If there was one thing Italian cinema was good at (Well, they were at least proficient at it) during the period of the late 1970s to the late 1980s it was producing cheap knock-offs of Hollywood blockbusters. One of the earliest, designed to capitalize on the success of Hollywood’s big budget King Kong remake of the year before, was 1977’s Yeti, Giant of the 20th Century; a much overlooked "so bad it’s good" classic if there ever was one. An Italian production filmed in Canada and then poorly dubbed into English, Yeti, Giant of the 20th Century replaced the giant ape with the Abominable Snowman - no explanation ever given as to why he’s a 40-foot giant - who a nerdy looking scientist discovers frozen in a glacier off the coast of Newfoundland that’s then thawed out so the volatile yet gentle giant can develop a fondness for an attractive young woman, her mute kid brother, and a Lassie-esque dog. A good-natured yet misguided business mogul that looks like George Wendt dressed like Dr. Who makes even more millions by turning the Yeti into his new corporate mascot and has it choppered to Toronto inside a giant phone booth for the media bonanza of a lifetime. Unfortunately, giant monsters and big cities don’t mix. Chaos ensues, due in no small part to the evil corporate saboteurs sent to kill off the mogul’s new big money boondoggle once and for all.
Yeti, Giant of the 20th Century, or as I like to call it, “Attack of the 50-Foot Oak Ridge Boy,â€
