La Bête des Neiges

For a low budget, made-for-TV movie from 1977, this one packs quite a wallop. Sure, we never really get to see the monster and there is an abundance of non-professional extras on hand, but the lead performances (Bo Svenson, Yvette Mimieux and Clint Walker) are just fine. There are two very strong qualities which take this film into the recommendable range. One is the excellent location photography. Sure, the Colorado mountains are gorgeous, but the stedicam work around the slopes really add to the tension. Second is the musical score. It is just excellent, so far about the norm for a TV movie of the era. I don't have the composer credit at hand, but it's my guess that there was a connection between him and Joseph Stefano, who wrote the film and was a veteran of Outer Limits, also noted for its engaging musical score. Anyway, between the music and the swooping camera work, this film is often genuinely creepy, almost from the first few minutes. And bless her sweet soul, isn't Yvette gorgeous? She sure grew from the Time Machine into a beautiful woman. Final word: it's hard not to notice the plot similarity between this feature and Jaws. Made two years after the Spielberg classic, we're still dealing with a monster on the loose and a town that doesn't want to admit it for fear of losing tourist dollars. Maybe Jaws on the Slopes would be a good subtitle here.

Rating- 3 stars*** out of 5

What else could you ask for a man dressed in a bigfoot-yeti-sasqutach like costume. I have never seen a film about that ledgenary creature but here it is Snowbeast. Not a great title but still okay. It's about that Bigfoot like creature killing skiers at a ski resort in Colorado. Bo Svenson, Vvitte Mineux, Clint Walker and Robert Logan leap into pursuit to stop it. Silva Syndey co-stars. Although the films looks rather like Jaws in some ways. I once had to think Joseph Stefano did great on Psycho why would he try to copy Jaws? Also it's failing of Direction leads to not so great suspense. But it's music by Robert Prince was okay. So if you hav'nt seen a movie about the legendary creature go out and rent it it's not all that bad. Filmed in 1977. Mostly played on T.V but was released to theaters in small quanties.

I watched this on DVD after acquiring a 10 pack called "Vault of Horror". I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. The acting ranges from competent to embarrassing, you never really see the monster, the storyline apes Jaws from scene to scene, but somehow it works if you watch it in the right frame of mind. Most of all it brought back memories of my childhood of watching those low-budget 72 minute TV movies they used to show from 8:30 to 10:00.

I loved Snowbeast when I first saw it. It could never be accused of being a great film but it is very good.

Some Sasquatch type creature is butchering people staying at a ski resort and no-one seems to be able to locate it or kill it. Throughout the movie it kills people and causes some carnage.

You don't actually get many glimpses of the monster. You will see a claw here or there but if memory serves me right, you actually only get split second glimpses of it's face at the end when it is cornered by the good guys. Of course, this doesn't spoil the movie; on the contrary, I think it helps that you don't see the monster every five minutes, it makes the whole thing more authentic. It's much better to hear a few growls here and there and to see the victims reactions.

I recommend Snowbeast to anyone. If you notice it on the TV, make sure you record it.

I saw this on late night tv in the early eighties. I was staying at my grandmothers house and I was in a sleeping bag. She had one of those Ye olde toilets where you had to go outside to pee. Needless to say I was to scared to go out side lest the Snowbeast would get me. There was no snow but I was too scared and peed in the sleeping bag. I'm still scared of the dark. And sleeping bags. And my grandmother. She's dead now though which is fine cause she was crazy. Also don't watch scary movies if you have to outside to pee, it may not end well.