to listen to him because he’s been complaining since they got there. But then as Preston is watching from his window, he sees something come out of the woods and snatch up one of the girls right off her feet.

Every horror movie fan knows that if you’re movie has a bigfoot in it, while it might be entertaining in a Turkey Day sort of way, it usually is not going to be a well made film. This movie will prove that statement complete wrong. The great thing with the story here is that they take part of Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), with a man who is helpless but has to witness something bad going on right outside his window, and everyone refuses to believe him. Until it’s too late. Granted, instead of a murdering neighbor, we have a 7-foot monster chomping down on the neighbors. Director Schifrin, in his firs and (so far) only feature film, takes  a familiar plot, but makes it feel and look like it came from the ’80s, with plenty of great gore and special effects.

There are plenty of little cameos from genre favorites, such as a hunter played by Lance Henriksen, or Dee Wallace as one of the local farmers. Jeffrey Combs plays one of the locals and yet again transforms himself into a completely different kind of role. Scream Queen Tiffany Shepis plays one of the girls next door, who is there to take off her clothes and die horribly, like she usually does in films. But Shepis is always able to make her character much more than just a naked body.

The real star here is the monster and the special makeup effects.. Christen Tinsley provided the effects and creature work, when he wasn’t acting in the film as Preston’s asshole nurse! We get to witness plenty of shots of the gooey red stuff to give any gorehound a smile, with a couple of scenes that will even a loud cheer or two. It was really great to see this monster-on-the-loose film, with the style right from the ’80s, from the practical effects to the gratuitous nudity to the over-the-top moments of gore.

The soundtrack is very effective, which I’m sure might have to do with it being done by the director’s own father, Lalo Schifrin. He has created some incredible scores in his career, such as the original The Amityville Horror (1979), and creates another one here.

So while the concept of this film seems pretty silly and unoriginal.  But if you’re looking for a fun and entertaining 90 minutes of blood, guts, and carnage, you will have a good time.  It will make you pine for those days of old, when a big rubber monster tearing people apart was all we needed for a good night of movie watching.