directed by:
Pauric Brennan written by: Mark Hampton, Pauric Brennan genre: Thriller |
What kind of tour is this? The guide doesn't know the difference between North and West and seems quite adept at using the illusion of suggestion to try and convince folks they're on a path to see Bigfoot. Smartly seeing through the BS, his clients are ready for a refund anytime their guide is ready to supply. "If people are stupid enough to believe in it, they're stupid enough to pay for it." #Truth
So clearly, it ain't long before those same tourists get sucked into another adventure in the wild with the exact same tour guide. Don't get it twisted - they're rightly skeptical of the entire idea, but nevertheless, they have once again put themselves in a position to be scammed for a second time. Some folks never learn, as you know…and you can lead stupid straight to water, but you can't make it drink, as they say, right? Soon enough, however, it becomes a question of who's doing the hunting and who's being hunted. Movies like "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man" can be tough in the sense that they really rely on what's "not" there, as opposed to just about every other kind of film in the world that will show you what is. When that's your method, you've got to make sure a whole bunch of components fill in the gaps, and you've gotta have incredible acting. You also have to have a significant story, and let's not forget that you've gotta have some good cinematography. If you don't have all those ingredients, there's a good chance you'll be in store for an uphill battle in the court of public opinion. From my perspective, "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man" has some strong acting and quality filming but a fairly limited story that is a bit on the sparse side - when it comes to truly compelling details. Suppose you can imagine the kind of patience you'd need in order to hunt or find Bigfoot. In that case, you have an idea of what it takes to sit through the pacing of this film…and I'd say the most major concern is that with it moving as slowly as it does, the kind of intensity that would be required to keep folks fully engaged is extremely hard to establish. Keep in mind this opinion is coming from a guy who genuinely enjoys a slow mover…but with respect to those key ingredients I mentioned, they've got to be there for everything to work to a film's full potential. While there are notable twists, like having the last character join the crew – I'm not sure that I was ever quite convinced there was enough here for most watchers to stick it out. Again, my opinion. The filming is one of the movie's main assets, so credit to Pauric Brennan for that. He uses good, clear shots for the most part and films in good locations that make sense for this story. We're not talking about anything in the big-budget realm, but Pauric has done a lot with a little in terms of how he's chosen to film "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man." Some spots could have potentially been improved, but overall, not too shabby at all. I felt like the most violent scenes we see would be a tough sell to most viewers, and I don't think they were quite convincing enough to be real. Take the second death you'll see onscreen, for example, or the battle with the moss-man that occurs later on down the road…more intensity would have been great. Even before that, in the first death that we witness along the way, that's were Brennan has space to refine his technique in terms of what he shows us and for how long we get to see it – if you're paying close attention, you'll see the movie-makeup-magic involved in those bloody scenes, and when that happens, our suspension of disbelief tends to go along with it. That element of filmmaking is outright crucial to something like hunting for Bigfoot. The main strengths of "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man" become the characters somewhat by default – and Brennan, who co-wrote this film with Mark Hampton, deserves credit for making them interesting to us.
As far as the story itself is concerned, by the time it was wrapping up, it felt like we were just getting into it, which is somewhat of an indication that the climax of this tale isn't quite climax-y enough, you know what I mean? It felt like "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man" possibly squandered a few opportunities to really generate the excitement, fear, and intensity that you'd wanna find in a film like this - and swapped that out in favour of a more character-driven story that doesn't quite have the details in support of that approach. Much like having a sighting of the beast ourselves, we get glimpses and fragments of what could be greater than it is, but not enough clarity to have the certainty we need in the moment. That being said, I feel like there are many positives to be found…the ensemble cast is good, the characters are good, and the direction has lots of really good moments along the way – it's just that "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man" needed more in every aspect from the original story to the final results & pretty much everything in between - to make it resonate with the weight it probably should have to make it real for us as viewers. I guess what I'm saying is that there is still plenty of room in a film like this to create suspense, mystery, and horror instead of taking us for a wander through the woods, you know? I've gotta call things like I see 'em; that's all I can ever do. I'll split the difference with "Am Fear Liath – The Grey Man" and give it two & a half stars out of five, simply because that wander does eventually get to where it wants to go. Verdict? It's decent enough, in my humble opinion. |
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