President and CEO of British production company Hammer Films recently announced that they will be taking on remaking their 1957 B horror flick, The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas. The original movie written by Nigel Kneale and directed by Val Guest, starred Peter Cushing as a Scientist who joins an exhibition to find the mythical Yeti, losing his teammates and wife along the way. Cushing finally reaches his goal, a glimpse at the snowmen, finding that not only are they intelligent, they intend to wait for man’s inevitable self destruction so to reclaim the earth.
Though having a rich history in the production of low budget horror, like The Brides of Dracula, and a series of cave girl themed movies, in recent years Hammer has been behind the release of far more artful, and less campy films, like the popular 2010 film Let Me In, and The Woman in Black in 2012 starring Danielle Radcliffe, proving that he wont be forever pinned as ‘The boy who lived’.
In the press release Simon Oaks said, “The success of ‘Let Me In’ and ‘The Woman In Black’ has shown that there is an appetite for quality horror films so it is exciting to draw on Hammer’s unparalleled source material in this genre which can be reimagined and updated for a new audience.”
Abominable Snowman will have a new script written by Matthew Read, who wrote Hammer of the Gods (2013) and co-writer Jon Croker who also wrote the screen play for the upcoming sequel, The woman in Black: Angel of Death, now being filmed. It’s unclear from the body of work behind these two whether this re-imagining will fall in line with Hammer production’s more recent horror, having a more somber, serious tone, or if it will be a tribute to the original campfest.
I for one would love a blending of the two, falling in line with movies like Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s Cabin in the woods. The world could use a few more good monster flicks that don’t fall into the werewolf/vampire/zombie genre, but can a Yeti really be done well? I guess only time will tell.
SOURCE: /Film
