Late Phases (2014) Review

Tagline: When Darkness Falls, Evil Will Rise.

Late Phases (2014) Review

 

Happy Halloween!

If you’ve ever wondered what it would have been like had an elderly John Wick been attacked by a werewolf instead of gangsters, then the movie Late Phases is for you. Even more accurately, it’s like if the blind man from Don’t Breathe was a good guy, but just like the criminals who break into his house in that film, this werewolf has no idea it picked on the wrong Vietnam vet and his dog.

Ambrose McKinley is being helped by his son to move into a remote retirement community as the film opens, and they have a difficult relationship. His new neighbour Dolores is friendly, and he is bringing with him his guide dog, Shadow, but immediately, something about the place seems…off. As Ambrose enters his side of the duplex for the first time, he feels scratch marks on the wall and pulls a claw tip out of them. Only twelve minutes into the movie, we see the werewolf for the first time, and I love that no time is wasted in getting to the good stuff. It passes outside a window in a pretty creepy shot, and next thing you know, it’s massacring Ambrose’s neighbour. It doesn’t take him long after this horrific full moon night to begin piecing together the ongoing mystery of what has been killing retirees in the area, and he immediately begins preparing for the next full moon so he can put an end to the curse.

If you’re familiar with John Wick, you’ll be able to guess what motivates Ambrose, but what you won’t be able to guess as easily is the werewolf’s identity. It’s frustrating when the mystery aspect becomes the focus of the story but is too obvious or has an unsatisfying reveal. Fortunately, it’s a compelling investigation by Ambrose as he gets to know the people in the community and tries to narrow down the suspects. At one point it seems like it might be a man confined to an iron lung, but then it seems like the movie might go the Silver Bullet route and make the priest a werewolf. Is it the priest? I won’t spoil the truth, because even beyond the reveal, there’s an additional twist which spices up the finale and brings the story to a proper, satisfying conclusion.

Late Phases is a werewolf movie to be taken seriously, yet it rides the line of schlock and genuine unease, which somehow coalesces into a pretty entertaining tale that’s decidedly different from most, despite having some werewolf clichés throughout. We get Ambrose eventually seeking out silver bullets, and we see the person who is the original werewolf undergo a transformation, but what sets this one apart from the pack is the protagonist and his drive to defeat evil. Ambrose McKinley is an utterly unflappable character; after the initial werewolf attack, he starts using a walking stick, but instead of a regular white cane, he uses an entrenching tool—not just a normal shovel, a military-grade one with a blade at the end that can double as a weapon, presumably from his days in ‘Nam—and it’s both badass and humorous. If the character of Ambrose hadn’t worked, the whole movie would have been a disaster, but Nick Damici absolutely nails the role. He’s gruff, to the point, hardened from his past, and you believe he’s really blind (Damici isn't in real life), but he’s still someone you root for. He’s also quite funny even when he doesn’t intend to be, like when he’s perusing tombstones to buy. There’s some great dialogue throughout, and the way the werewolf stuff threads into the themes of aging and redemption doesn’t come off as too heavy handed or overtly comedic.

The supporting cast is sufficient, with the only other standout for me being Tom Noonan as the priest (who may or may not also be a werewolf). With the violent setup taken care of in the first 20 minutes, the bulk of the story is Ambrose patiently waiting for the next full moon, and even though it makes the wait for the return of the werewolf quite long, I didn’t find myself bored or wanting to skip ahead, but the building of suspense does make it feel like it should be working toward an inevitable showdown between Ambrose and the werewolf, and to the film’s credit, it delivers the goods in the last 20 minutes, not skimping out on action or carnage. The werewolf isn’t seen much when it first attacks, but it becomes apparent on the second full moon that the design for this creature is a little unconventional, and the effects are a bit inconsistent. The aforementioned transformation can’t hold a candle to An American Werewolf in London, but it’s pretty creative and frightening in its own way, and the creature looks cool in certain shots, but it looks like a costume at times, too, and the face is not frightening.

Even though they didn’t quite get the monster right in terms of appearance, I appreciate that the filmmakers went for something different instead of a generic look, and I’ll give particular praise to the commitment to the old school lore. American Werewolf, for as great as it is, turns its back on pentagrams appearing in people’s palms and the need for silver bullets to slay the beast, but the one gripe I’ve always had with it is the fudging of the lunar cycle. David turns into a werewolf the night after the full moon as well, but in Late Phases, the werewolf only comes out strictly once a month. It’s a trade-off: the film gets bookended by werewolfery and lacks any in the middle, but it also made me buy into the clear structure for the story’s beginning, middle, and ending without feeling like the writer needed to bend the rules just to make it more interesting.

Late Phases is a pretty unique werewolf film which I would recommend most strongly to those who have seen many of them and are looking for one that’s a little different. I was in it for more than just the monster, and I appreciated the elevated schlock nature of its premise. It has its moments of gore, though isn’t especially scary, but solidly entertaining throughout, and perfect for those who appreciate low-budget fare that rises above any limitations to become something more. 

 

Late Phases, appropriately enough with that title, marks the final review in my Wolf-athon and the conclusion to this year’s third Shocktober Showcase! I’m already figuring out next year’s topic as you read these words, so be sure to check out Shocktober Showcase four in 2027, and until then, have a great Halloween weekend!