Night of the Wolf

All cheer (or howl…) for this brand new and instant horror gem! Every year there are hundreds of zombie movies being released and only very few of them are worth checking out. Every year there are several vampire movies being released and even less of those are worth seeing. Per year there are just a handful of werewolf movies coming out, so if you stumble upon a worthwhile one nowadays, you should really cherish it. But "Late Phases" is more than just a worthwhile werewolf movie… It's a fantastic and awesomely entertaining werewolf movie; arguably the best one since… I don't even know since when! To be honest, my personal expectations towards "Late Phases" were quite high from beforehand, because I've been following the work of the young Spanish-born director Adrián Garcia Bogliano and, so far, he didn't make a single bad movie. "Cold Sweat", "I'll Never Die Alone" and "Here Comes the Devil" are all terrific films. Of course, werewolf stories are tricky and this is also the first time that Bogliano directs a film that he didn't script himself, but still I was more than confident enough about the great potential of "Late Phases". But what makes this such a good effort, apart from Bogliano's skills and influence? Well, Eric Stolze penned down a sublime screenplay that is original, innovating, suspenseful, fast-paced and – most of all – traditional! Yes, "Late Phases" is finally another movie that respects the old-fashioned werewolf trademarks (full moons, silver bullets, etc…) without serving them as dull clichés or in a satirical way. Ambrose McKinley, a blind and deeply embittered Vietnam veteran is dropped off by his son Will at Crescent Bay; a quiet community where elderly folks enjoy their retirement and that is located next to a large forest. During his first night already, the friendly neighbor Dolores is savagely ripped to pieces and also Ambrose himself and his loyal guide dog Shadow are attacked by a gigantic wolf creature. It turns out that residents of Crescent Bay are killed off on a monthly basis, but everyone assumes that animals from the woods are responsible and they aren't the police's priority. Moreover, the deputy even literally states that animals are God's way to help the world getting of old people! That's nice! Ambrose links the monthly attacks to the full moon and promptly begins with counterattack preparations. Meanwhile, he gets to know the rest of the neighborhood – or better yet, potential lycanthropes – in his own rude and offensive style. Another thing that "Late Phases" features for the first time since many, many moons is a truly awesome lead hero. Ambrose McKinley, as depicted by Nick Damici, is one cool dude. He uses a shovel as a cane, buys massive tombstones for his dead dog, smokes cigarettes with the local priest and nearly switches off the iron lung of one of his neighbors. Last but certainly not least "Late Phases" also contains plentiful of great gore and make-up effects, coming from specialist Robert Kurtzman. The werewolf transformation sequences are sublime and the carnal damage caused by these delightful creatures is even better. See it!

A blind veteran moves to a small community for elders, where he is attacked by an animal one night. Realizing that he has been attacked by a werewolf, he spends his time preparing for the next full moon. It seemed to be yet another low budget crap werewolf movie. And yes, the werewolves to look like guys wearing cheap Halloween costumes, but the movie in itself is not that bad. The acting is good, the story of the grumpy, blind old veteran preparing for the next werewolf attack is actually more interesting than the attacks themselves. The fact that most of the characters are elderly is quite refreshing, and they manage to set a mood that kept me watching, not for the werewolves, but because I actually cared about what happened to the protagonist.

Poorly developed and feeling unfinished plot (try to steal from ''Silver Bullet''), carnival monsters (try to steal from ''Dog Soldiers'' and ''Howling''), ludicrous transformations (try to steal from ''An American Werewolf In London'' and ''Howling''), poor performances (except the protagonist's which is O.K.), low-budget... and frustrating all the way!!! In the beginning, it's snowing promises of a suspenseful and original plot but when the development begins (or suppose to begin... or tries to begin... or ''Please, I'm begging you to begin'') it's too late for your disordered neurological system!!! You feel like the soup is served cold once more... ''Waitor, get the f**** out of here and bring your boss here immediately!!!''

Late Phases reminded me a lot of Silver Bullet (the movie adapted from Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf) but with a blind, elderly Vietnam veteran instead of a paraplegic boy as the protagonist. As much as I have always loved Silver Bullet, I have to admit that I enjoyed this movie about as much, and it doesn't feel dated the way that Silver Bullet does when watching it again. It seems fitting that the special effects were handled by the same man who did special effects work on Bubba Ho-Tep, since there are some parallels between this story and that one, except that this one doesn't take place in a retirement facility, rather it takes place in a neighborhood of retirees. I've seen better werewolf creature effects (the creature appears to be a little bit more like a wererabbit because of a strangely short snout combined with the long, pointed ears), but I have seen much, much worse than these. It's not the caliber of the Howling or the old Werewolf television series, but it beats the hell out of the shiny/glossy, god awful creature effects from the Underworld movies and so many others. The transformation process itself, that you don't get to witness until near the end, is actually pretty impressive compared to a lot of them I've seen. The story is captivating for the most part, though it does drop a few steps during the investigative portion of the narrative while the protagonist figures things out and prepares for the next full moon to arrive. The climax of the movie makes up for it though, and then some...and even that slower patch between the full moons isn't the sort of thing that can be skipped over, in part because there is a bit of a twist relating directly to the investigation the protagonist conducts. I felt like now was as good a time as any to watch this particular movie because I am in the process of writing a werewolf story of my own, and it seemed like a good idea to watch some things for additional inspiration...and this one definitely served that purpose well. I wish that the werewolf wasn't such an underrepresented monster in both movies and literature...but it seems like all anyone has time for are zombies and vampires, and that is a damn shame. I would love to see more movies like this.

Late Phases...interesting title i suppose. I was really excited to have a werewolf movie that appeared, judging by the reviews, to have promise. I tend to base most werewolf movies on what i consider the gold standard of that genre, An American Werewolf In London. For me that movie has suspense, humor (to offset the suspense), great special effects (still one of my favorite werewolf makeups and transformation scenes) and a decent story line. Late Phases doesn't really have many of those but it does have some humor and a couple quasi suspenseful spots. The main character is very likable which i think adds to the film and, for me at least, the movie gets very cheesy in an almost Troma Films like fashion towards the end. The werewolves are far from well done...they are embarrassingly bad. I will say that one transformation scene is actually pretty decent and the profile of the beasts are OK but that's it. The actual werewolf though looks like Fuzzbucket ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286639/ ) on crack (sorry Fuzzbucket, i still like you). The werewolves look like Halloween Express costumes. I enjoyed it though...somehow. Maybe its the Bubba Ho Tep type feel of monsters and Elderly people? I gave it a 6 / 10 because its definitely watchable but you need to be in the mood for this type of movie. Its not as bad as the "bad" reviews are stating but its definitely not stellar. Its just... Fun I would watch this if you like cheesy werewolf movies. If you are looking for a serious piece of film then you might want to move on.

LATE PHASES (2014) *** Nick Damici, Ethan Embry, Lance Guest, Tina Louise, Rutanya Alda, Caitlin O'Heaney, Erin Cummings, Tom Noonan, Larry Fessenden, Karen Lynn Gorney, Dana Ashbrook. Original spin on the lycanthropic horror flick with Damici aces as an aged, blind Vietnam vet who discovers a werewolf in amidst his new housing community and attempts to prepare for the next attack within the month of a new full moon. Great ensemble of veteran character actors (some get the short shrift while others shine) make a fine guessing game of who's the creature. Filmmaker Adrian Garcia Bogliano keeps things lively by smartly employing Robert Kurtzman's largely practical special effects and make-up for the monster echoing the contemporaries THE HOWLING and AN American WEREWOLF IN London. The unique screenplay by Eric Stolze echoes Stephen King's SILVER BULLET yet creates its own brand of drama with Damici's solid performance (a mix of Ben Gazarra's no bull demeanor and Charles Bronson's calm macho stoicism) anchoring the film in reality. One of the better efforts of the werewolf genre.

This film has a slight comedic flavour, inasmuch as it steals from the famous 'Bubba Ho-Tep'. In that movie the residents of the rest home have to fight off a mummy. Here, it's a werewolf. They also stole the two geeky drivers who visit the rest home on a regular basis and hate their job as well as the old people. The problem is that this film is not funny, and it doesn't really try to be, so I don't understand why it flirts with this tongue-in-cheek semi-humorous stuff. On a positive note, the film has a couple of decent scary moments. But it is also poorly written. For instance, the main character switches between being nice to his new neighbors and treating them with psychotic contempt for no reason whatsoever. Then, after the werewolf attack, in which half the house is demolished and an entire wall is torn down, the police seem to think an animal did that. What animal is that? An elephant? Bigfoot? Not even bears tear down walls. And then they tell the people to lock their doors and close the windows at night. Again, the thing literally walked through the wall. Will a closed window in any way impede it? Watch this film if you have nothing better to do, but don't expect much. Do some housework during the moronic dialogue scenes and come back when you hear that action is about to start. Don't expect much, though. This is some cheap action. As far as I'm concerned, this is another wasted opportunity, and I am offended by the lack of respect the filmmakers have for their audiences. Nobody is stupid enough to write that drivel. They knew they were writing drivel and they didn't care. Well, right back at you. One star.

This film has the potential of classic written all over it. Finally after Dog Soldiers we have werewolf movie with characters and a pace we can appreciate. The use of non cgi creature effects is so refreshing and gives more realism. I will say this movie gained so much respect from me with it's shocks and creeps it was easy to over look the obvious budget issues with facial animatronics on the beast. The film is so well directed and edited the pace and fierceness save it from itself. This film would definitely be worth a cgi brush on the faces alone and that would make this film undeniably perfect. Either way, I had to give this film 10 stars for directorial vision and genius. I would definitely love to see this director try again with more support from the studio's budget. I think he would be dangerous with the right amount for the fx department. I literally clinched my fist with a yes during the last 10 minutes of this. I would watch it again without question.

This is a better than average character movie. The Wolves are scary and/but not CGI. My favourites are the old Universal Wolfman, the Howling, and American Werewolf in Paris I did not ever like American werewolf in London, except for the initial scenes I don't rate that at all! Silver Bullet was OK; better than I'd remembered and about as good as the book. The the main thing is the hero, who is unlikeable yet still a hero. I like the use of older actors; is this a 'Coccoon' for the Werewolf fans? It was a little difficult placing the main actor as a retiree at first, but I eventually accepted it. Overall a good addition to the Were-canon. I want to see more from everyone involved.

I felt compelled to rate this movie (something I rarely take the time to do)because it was simply one of the best werewolf movies out there. Any serious horror movie watcher would probably rate these as the best werewolf period: The Wolfman (the original) The Howling Bad Moon Wolf An American Werewolf in London And Wer ( another very good modern werewolf tale) Big Bad Wolf (I'm fond of this movie for some reason) Well "Late Phases" definitely earned a place in the list. And what's even more remarkable is the hero is a disabled blind vet in an assisted living movie. But this is no Bubba Hotept. It is a serious horror and has a few famous faces lurking among the supporting cast. Check it out and you won't be disappointed.