MPAA Rated – Not Rated
It’s 1:36 Long
A Review by:
– Andy Labis
The more I think about it, the more perfect “Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf” was, especially in the realm of the old-school, and I mean this with all due respect, cheesy, werewolf movie. First there is the title, or at least the “Night of the Lone Wolf” part. Sure there’s the solo werewolf at the start, but by the end there are multiple wolves. Maybe I’m misunderstanding the title and our hero is the lone wolf, but I just couldn’t get past the fact that our main werewolf all of a sudden decided to go on a biting spree and instantly we have a pack of werewolves.
Now let’s get to the werewolf himself, or I suppose all of the werewolves. This is no CGI, full-blown, let’s make him as scary as we can, werewolf. Nope. This is the classic “let’s hand-craft this werewolf, complete with animatronics, but in the end it’s still going to look cheesy and like a dude in a werewolf outfit.” And the story – basically it’s about a blind dude who is the only one who seems to figure out this peaceful community has a werewolf in its midst, and it’s up to him to shoot it (that’s right, I said it’s up to the blind dude to shoot the werewolf). Toss in some Stepford Wife type bitties, some religion, and, oh yea, I forgot to mention the blind dude is also ex-military so let’s pull out the old military duds when it’s time for the payback, and yes, this is “Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf.”
Wow, that was a long opening summary. Let’s get to the basics of the story.
Ambrose (Nick Damici) is a blind, ex-military dude who is on the outs with his family. He needs a place to live and finds himself in the lovely community of Crescent Bay. He does have a best friend, his seeing-eye dog. On the first night in the community he hears a neighbor being attacked, and then his dog ends up dead at the claws of the werewolf. No one else in the community finds it odd that once a month, when there is a full moon, things go bad in the community, but instantly Ambrose knows what is going on, realizes he has a month to set up a trap, get some silver bullets, and prepare himself for the werewolf’s return.
The moral of this werewolf story: Don’t fuck with a blind dude’s best friend!
And so Ambrose learns about the town, learns about the townsfolk, maps his target zone, and prepares. The night comes, Ambrose is ready, only this time there isn’t just one werewolf because it seems our distressed human has gone on a biting spree, but Ambrose is up to the challenge, in all his military glory.
Werewolf movies come and go. Some try to up the scary factor, especially the newer ones with the CGI enhancements. Some try to be comedies. But some, like “Late Phases…” work to put a new twist on the genre (like a blind dude who saves the day), while paying homage to the skills of the classics. I have to admit that I was expecting some pretty crappy acting for this one, but Nick Damici is fantastic in his role as the grumpy, ex-veteran, who is somehow a fantastic shot as a blind dude and the smartest person in the town. If you ever wondered what happened to Ginger (Tina Louise) from Gilligan’s Island, there she is as Carissa, wonderful in her little role, and I kept looking at Lance Guest, who brings a great, creepy factor as Griffin, a man with a secret, and then I realize he was Alex Rogan in one of my weirdly favorite movies of all time, The Last Starfighter. Yup, instead of a bunch of crappy actors that would have detracted from the movie, this one actually is filled with a ton of character actors who bring solid performances to their roles.
If you like a classic werewolf tale, one that isn’t trapped in technology and CGI, this is really a movie for you. Solid acting with a decent amount of cheesiness and, with that, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but it’s a solid 4 stars out of 5 for “Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf.”
As far as the Blu-ray, it’s got some special features as well, including the commentary stuff, but also a really good look at the Making Of, and the most detailed explanation I’ve ever seen of how they made those werewolves suits.
That’s it for this one! L8R!!
| Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Nick Damici, Tina Louise, Lance Guest |
| MPAA Rated: | Not rated. |
| Released By: | Dark Sky Films |
| On Digital Download, Blu-Ray & DVD: | March 10, 2015 |
| Kiddie Movie: | Please put them to bed. |
| Date Movie: | If she likes a classic werewolf movie. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | Nah. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | Yea, the werewolf inflicts some major damage. Poor doggie. |
| Action: | The ending when Ambrose gets his revenge. |
| Laughs: | In that classic, cheesiness kind of way. |
| Memorable Scene: | When Ambrose breaks his trusty shovel.. |
| Memorable Quote: | Nothing stood out. |
| Directed By: | Adrian Garcia Bogliano |
| Cool things about the Blu-ray: | This had probably the most extensive look I’ve ever seen at how they make the costumes. |