Night of the Wolf (2014) User Reviews

Surprisingly good.

[olovsimonsson · 7/10 · 5 October 2017]

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.

A Powerful Release From Dark Sky

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 3 March 2015]

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.

For something that sounds dumb on paper...

[Wikkid_Gamez · 7/10 · 13 June 2019]

This movie turned out surprisingly well!

I had seen the title around in the past and never paid much attention. I mean really? A blind older vet against a werewolf?? .... How ridiculous is that whole idea? Well.... Not only was I wrong, I was pleasantly surprised by just how wrong I was.

This was one of the most enjoyable werewolf movies I have seen in a while! I absolutely love the dry, serious personality of the main character. He doesn't talk much and is direct and to the point about things. I love how those gossipy neighbors annoyed him as much as they did me! The acting was on point, all characters believable.

The special effects were not the best but they were good enough! I will take the not so perfect make-up/body suit type of effects over mediocre CGI any and every time! Definitely the right call there. I wish more movies still handled things that way more often. Bad CGI will cheapen any movie.

The story line was really good, and definitely different from any newer werewolf movie I have seen in quite a while. Retirement werewolves, not something you see.... Like.... Ever! Lol. The whole thing was refreshing. It was also extremely refreshing to see a modern werewolf movie actually respect and follow the traditional lore in a traditional way without making a joke out of it or turning the werewolves into actual wolves. Werewolves are not wolves and should be kept that way.

However I will say one thing for anyone already thinking it, because ik that they are. In Twilight, which is the most used reference in the past decade it seems.... They were NOT werewolves. The movies never clairified any of that and completely butchered the books which were actually quite good (yes I read them, long before the movies were even a thing and still have them) unlike the movies. In the last book towards the end the whole wolf thing is actually explained and acknowledged that they were not werewolves but were indeed a race of shapesifters. No more, no less. Completely different species.

All in all I definitely recommend this movie to anyone that still loves and appreciates traditional lore.

I still cant figure out why i liked this movie but i did.

[tgortemiller · 6/10 · 17 March 2015]

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.

For fans of 70s/80s horror movies

[davannacarter · 7/10 · 27 November 2014]

Do a Google image search for "Larry Fessenden" and I guarantee you'll shout out loud: "Holy crap! That dude's forehead is pregnant with an Oompah-Loompah! Somebody call Willy Wonka!" Only John Pankow has a forehead that would rival Fessenden's head.

I almost didn't watch this movie because Larry Fessenden has been associated with three horror movies I absolutely hated: Beneath, Hypothermia, and Wendigo. I hated Beneath beyond belief (hey, that rhymes!); Hypothermia had a monster that looked so stupid even Ed Wood, Jr. would laugh at it if he was alive to watch the movie; and Wendigo is notoriously hated, and for good reason. Occasionally, on the IMDb message boards I'll read stuff like "That movie was one of the worse movies I've ever seen. And I've seen Wendigo." or "It was a terrible, piece of crap movie and I have no intention of watching it again, not even the trailer. But there are far worse horror movies out there, like Wendigo, for instance."

So I was pleasantly surprised when he actually associated himself with a good movie for once:

1. Acting: The actors did a great job of making their characters both believable and likable.

2. Characters: finally, a horror movie that doesn't feature dumb young people running around screaming for 90 minutes while doing incredibly stupid things (like knock out the killer but not make sure he's dead) just to further the plot. Sure, one character acted dumb but I can understand he did it because he was shocked at what he was seeing. Plus, I can understand why the main character did the things he's did: he's angry at himself, at God, and at life. I feel that's good how they brought that type of characterization to round him out.

3. Suspense: I felt the filmmakers did a good job of making the movie suspenseful up to the violent parts. Some horror movies have kills that are too abrupt for my taste.

4. Camera work: the filmmakers scored points for keeping this movie free of annoying "BOOM" jump scares, no shaky-cam, and no swaying-cam. I'm tired of this filmmakers using these amateur techniques because they feel it enhances the movie or makes it seem more realistic. It does neither. It just makes these idiots look like amateurs who should learn the basics of filmmaking before making a movie.

5. Mystery: I'm glad this movie had a mystery angle around the characters, their situations, and why they are doing what they are doing. It all made sense in the end.

6. Kills: mostly off-screen. I guess because many of the victims were seniors or dogs that the filmmakers didn't want to go into details about the kills. **I have spoilers in the last paragraph. It involves animals getting killed for those of you who don't like animals getting killed in movies.**

7. Pacing: some people found it slow. I can understand. But I wasn't bored a second. I felt it was paced nicely.

8. The monsters: I feel this is the main reason why some people didn't like this movie. They felt the monster was bad. That's why my title says "For fans of 70s/80s horror movies". Horror movies from those two decades were notorious for making monster movies with hokey or downright laughable monsters. That was just the way they made the movies back then. But many of them were actually good movies, if you can overlook the silliness of the monster costumes (but the 50s and 60s had way dumber looking monsters). I think this movie was a throwback to those 70s/80s monster horror flicks but it had a modern feel. If you're a fan of horror flicks from that era then you'll mostly be able to reconcile with the monsters. At least they went for the old school costumes instead of computer-graphic monsters. Besides, decades from now people will see the horror movies from now and think, "Pale Japanese girls with hair over their faces? Ghost children? CGI monsters? And a bunch of home movies made on camcorders that are called 'Found Footage' horror films? Is this the kind of stuff people from the 2000s and 2010s found scary?"

All in all, in order to like this flick you must be looking for the following: characters different from the usual dumb young people being killed one by one; slower pacing; a movie that's sort of a throwback to old horror from the 70s and 80s; and a movie with a pretty downbeat feel that's reminiscent of those downbeat horror movies from the 70s.

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, there are dogs killed in this movie. One scene has a mercy killing of a dog. You don't see the dog shot but you know it's killed. I was skeptical about putting in this spoiler but I've seen countless people say they can't stand the sight of animals getting killed in movies.

Oddly interesting

[begob · 6/10 · 24 November 2015]

An ornery, blind army veteran moves into a retirement community, where he finds himself under attack during the full moon. He has one month to prepare his defences for the next phase.

What an odd movie. It has a touch of Coen brothers, some Witches Of Eastwick, and a dash of AWILondon. The lead is played brilliantly, with all that gruff dialogue, and many scenes have a powerful whiff of intra-communal paranoia. It really feels like a sophisticated satire on American values, with lots of wry digs at police, army, church and self-imposed isolation. But in the last act it goes fully literal and loses its touch, with no real reflection on what went before.

Sadly the creatures present as extras in furry costumes, but there is a bit of decent gore - although ultimately nothing is scary. I guess the director has to be blamed for the rushed feel of the final showdown.

The music is a bit generic, but effective in setting the mood.

Overall - great lead performance, but an odd mixture that doesn't carry through.

A great approach on the werewolf genre...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 17 July 2018]

"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.

He's still got it

[voyou-703-655350 · 5/10 · 28 November 2014]

If you need your dose of creature feature, Late Phases may not be a great one, but it is a pleasant one nonetheless. What's rather unusual is that the best bits don't come from the creatures but from the main character, his personality, and the way he deals with things. Played by Mr Damici, I found him quite fascinating.

More points for originality come from the setting itself, a sort of village full of elderly people. Something that you don't see everyday, and that ends up playing miles above all the teenage & monsters rubbish that pollutes our silver screens these days.

Late Phases has all you might expect from a decent B-movie: not the best FX and monster suits, but personality, intriguing developments, and fun. Many things are done right, like going into action right from the start and showing the creature in the first minutes. Even the music score has a couple of great moments. So why not a better note ? Well, none of the flaws is big enough to ruin the story, but I can't just ignore all the little goofs, and the costumes do look daffy after all.

Always looking for a good werewolf movie...

[jeffo-clws · 7/10 · 1 December 2014]

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.

Did I Watch the Same Movie?

[karenlharris · 1/10 · 30 November 2014]

I have lived on this planet for a half a century without reviewing a single movie, not one; good or bad. This movie moved me into action. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I didn't warn others before they wasted 2 hours of their life. Who are the reviewers giving this film 8 and 9 stars? Did IMDb adopt a new rating scale? I actually feel more stupid having watched this movie. The plot was ludicrous and the werewolves were utterly laughable. My 7 year old grandson could act better than all the actors combined in this film with the exception of the person who played Will who actually did a pretty good job. Watch paint dry if you are given a choice...you will be far more entertained.

Of Vets and Wolves

[Shadowplayed · 8/10 · 22 November 2014]

I always loved grumpy old guys in films, and after Eastwood's Kowalski there was little left to desire...till Damici's Ambroze Mckinley stepped into the picture in Bogliano's latest feature.

Bogliano's something of a curious case, he never limits himself to one or two subgenres the man does it all. Secretly though, he loves comedy! So Late Phases are laced with subtle and quirky comedy aspects, it never takes itself too seriously. Normally, the abundance of humor in a horror flick is major offense by me, but here, it simply works.

Elderly, blind vet moves to retirement community on the edge of a forest to spend the rest of his days in peace, but as he quickly learns, there's trouble lurking in front of residents' lawns killing them quickly and efficiently.

Ambrose McKinley doesn't waste too much time investigating, instead he instantly figures out the root of this evil and does his own prepping in order to face the threat. And so it goes....small close knit community shows its true colors and Ambrose gets the chance to face the enemy in no time...

Cheesy creature feature, far and between but loud and clear gore don't sound inviting? How about Tom Noonan in supporting role - the trade he's mastered during his long career? Great cinematography, perhaps a bit off pace now and then, but patched up and ready to proceed with good action sequences and surprising dynamics withing community. I'd call this a throwback although the cinematography is authentically modern, effects, creature feature and humor resemble 80's flicks.

Weird, offbeat but never dull, this is quite original werewolf film, first remarkable wereflick after Ginger Snaps, in my opinion.

Where wolf?

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 28 May 2015]

Cantankerous, blind Vietnam veteran Ambrose (Nick Damici) moves to Crescent Bay, a gated retirement community situated next to a forest. On his first night in his new home, his neighbour Delores (Karen Lynn Gorney of 'Saturday Night Fever' fame) is killed by a large creature that also tries to maul Ambrose; luckily for the ex-soldier, his guide dog Shadow intervenes and scares off the beast, but is mortally wounded in the process. The police blame the attack—just one of several in recent months—on a wild animal from the nearby woodland, but Ambrose believes that a werewolf was responsible and attempts to figure out who the lycanthrope is.

While Late Phases is in 'whodunit' mode, with Ambrose playing detective, it proves to be extremely entertaining stuff: intriguing, well written, and smartly directed, with a strong central performance from Damici. Unfortunately, once the identity of the werewolf has been revealed, the film becomes far more predictable, which mightn't have been so bad if only its monster had been the stuff of nightmares. Director Adrián García Bogliano delivers a reasonable transformation scene that owes more than a little debt to An American Werewolf in London, but fans of the genre will more than likely feel let down by the resultant werewolf, a rather ropey man-in-hairy-suit creation with a ridiculous fixed grin that is more likely to elicit giggles than shivers of fear.

The film also boasts a couple of moments of decent gore (including a nasty bite to one victim's arm and a juicy shotgun blast to a werewolf's head), but ends in a weak fashion that only adds to the overall sense of disappointment.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Bubba Were-Tep

[harryplinkett14 · 1/10 · 1 June 2017]

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.

Best Werewolf Film of Last Decade

[TheRedDeath30 · 7/10 · 4 April 2015]

I would consider myself to be somewhat of a werewolf connoisseur. Though I am a horror fanatic, it has also been the lycanthropes that attracted me the most, going back to childhood and the twin terrors of American WEREWOLF and THE HOWLING. It is a sad fact, though, that there are few good werewolf movies, so those of us who love the moon stalkers find ourselves in a constant search for "the next good one" and this movie is definitely that, though don't get me wrong, it is not without its' weaknesses. When making that claim, though, we have to admit that the competition is weak and the last good werewolf movie before this was probably 02's DOG SOLDIERS.

This movie had more than a few things going for it that signaled I was in for something I was going to enjoy. Beyond my aforementioned love of lycanthropic lore, the movie was an indie horror fan's dream. Directing by a rising star, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, who is coming off the excellent Mexican film HERE COMES THE DEVIL, as well as his highly praised segment in THE ABC's OF DEATH. The star of the movie is Nick Damici, usually known as the acting muse of director Jim Mickle, who featured Damici in movies like STAKE LAND and MULBERRY ST. Damici is an excellent actor who would be good in any role he's given and I believe that we're lucky to have him in our beloved horror genre.

Damici blinds a blind war vet, who's recently lost is wife. He's moving to a new community, where all is not as it seems. Something is lurking in the outskirts of town. Early on in the movie the monster collects its' first victim and sets the events of the film in motion. Damici's blind man quickly realizes that he's got a werewolf threat on his hands and spends the next month making preparations to defend himself at the next full moon.

Where Damici gets to really shine, though, is in the side story involving his son, played by that dude who was Rusty in VEGAS VACATION. As the movie unfolds, we peel back the layers on Damici's blind Van Helsing and explore his damaged relationship with his son and his regrets over his marriage, mostly stemming from the horrors he's witnessed in 'Nam. These story strains are allowed to unravel organically by Bogliano and he makes excellent use of the relationship by Damici's character and a preacher played by Tom Noonan, in some of the movie's best scenes.

Most of this movie is excellent. Damici gives one of his best performances yet and the tension established by Bogliano to setup the final confrontation shows the talent that this young director is capable of proving. There are some letdowns, though. A big part of the success of a werewolf movie is the makeup. Where so many b- movies fail is in crafting a believable look. Let's be frank here, Robert Kurtzman is a special effects guru, but this is not his best work. The werewolves look like the work of the guy that got voted off FACE OFF. It's almost amateur. I do give credit for attempting "Full Werewolf". They didn't take the cheap route of just using real wolves and they didn't go the cheesy old-school "shaggy guy" look, either. They tried to craft real bi-pedal nightmares, but they just look terrible.

The other noticeable chink in the armor here is in the script, which becomes far too reminiscent of Stephen King's story CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF and it's official film adaptation SILVER BULLET. The use of the preacher, the crippled main character, the peaceful town with a werewolf secret, the final showdown in a home. There were a few too many similarities for me for this to feel truly fresh.

The end result is a movie that is good, but not great. Yes, I would easily say it's the best werewolf movie of the last ten years, but that's not saying too much. Maybe my expectations were too high? That's entirely possible. The movie spends the majority of its' run time establishing a setup to a final conflict that is disappointing in a few ways and ultimately leaves the viewer thinking that they could have done better with the tools they had in hand.

Surprisingly good werewolf movie!

[aliceecila · 7/10 · 29 November 2015]

This is a really good "low budget" movie. Great acting- especially by the main actor and the priest character. I actually wanted to know even more about "Ambrose"- he really draws you in- very engaging actor. Plus nice to see a couple other talented familiar faces!

The story was original enough for a "monster" movie. But one of the main reasons I decided to rent it was because of how much it reminded me of Silver Bullet in the trailer (which was probably the first werewolf movie I ever watched and is still my favorite at 30 years old). And it didn't disappoint! I kind of wish it would have kept us guessing for a bit longer than it did but it was faster paced in general. Not too much blood and gore either- just the right amount. The only thing that bothered me a bit was the actual face of the werewolf- they should have made the snout a bit broader and/or longer. It was still pretty creepy & scary looking nonetheless. But really overall a well-done scary mysterious werewolf movie- definitely worth watching! They are hard to come by!

So if you are a big fan of Silver Bullet or Wolf, you will enjoy this one as well!

When you can't see the wolves around you...

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 30 December 2018]

"Late Phases" turned out to be one amazing surprise and one heck of a thrill ride. I was more than genuinely surprised with the outcome of this movie and the sheer level of entertainment that they managed to turn this project into.

I will say that "Late Phases" is a very, very enjoyable and interesting take on the werewolf genre. The movie definitely brought something new and most welcomed to the werewolf genre - at least I haven't experienced anything like this movie before. If for nothing else, then "Late Phases" is more than worth watching for its unique style.

The special effects in the movie were amazing. Sure, they weren't on the scale where you just blink in awe, like some of the major blockbuster movies. But for a werewolf movie and of this magnitude, then the special effects and CGI in the movie were just phenomenal. I was very enticed with what I saw on the screen and it looked very realistic, which was the most important aspect of the effects. A movie such as this would make or break on the outcome of the special effects. Glad that they had such talented people working on the effects for this movie.

The storyline in "Late Phases" was a great part of the enjoyment of the movie, because it was really unique. Crammed with interesting characters and a very good plot, and it was set with a great pacing of events as well.

And with great and interesting characters, a movie needs to have a greatly talented ensemble of actors and actresses to portray the roles. Did "Late Phases" have this? Oh yes! I was so amazed with the performance of Nick Damici in the lead role. He was simply beyond fantastic in this movie. And he carried the movie so phenomenally well with his performance.

If you enjoy the werewolf genre and look for something that brings new howls to the genre, pardon the pun, then "Late Phases" is what you are looking for.

good movie,

[narrowacres-550-659142 · 7/10 · 20 September 2015]

good movie plot back and forth, OK? main objective, Nick Damici looks a lot like Paul Newman in this movie. not scary enough. drags out too long. Nick should play Paul Newman in any movies. remake of Cool Hand Luke! just trying to open up more possibilities for Nick's fame. the life and times of Paul Newman! thank about it, this guy is a natural, looks and acts a lot like Paul Newman! I'm just trying to help , because I can see potential in a actor and this guy has the looks and caricaturists of playing the famous Paul Newman. If you cannot see this, then you are totally blind, I would love to see Nick portray Paul Newman in any movie or remake, he would be outstanding at anything Newman ever preformed!

Disappointingly lame werewolf costumes and unlikeable characters.

[Jester222 · 4/10 · 3 January 2020]

I'd been wanting to see this film for a long time as the trailer looked great. J finally bought the film and watched it today. I instantly found the main character irritating and unlikeable. His blind man acting was so bad and I was actually hoping he would die. His character all those around him seemed totally unbelievable. Something about it just disnt work. ....... the dumb cops, the walking dead neighbour's, the priest being the only decent actor was also wasted and implausible.

Then we come to the FX. When I saw Kurtzman was involved I had high Hope's for some great FX. But he seems to have just half heartedly put sk e things together as he knew he wouldnt be even close to matching American Werewolf in London even after all these many years. And he was right. The werewolf looked more like rabid Rabbits. Ha ha just corny suits, very comedic looking than scary. The facial animatronic looked as if from the early 80's b movie. Bad. The werewolf were also the most inept creatures ever. Failing to kill one old blind man by deciding to wrestle with him instead of simply tearing him apart with tooth and claw. Disappointing doesnt cover it.

A pleasant surprise

[Blarg-Kliggle · 7/10 · 25 September 2017]

I gave the film a fairly high rating due to the fact that the main character is just so different in all the right ways. While I doubt too many viewers will find the monsters scary I feel that the way the monsters and the main character interact more than makes up for the lack of scary moments. Further on the subject of interaction, the way the main character deals with his new living arrangements and the new people that he has to deal with are what really sold me on the movie. All in all I would recommend this to anyone who likes a little comedy and a bit of drama with their monster movie.

Werewolf in the old folks home!

[jfost75 · 4/10 · 27 June 2020]

Damici has always seemed like a solid actor to me but even he couldnt save this trainwreck. I suspected there was a problem when the man soaked in blood walks up to the cops and they had NO interest in why he was covered in blood... At it's core, this is a B rated werewolf movie meets cocoon. Thus proving that the elderly can still be active members of the werewolf community. Damici makes it even more of a challenge by playing the wolf hunter as a blind veteran. The acting isnt necessarily bad but the screenwriting wasnt good, thus proving the old saying "you cant polish a turd"

Surprisingly Entertaining

[crdnlsyn13 · 8/10 · 28 February 2015]

I say surprisingly entertaining, because at first I thought this was going to be campy. I am happy to have been wrong. This was a very enjoyable Werewolf film.

A full cast of recognizable faces, some I was shocked to see again. A couple I had to look up, because I knew them, but I couldn't remember from where, and then it was a cool "Oh YEAH" discovery.

This is a movie that I wish would've had a bigger budget, as the effects could've used some more attention, BUT, too much budget would've sent this to CGI, and that would be bad. Robert Kurtzman and company did a really good job with the make up and creatures, but the story was so good, I would've liked a little more.

And about the story, VERY cool original idea, this kept me watching from beginning to end, with a smile on my face. I've seen so many films in this genre that I am very jaded, and very biased, but this one, this one was fun. Good Job to all involved!!

Awesome werewolf movie with terrible werewolves

[thelastblogontheleft · 7/10 · 28 February 2017]

I won't lie, I went into this with some slight reservation. Spanish director Adrián García Bogliano's previous feature film, Here Comes the Devil, was NOT a favorite of mine. But I will give anyone a second chance, especially when it's for the sake of a werewolf flick.

Late Phases focuses primarily around Ambrose (brilliantly played by Nick Damici), a willful, independent, and blind (the least important of his traits as far as he's concerned) Vietnam veteran who moves into a retirement community with the help of his son, Will (Ethan Embry). Things start to go horribly wrong on his first night there, with both his neighbor and his service dog, Shadow, dying a grizzly death at the hands of an unknown animal attacker. While the police shrug it off quite casually as an animal coming into the community from the nearby woods, Ambrose is convinced it's a werewolf, and he becomes determined to defeat it.

Firstly, Ambrose is just such a great character, and Nick Damici plays him so well. I feel like a character like that — the grizzled, determined-to-get-by-on-his-own war veteran — could so easily become almost a spoof, but he manages the perfect balance of serious determination and dry humor.

I appreciated the fact that it explored the concept of the elderly being forgotten and discarded. Ambrose is far from frail or dependent, and yet he is dropped off at the community to quietly live out his days. His son and his daughter-in-law treat him like he's a 5-year-old, constantly rolling their eyes at things he says or insisting that they baby him. He's physically capable of living just fine on his own, and yet his own mental state paired with the way he's treated has resigned him to statements like "I don't plan on being around much longer anyway" and "All I got left are consequences".

There were a few scenes that were particularly awesome, but the one that stood out to me was when Will comes by to tell Ambrose that him and his wife are moving. Ambrose is already pretty deep into his obsession with defeating these werewolves, and he could really care less about Will's skepticism. When Will leaves, Ambrose sort of slowly retreats back into the pitch blackness of the closet he had been hiding in, and it's just… too good.

Considering the quality of the movie overall, it came as a pretty decent shock when I saw JUST HOW TERRIBLE THE WEREWOLVES WERE. I mean, WHOA. They were… so bad. The movie has its funny moments but it isn't nearly campy enough to justify such terrible creatures. Depending on the scene they vary from just moderately unconvincing to "holy crap yeah that's just a dude in a werewolf suit" to laugh-out- loud hilarious. In some they're almost cute in the way that only a man-sized rat could be. I think the shock factor would have been much higher if they had kept them more in the shadows, and some scenes (punching through the wall towards the beginning, appearing in the headlights of the car and then punching through the windshield) could have been BADASS had they not been so laughable.

Same with the transformation scene. I mean, everything pales in comparison to the transformation in An American Werewolf in London, really, so why even bother. I did like the initial bursting open of his skin and him pulling the rest of his face off though… that was cool.

But despite how awful they looked, it was an interesting twist that the werewolves' existence gave Ambrose new life. He went from a state of depression and hopelessness to doing push-ups in the livingroom and crafting a plan to defeat them. It gave him direction.

Oh, and bonus shoutout to Tom Noonan, who plays Father Roger Smith — always such an amazing supporting character, and a huge favorite of mine ever since his role as John Lee Roche in the The X-Files' "Paper Hearts" episode (so good).

Overall, a super strong werewolf movie, which I think is pretty hard to pull off.

Exquisite acting, lousy werewolf ...

[peterp-450-298716 · 3/10 · 14 April 2015]

"So we suggest during the day you don't walk by the perimeter of the woods if you're alone. And at night, please, stay in your house, keep the doors closed and the windows closed until we sort this out. Okay? Starting now."

It looks as if there's a revival of the werewolf genre. Granted, it's nothing special what's being produced in this area. "Night Wolf" was abominably bad. "Wolves" was a failed attempt to launch a commercial teen product. And "Wer" was an original attempt to revitalize the genre. The first two monstrosities excelled in terrible renditions, ridiculous grime and unabashedly exploiting this sub-genre with the ultimate goal to initiate a commercial and profitable franchise. "Wer" was an original concept in which the werewolf type didn't answer to the clichéd representations as in older movies. "Late Phases" is situated somewhere in between. On the one hand it's successful when it comes to the acting and the approach. But on the other hand it's a complete failure when it's about the appearance of a werewolf and also the total lack of tension. And that's exactly what I'm always looking forward to, when watching a werewolf movie.

Let me start of with the positive part of this would-be horror: the acting performance. Indeed singular because the whole film is dominated by Nick Damici as Ambrose McKinley, a blind Vietnam vet full of resentment and hatred against society. It's not explicitly said like that in this film, but the way he deals with people and hearing his biting, sarcastic tone says a lot. He has nothing good to say about his own son either. The only living beings he can deal with very well is his guide dog Shadow and a female neighbor whom he met when he moved into his little house at Crescent Bay, the last stop for the elderly. Now believe it or not, exactly these two fortunate are torn to pieces the first night that he's there. According to the local police they get such reports from Crescent Bay on a regular base (and what's even more weird it's once a month) and they assume these are wild dogs or something in that nature that attack the defenseless elderly. So, close doors and windows, stay inside and you definitely shouldn't go wandering in the dark. That's their advice. Our war veteran, who's obviously clever enough, immediately draws the correct conclusion and knows that it's obviously something else than some petty predators.

Nick Damici is amazing in his role as the gruff and grumpy blind antisocial veteran. And that's where the praising of this movie stops. The rest of the cast fails in every area. Most of them are just fake, one-dimensional characters. From the dressed up tea-party ladies who need to poke their noses into everything all the time to the son Will (Ethan Embry) and his wife who exhibit utter outrage about the rhetorical gift of Ambrose. Even the arrogant guard and tactless police officer aren't missing. The only one who gave some splendid counteraction towards Ambrose was the officiating Father Roger (Tom Noonan) who always listens to the tirades of Ambrose with an amused smile.

The fact that the main topic of the story (a werewolf) is revealed in a very early stage in the film, doesn't contribute to the building up of a certain tension. From there on it's just a guessing game of who's the person in the community who suffers from terrible hair growth when there's a full moon. And that leads us to the phenomenon of the werewolf. What a carnival show this was. A Halloween costume party is nothing compared to it. I liked the costumes from the Muppet Show a lot better. Especially when I saw these striking tufts on the ears, I totally got the giggles. And then a golden tip for future directors who try to produce a werewolf movie. If you can't even succeed in creating a transformation scene as terrific as in "An American Werewolf in London" (for me THE example of an excellent werewolf film), please let go of the idea and don't consider even on starting with it. Because that scene in "Late Phases" was terribly amateurish. Even the camera angle from above was recycled. Only there was nothing more to see than a bunch of hairs. Even the original scene with the steel lung couldn't make up for it.

Ultimately, it was (thanks to Damici's masterful performance) still an enjoyable movie (even though I found the discovery he made at the beginning a bit exaggerated and I had to chuckle a moment about the fact that despite his blindness, he still could aim miraculously well). There were also too many irritating ridiculous glitches (Here's another one. His son is worried about the amount of money his father is carrying around, but that one's intestines are scattered around a whole house and dear father has an arsenal of heavy guns in his house, turns out to be quite normal). Even the symbolic meaning of Will's action in the end, remains a mystery to me. I hope to see a more convincing werewolf next time, with such an appearance that I don't have the feeling that I'm observing a masked ball.

More reviews here : http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be

Great little wearwolf movie here

[movie_ape · 7/10 · 25 October 2020]

This was a surprise watch, I really enjoyed the broody and slow burn of this film.

The build up to the end was great, as we follow Ambrose who is a blind old war verteran who smells something is up in a town he moves to.

Nick Damici is excellent in this movie, and I will watch more of his work. The wolves were creepy as hell and were used sparingly, to good effect.

7/10 nice monster film with something different since the protagonist is blind.

A Vet for pets

[richardwworkman · 7/10 · 10 June 2021]

Ambrose McKinley is a retired US army vet who has lost his sight moves to a retirement community and almost immediately survives a werewolf attack. The elderly residents are senselessly slain with every full moon.

Quickly McKinley pieces the evidence together and prepares for the next attack to the bemusement of his neighbours and family.

This a fine werewolf film that has more in common with the like of Gingersnaps and When animals dream but where those movies use the werewolf myth as a vehicle for adolescent transformation, this shifts the focus to the end of life, mortality and death is never far away.

McKinley, played by Nick Demici, is a belligerent and single minded old bastard, determined to fight and redeem himself.

A brilliant piece of story telling. The deep and dark sub plots are counterweighted with some proper werewolf violence and subtle humour. An excellent film perhaps slightly let down by some b-movie special effects.