Late Phases

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.

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.

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!

"Late Phases" actually turned out to be much better than I had anticipated. When I found this movie, I had not even heard about it, but given the cover and the synopsis of the movie, I decided to give it a go. Plus, it is a horror movie which is always a nudge in the right director for me.

The storyline told in "Late Phases" was actually rather intense. It is the kind of story that you quickly get yourself immersed into. And it was a rather nice approach and twist on the werewolf genre, which just added to the enjoyment of the movie.

There is a good build up of tension throughout the movie and the cast that they had assembled here delivered great performances. Especially Nick Damici, because he really carried the movie quite phenomenally with his performance.

The characters in the movie were also good, they were nicely detailed and fleshed out. And of course brought very nicely to life on the screen by the cast.

There are some nice effects in the movie. And while "Late Phases" is not a movie that is heavily relying on special effects, the team does make good use of these special effect they did put into the movie.

A great story with good performances, and an ending that was rather good and in spirit with the movie. If you haven't seen "Late Phases" already, and if you get the chance to do so, I would suggest you take the time to watch it.

Wounded war vet Ambrose (Nick Damici) moves to a place where people are dying from mysterious circumstances.

This is the most pleasant surprise in the horror genre in quite a while. Although a few films have caused a bit of a stir (including "The Babadook" and "Starry Eyes"), this may turn out to be the sleeper hit of 2014 when word of mouth begins on the DVD release.

Werewolf films are few and far between, and good ones are even more rare. Although Universal tried to reboot "The Wolfman" a few years back, it was hardly appreciated. The last great wolf film was probably "Dog Soldiers" (2002), now more than a decade ago. "Late Phases" now takes that spot as the last great wolf film.

Leading the way is Nick Damici, who makes a very believable blind veteran. If these sort of films won awards, Damici might even be a strong contender. Horror fans ought to know his background, too: mentored by Michael Moriarty (a Larry Cohen regular), Damici came into the realm of Jim Mickle and Larry Fessenden (who produced this picture). He tends to be the less-often-mentioned part of this team, but should be mentioned in the same breath.

Then we have an excellent supporting cast: beyond Damici and Fessenden, we have Ethan Embry ("Can't Hardly Wait"), Tom Noonan ("Manhunter"), Tina Louise ("Gilligan's Island") and even Dana Ashbrook ("Twin Peaks"). The strongest supporting role is filled by Lance Guest ("Jaws: The Revenge"), as the connection between Ambrose and the local church.

The effects are solid, with both Bob Kurtzman and David Greathouse constructing the creature. Greathouse even wears the costume, apparently. Mix this with a plot that is entirely original (with a nod or two to classics like "Silver Bullet") and you have a winner.

Oddly, reviews are mixed. Shock Til Your Drop says the film is "obviously going for the Bubba Ho-Tep vibe", a contention that is flat-out wrong. Other than this being a community of elderly folks, there is no similarity. They might have said "goes for the Cocoon vibe" and been just as wrong. Bloody Disgusting properly called it "a masterpiece of the werewolf genre".

Director Adrián García Bogliano may not be well known, but after "B is for Bigfoot", "Here Comes the Devil" and now this, horror fans better take notice.