The Abominable Snowman (1957) directed by Val Guest

This early Hammer Horror is about an expedition said to be about finding rare plants in the Himalayas but really about a secretive plan to capture a yeti for science.... and profit. The Lama is somewhat clairvoyant and not a dummy and knows what is really going on, including that another group is coming to enlist Cushing in their yeti hunt. The main actors are Peter Cushing, giving one of the only not great performances of his career, and Forrest Tucker from Auntie Mame and F-Troop fame. Cushing has a wife who is also a scientist but don't be fooled, she might as well be credited as "typical woman" for most of the film. 

Spoilers: 

There is some light drama on whether Cushing should go, lots of blatant rasism and a slow predictable hike up a mountain. No surprise that everyone but Peter Cushing dies at the hands of the abominable snowmen. The porduction is very low budget but handles it well and the yet costumes are pretty good. We only see an arm and a hand until the very end when a couple of them come out of the shadows for a moment. 

The filmis a little slow but not terrible. There are some strong points. One is the Lama is pretty much in control of the situation and never admits the local cyptids are real and makes sure the one survivor will tell the world they found nothing. The wife is a wasted character as she shows signs of being truly independent and strong at times, particulairy at the end but spends most of her time making suopper for "the men". The Yeti are not monsters, they are an endangered race with intellignce (and pyschic powers apparently) and when we see thier faces finally they live up to how they were described earlier in the film as not quite human, not quite animal but a look of wisdom about them. 

Kiss if the Vampire (1963) directed by Don Sharp

This was originally ment to go into the Hammer Dracula series but ended up it's own film instead. It is notable for swerving away from the typical vampire formula by having a coven of them led by a charismatic leader. There are with elements in the story as well.

A young couple gets caught up in a vampire cult when the leader of the cult takes a shine to the wife and arranges to befriend them as a ruse to kidnap her. at a masked ball he has one of group wear the same mask as her husband and lure her into a locked room. The guy is a good 5 inches taller than the husband but she fell for it anyway. There is a Van Helsing like character of sorts. A drunken man whose daughter has also fallen victim to the undead cult gets the husband t help him get both their family members free by calling 100s of vampire bats to attack the coven and kill them. This makes as much sense watching it as it did you reading it. 

The film looks good and while it's plot goes all over the place it's novel enough to keep your attention and only drags now and then. probably not something you would want to go back to over and over, though. 

Jimmy Sangster

R.I.P., Hazel Court