★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
Intensity 🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed and written by Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta
The Yeti combines nostalgic creature feature elements with modern filmmaking techniques to deliver a top-flight monster movie dead set on entertaining.
Official synopsis
When an oil tycoon and a famous adventurer vanish into the harsh winter of remote northern Alaska, a hand-picked rescue team endeavors to bring them home. What they don’t know is that they are trespassing on The Yeti’s territory, and the elements are the least of their worries. A blood-spattered survival horror featuring a towering beast and gruesome practical effects, The Yeti hearkens back to a time when monster movies were king.
Review
As a lifelong monster kid, trust me when I say that The Yeti from cowriters/codirectors Gene Gallerano and William Pisciotta is absolutely one of the best creature features in recent years. It takes a classic approach of slowly revealing the full look of the titular cryptid and giving viewers nice backstories for each of the characters, and combines that with an abundance of masterful practical gore effects.
The majority of the film takes place in the wilds of Alaska in 1947, when Merriell Sunday Jr. (Eric Nelsen) forms a search party to find out what happened to his oil tycoon father Merriell Sunday Sr. (Corbin Bernsen), explorer Hollis Bannister (William Sadler), and their crew. The search team consists of Bannister’s cartographer/navigator daughter Ellie Bannister (Brittany Allen) — the two are in a strained relationship — communications ace Booker (Jim Cummings), doctor Parker (Elizabeth Cappuccino), explosives expert Dynamite Dan (Gene Gallerano), war veteran Coates (Linc Hand), and Margaret (Christina Bennett Lind, who also edited the film), the twin sister of a woman who was part of the missing first party.
That’s a heck of an ensemble cast there, and they all do fantastic work together. Allen truly shines in the main role, and Cummings is great, as usual. The actors all have something to work with, from dramatic weight to deliberately slightly over the top characterization you might find in a classic pulp novel or comic book. The range of characters and the investment the cast members put into them makes for a fun ride.
Director of Photography Joel Froome is given plenty to work with, from beautifully realized interiors to impressive snow-covered outdoor scenes, and he does fine work here. Special Effects Makeup Department Head Ali Gordon and Special Effects Makeup Artists Amanda Marie Schaefer and Tate Steinsiek deliver excellent work in the grue and gore department, including showcasing the Yeti’s penchant for exposing intestines. Composer John Hunter’s score fits the proceedings wonderfully.
As for the monster, my fellow creature feature devotees, you will be thrilled to know that it is a classic man-in-a-suit approach rather than CGI — and a fantastic looking one, at that. We are treated to wood knocks, howls, and partial body reveals before the entire hulking beast is shown, following the classic formula from the original Universal monsters through the 1970s or so. And of course, some humans can be as horrible as monsters in creature features, adding more dramatic heft to the film.
The Verdict
If you love monster movies, I can’t recommend The Yeti highly enough. Gallerano and Pisciotta obviously have a love for the subgenre, and they bring the nostalgic goods, suspenseful pacing, and solid work at the helm to this fantastic film.
The Yeti, from Well Go USA, debuts on Blu-ray and DVD on May 19, 2026.
Review by Joseph Perry
