Late Phases review
This cycle’s Full Moon Feature looks back ten years to the movie (sometimes) titled Late Phases. A good werewolf story slightly hampered by an investigation that turns out to be a complete waste of time.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Late Phases
Directed by Adrián García Bogliano
Written by Eric Stolze
Starring Nick Damici, Ethan Embry, Lance Guest, Erin Cummings, Rutanya Alda, Tom Noonan, Tina Louise and Larry Fessenden
Late Phases Review
The 2010s were an unusually busy period for werewolf movies. Perhaps it was a side effect of the popularity of the Twilight franchise. Whatever the reason, wolves were popping up all over movies of the era. Mostly…in bad movies. Some, like Wolfcop, were fun. Most were not. Late Phases is one of the good ones. This is a serious attempt to deliver a quality werewolf story. It mostly succeeds…if you can look past one potentially irksome thing. Of course, what we are most interested in for a Full Moon Feature is how it treats its werewolf stuff. That’s where Late Phases succeeds the most.
I’m calling it Late Phases because that’s what I’ve known it as since 2014. A strange thing happened when heading to Prime Video to watch it. Suddenly the movie was titled Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf. IMDB lists it as Night of the Wolf. So…yeah, I don’t know what happened with that. It’s Late Phases. A perfect title for a movie about a werewolf feeding upon a retirement community.
Nick Damici stars as Ambrose McKinley, a curmudgeonly Vietnam veteran who has lost his sight. He moves into a retirement community positioned next to the woods…and quickly discovers why that isn’t a good idea. A werewolf attack leaves his neighbor and his dog dead. With a month until the creature will return…Ambrose sets out to discover the wolf’s identity and prepare for war.
That is a fantastic werewolf movie premise. Late Phases mostly delivers on all of it. The only real problem occurs when you think about a specific aspect of the movie for more than a few seconds. Unfortunately, that aspect comprises a big chunk of the film. I’m talking about Ambrose’s investigation into the identity of the creature. Now…you may have seen Late Phases before and are thinking…hey, I liked that part. You aren’t wrong. There are fun moments of discovery here. Damici crushes the role and keeps it interesting. So, what am I talking about?
Despite Late Phases spending most of its second act with Ambrose tracking the creature to discover its human identity (while blind…Ambrose is a badass) …when you get to the climax of the movie…you realize it was a complete waste of his time. It doesn’t matter whether Ambrose figured out that James (Lance Guest) is the werewolf. At all. In fact, it makes things far worse for Ambrose. Let’s examine it. Ambrose is searching for a person with a breathing issue because he heard the wolfman’s labored breathing during the initial attack. He comes across a few suspects that fit the bill including Father Smith (Tom Noonan) and James. He later discovers that James had previously purchased silver bullets.
This takes up a lot of Late Phases. Ambrose gains literally nothing from it. Not only doesn’t he stop James while in a less dangerous human form (which you would expect to be the point of looking for him in the first place), he motivates James to create more wolves because he is onto Ambrose’s investigation. Ambrose is going to end up sitting in his home waiting for the beast either way. Trying to identify the cursed person benefits him precisely zero percent. Instead, it gives him multiple new werewolves to contend with.
Obviously, this is a case of what’s good for the story vs. what’s good for the movie. The movie needs more action in the climax than a simple one on one battle. The story, however, wastes a lot of time justifying it. Luckily, Damici makes it all interesting enough. If you don’t think about it…or how long the movie focuses on it…you’ll enjoy it while it is happening. Looking back on the misguided purpose of the entire saga is where you get into some trouble. This wouldn’t be a problem if Ambrose’s investigation wasn’t the focus of the story. It is. Seeing it conclude where any knowledge gained was of zero benefit is really something.
Anyway, Late Phases has a fine werewolf story aside from the strange way it is sometimes told. It has a great transformation scene. It’s held off until the third act…but it was worth the wait. The camera moving around James as parts of him stretch, pull, break through skin and grow hair makes for a dynamic scene. Interesting too is James’s way of creating some wolf sidekicks. He visits friends before the full moon rises and gives them all a bite while in human form. Boom. New army. It’s all very cool wolfy fun.
Silver takes them down. They rise with the full moon. Bites infect the bitten. It’s all standard werewolf lore. The new wrinkle this time around seems to be how much werewolves love jumping through windows. Both major wolf scenes in Late Phases feature a wolfman crashing through a giant window. To be fair, it does look like fun.
Damici is terrific as the blind vet seeking vengeance for his lost dog. He’s the kind of guy who will haggle over the cost of his own headstone but pay whatever it takes to get his animal the best one available. Late Phases focuses on his relationship with his son Will (Ethan Embry). There’s some emotion to mine from it. Ambrose was a distant father who Will still can’t connect with. There is a reason for it. More importantly, Ambrose recognizes that it isn’t a good enough one to have been so cold to his son. It adds a layer of regret onto Ambrose that fits his personality well.
Lance Guest has a lot of fun with the role of James once his true nature is revealed. Tom Noonan is great as always. Dana Ashbrook (Twin Peaks) and Larry Fessenden (everything) pop up as a gun shop owner and headstone salesman respectively. Late Phases puts a strong cast together and everyone buys into the tone of the piece. It’s more somber than you expect…but never in a way that turns you off.
The highlight of Late Phases (aside from Damici’s great performance) is the climactic werewolf battle. Ambrose is ready to kick some wolf ass. He takes out the whole crew before succumbing to the overdose of medication he took before the full moon rose. He knew this was the end of the line either way. James manages to bite him during their final battle…but Ambrose wasn’t intending to become a werewolf that night. Or to even survive it. A lot of Late Phases is about his preparation for death. It has a strong “there’s just one thing I have to do before I go” vibe to it. Damici embodies it all perfectly.
Even though Late Phases has that narrative cul-de-sac to deal with…it presents a strong and interesting piece of werewolf fiction. The wolves look good. There’s a great transformation scene. It holds most of the wolf action for the climax…but delivers big when that time comes. The lore is basic, but the old standards always work. Damici elevates everything with his strong performance. It’s almost enough to cover for that one complaint. A complaint that only bothers you because it keeps Late Phases from achieving full greatness.
Scare Value
Plenty of positives are available in Late Phases. Strong performances, a solid werewolf story…and an investigation that holds your interest until the moment you realize it has led to precisely nothing. Damici keeps things rolling with a strong performance. It’s probably more interesting as a werewolf movie than it is as a strong narrative. But, hey…that’s what we’re looking for when the moon is full.
3.5/5
Late Phases Links
Streaming on Prime Video
Rent/Buy on VOD from Fandango at Home
