A highlight of the most recent "snowpocalypse" coverage (for me, at least) was the image of a local prankster wandering the streets of Somerville in a Yeti costume during the storm. You can read The Boston Yeti's Twitter feed here.
I don't know if The Boston Yeti is related to his Massachusetts neighbors, Winterbeast or Sasqua, but he bares more than a passing resemblance to some of our other favorite regional horror cryptids. See below.
In honor of the record snowfall here in the midwest, here is a selection of winter-themed regional horror film trailers:
First, from the wilds of Massachusetts and New Hampshire comes Winterbeast, filmed in 1986 and released on video in 1992 by Ohio-based Tempe Entertainment:
Next, coming at you from the snowy climes of upstate New York, the fevered imagination of the screenwriter of Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972) and the warped cinematic sensibilities of pornographers Michael and Roberta Findlay, I present Shriek of the Mutilated (1974). In addition to a fluffy white yeti mauling college students, it has a funny song about bigfoot, a lengthy party sequence set to the song "Popcorn" by Hot Butter, and the best non-sequitor-death-by-electric-carving-knife sequence ever. Ever.
Finally, we have Bill Rebane's Wisconsin-set The Capture of Bigfoot (1979). Like almost every other entry in the short-lived but memorable sub-genre of albino bigfoot movies, this one features a ridiculous dance sequence. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your ears on the haunting strains of "Sensuous Tiger" by "The Friends."
The Dead Next Door is a blog about regional or "backyard" horror and science fiction films made from the late 1950s to the earlyl 1990s (and beyond). These films were released during the peak years of independent film production, created by a motley crew of seasoned pros, gifted amateurs, and enthusiastic genre fans, along with dozens of eccentric dreamers -- doctors, lawyers, insurance salesmen, publishers, commercial filmmakers, TV production crews and moonlighting pornographers -- all looking for their big break or a fast buck or both.
