The Yeti (2026) (Movie Review)

Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 2026 release The Yeti. It's a Shudder exclusive and it's coming to Shudder on Friday, August 7th. So, this is a no spoiler review. So, I'm always looking for a good cryptid film. And if you know about any, please put it in the comments of this video because I would love to watch those. I'm not saying that they aren't out there. I am saying that I just have not seen them and I'm not super aware of them because, you know, like Sasquatch, Yeti, whatever, is always very interesting. And yes, this film has a Yeti in it because the title says so. Although, sometimes, you know, you never know cuz films can be a little deceptive with their titles. But this one, it is exactly what it says it is. So, The Yeti was written and directed by Gene Gallerano uh and William Pisciotta. Uh again, it's a Shudder exclusive coming Friday, August 7th. Quick synopsis, there's not a whole lot to say. It takes place in the '40s. Well, actually, it the beginning starts in 1947. I think it may cross a little bit into the '50s. It may stay late '40s, but it's that time period, so kind of get yourself in that mentality. Um there was a um an oil an oil executive, oil magnate who ends up going out on an expedition with some other guys and then they get lost. So, then there's another expedition that ends up getting sent out and the person who's supposed to be kind of the cartographer to take them on this path to, you know, find these people uh is the daughter of one of the people who went missing. So, and it's a it's a Yeti's territory. So, that's kind of where the horror comes in, where the danger is for the film, but that's it for the synopsis. And honestly, there is not a whole lot of story to this film. And that gets to one of the biggest issues that I have with the film is that the script, the story is just it's not great, unfortunately, but I'll talk about it as I go through my notes from watching. Uh something that happens before the title comes up gives you the idea that this won't be done in a serious manner. Now, it gave me that idea because things at times are like a little over the top, a little hokey, and they seem like they're intentionally so. But then at other times, and actually for the majority of the film, it seems like they're trying to play everything straight, and you're just like I'm a little confused like what should we have been going for here? And what I think they should have been going for is that little inkling you get in the beginning before the title comes up of we're going to go kind of ridiculous. We're going to go kind of funny and just over the top. That's what I think they should have done. Now, there is some gore that feels a little over the top and a little ridiculous, and I like that, and it's practical gore. Like there's actual practical blood in here. They weren't using CGI, so big thumbs up on that. But, I just think they should have leaned so much heavier into that type of stuff and make it like a bit humorous because honestly, the dialogue itself is just throwaway. It's boring. It might as well have just been a silent film for the most part. Well, not entirely because the score is good. I did quite like the score. I think the composition of it is really nice. They did a nice job. They didn't It gets overused a little bit here and there, but it's not egregious, so that was relatively fine. And the sound design. There are some really nice moments where the sound sound design actually really uh stands out, so I think they did a nice job with that. Uh very early on the story setup seems like it won't be anything unique, so the execution will end up being especially ex- especially important. Unfortunately, I don't think the execution for the most part was that great. Now, the biggest issue, coming back to like what I was saying before, is the script. There isn't enough story. Uh it's not an interesting enough story. There is something kind of more unique and interesting-ish at the end of the film, so there is some sort of payoff. But, like I was saying, like the dialogue is really not great, and it just feels like for almost the entire duration of the film, they're just wasting time. Um even in the very beginning, the the scene that you get before the title comes up, it feels like they're wasting time in that scene. And now, this is a film that's just I think it's an hour and 33 minutes with end credits. And it feels much longer than that because the pacing is so poor, and because there's such little story, because you also just don't feel anything for these characters, because they didn't do a very good job with establishing any of them or making any of them interesting. These are really kind of much like the dialogue is very throwaway. These characters are very throwaway. They're very whatever. They're so one-dimensional. None of them have interesting interactions with each other. They don't have interesting relationships. None of them have interesting backstories. Like there's just nothing interesting about them. The one thing I did found find kind of interesting about one of the characters was a very small thing that was added on, which was the fact that half of his face has like a kind of hokey-ish looking mask that that he has strapped around his head. That's an actual thing from back then for people who had had injuries. Uh I think it's something that started even around the Civil War, like a little No, maybe not Civil War, like World War I at least, where they would have like if people had, you know, something missing or something messed up going on there, they'd put like people would just wear a mask over it, basically. And And then it was kind of like sculpted and painted to like at least somewhat look like the rest of their face. So, I kind of like that little touch, but other than that, the character is just not that interesting, unfortunately. Uh there is some really rough handheld camera work, too. Now, thankfully, it's not all handheld camera work. I I was a little worried about that that might happen, but there's plenty of times where they actually use the tripod, so very nice keeping things stable. I like the fact that they did that cuz there's so many low-budget independent horror films that are not doing that, that they're like, "Where do you We can just do this whole thing handheld." And it looks terrible and it makes people queasy because all the movement. But, the moments where they're doing handheld with this are overly shaky with the camera work, and that is very distracting, takes you out of the film. It's not great. So, that was another one of the issues. Uh, throwaway dialogue and characters, talked about that. Some of the acting is solid for what the role is that they're trying to hit. Uh, some of it is also less than solid. So, it it's a real mixture as far as the cast goes. Um, so, yeah. But, you kind of going to expect, or at least I expect that from lower-budget independent films. Uh, the pacing is painful. I already talked about the pacing, but the way I put it in my notes specifically, it is painful. It is tough. Uh, it again, it really just feels like for the the overwhelming duration of this film, they're just trying to waste time until they get to the end, which is where they had their actual idea for the film. So, yeah. They need a lot more work on the script, like a lot. Uh, there's something that's somewhat interesting about where the story goes, but not enough to warrant the rest of the movie. And then I already talked about the score being well done. I quite like that. And then the Yeti, the Yeti itself looks good. This is a nicely done Yeti. So, honestly, I would have liked to have seen more Yeti, a lot more Yeti, because it looks as good as it does. Uh, I was surprised because the film wasn't going great in my opinion. I'm like, man, we're going to see this Yeti and it's just not going to be great. It is pretty good. I did quite like the look of this Yeti. So, more of this Yeti but in a film written by someone else, please. But, anyway, those are my thoughts on the Yeti. Would love to hear other people's thoughts. Out of five stars, half stars in play, I'm going to give it a one star rating, unfortunately. I wanted to like this more, but again, it goes back to what I was saying in the beginning. I have not seen many good cryptid films. If I can't even think of any off the top of my head. But, I also haven't seen like a ton a ton, so again, give me those recommendations. Also, if you want to talk about this film and we can talk spoilers, go ahead and put it in the comments. That'd be great. Do the free things to help me out here. 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