Quick Review: Yeti, Giant of the 20th Century
- Jude W Mire
- Jul 3, 2018
- 2 min read
YETI, Giant of the 20th Century (1977)
Director: Gianfranco Parolini (as Frank Kramer)
Cast: Antonella Interlenghi (as Pheonix Grant), Mimmo Crao, Jim Sullivan, Tony Kendall]
Professor Wassermann (John Stacy) is asked by industry magnate Morgan Hunnicut (Eddie Faye) to lead an expedition to study the giant Yeti creature found frozen in a large ice block on Newfoundland's coast. The professor does not know that Hunnicut intends to use the prehistoric creature as a trademark of its multinational industrial group. A very big mistake.
I don't think it would be sane, or healthy, to delve too deeply into all the ways this movie is brain-scrunchingly amazing/awful. But, I shall list a few of the things that struck me the most.
Let's start with Antonella Interlenghi (aka Phoenix Grant). This is loosely a King Kong wanna-be and she's the girl. By girl I mean, girl. She was 17 when this came out (I'll be generous and assume 16 when it was shot). But hey, don't let that stop them from pairing her romantically with 41 year old Tony Kendall or throwing her into sexy dresses and flip flopping all over the movie from child to science assistant to grown up hot damsel in distress. The entire movie is cringe worthy on this fact alone. How an entire team of cameramen, set guys, producers, costumers, etc... all stood around and shot some of this makes you want to pull them aside and have "the conversation".
The Yeti. It's just a giant dude with amazing hair. The whole movie is worth watching just to watch this guy's facial expressions trying to sell being a Yeti. His terrifying yeti screech is something you will never unhear, and you'll hear it a lot.
Upon discovering the Yeti they mostly thaw him out with a flamethrower and then immediately decide it's a good idea to try and bring him back to life. He doesn't just come back to life when thawed, oh no, these fuckers WANT to bring him back to life. For no good reason. Science maybe. They resurrection process involves flying him around in a helicopter. Because someone wanted to rent a helicopter for the movie, maybe?
Nobody can cay Yeti right. They try and pronounce it with an accent and it comes off sounding like it would rhyme with a Swedish person saying "sweaty". Why? Just... why?
Yeti has nipples. They get rubbed.
The younger brother, who does a whole bunch of nothing, the entire movie, is mute "since the accident".
Lassie is in this movie too!
The yeti apparently has magical healing drool. Yep. He does.
The movie is trying so hard to be Canadian. Flags in the background, constant references to locations, stereotypical fisherman. It's pretty funny that a movie so bad is so proud of where it came from.
This is all just the tip of the Yeti filled iceberg.
The movie also employed/created a group called "The Yetians" to make him a theme song.
Comments