Am Fear Liath

Am Fear Liath, translated from Gaelic as The Big Grey Man and inspired by Scottish folklore legend the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, begins with wildlife expert Fred (Agar) leading would-be creature-hunters Marty (Aislinn) and Ger (Boland) on an experience of a lifetime to finally find proof of the legendary Bigfoot (sorry, Sasquatch). But of course, despite discovering “footprints”, hearing strange noises and presenting them with undeniable footage, Marty and Ger are quick to catch on to what Fred and his business partner Paddy (Swayne) really are, a pair of shysters.

But despite everything, Fred and Paddy are actually convinced that there is something out there, and with the wolves at the door hammering to collect some long-standing debts, they plan to find out once and for all. So, with apologies offered and accepted, they enlist the help of Marty and Ger to go with them into the woods once again, this time to track down the real thing.

Am Fear Liath is an equal parts fun and tense man versus nature story that manages to give us some good laughs while also doing very well to create a lot of tension and more importantly enough intrigue when it needs to in order to keep us hooked. It layers and paces out it’s plot really well, the film does slow itself down from time to time in order give everything time to take a breath but it never feels like it's really ever losing too much momentum and it picks its moments well to drop in new and interesting character and plot revelations to always keep things ticking along nicely.

It's cast of characters are fun and well-written too so you’re glad to go along with them all the way from beginning to end. They are also bolstered by some solid performances, Swayne, Boland and Aislinn are great company, and Yule’s mountain-man character adds a wholly unpredictable and fun dimension to proceedings, but it is Agar, who is able to play the loveable boyish buffoon just as well as they are able give heft to the film’s more emotional moments that is the standout.

It’s not perfect, where the film falls flat the most is in the action scenes. Fights and the hits and punches thrown within them are pretty unconvincing leaving these moments feeling quite flat. Some of the later scenes also seem like a repetitive cycle of characters constantly running across the same background. But despite these blips, each time the film somehow seems to pick itself right back up again to its high level of drama and as mentioned before, intrigue. You want to see how everything is going to turn out for these guys, and it makes some smart choices with how it lets its story unravel that keeps us wanting and on our toes with a few twists and turns along the way.

With enough charm in its story and characters to keep it enjoyable throughout the ebbs and flows, Am Fear Liath is a well-put together creature feature that achieves most of what it sets out to do.