Late Phases

FILM SCHOOL REJECTS

Rob Hunter 11/19/2014

Another week, another handful of new films searching for a way into our eyeballs via VOD and/or a limited theatrical release. Big movies often hit VOD in the weeks before their home video release, but for the smaller films this is basically their premiere opportunity to find an audience. Such is the case with two new thrillers that approach their narratives and topics in slightly off kilter ways.

Late Phases is a creature feature — a werewolf film to be precise — and it avoids current conventions in a couple different ways. It focuses on an elderly protagonist rather than featuring a cast of attractive, young people, and it relies almost exclusively on practical effects for its bloodletting and werewolf fun. The Sleepwalker is more of an emotional thriller than one based on action as it follows a pair of somewhat estranged sisters, their respective boyfriends and a family secret that threatens to derail them all.

Late Phases

Ambrose (Nick Damici) is a blind Vietnam veteran who we first meet while shopping for his own headstone. It seemed appropriate as he heads for his new home in a remote retirement community, and it’s not long after his son Will (Ethan Embry) drops him off that Ambrose starts making enemies of his neighbors with his short temper and gruff demeanor. He settles in for his first night alongside his guide dog Shadow only to be disturbed by a loud disturbance next door. We see what he doesn’t — a werewolf has smashed its way into the woman’s home where it proceeds to disembowel her before heading over to Ambrose’s with similar intentions. Shadow fends off the furry intruder only to be injured in the process, and when Ambrose is found in his blood-spattered kitchen the next day he learns that the community has experienced a series of vicious animal attacks over the last few months.

And they’ve all occurred on a night with a full moon.

From there the film follows Ambrose across the next four weeks as he investigates and prepares for the creature’s return. He mingles with his neighbors in search of a suspect, and the film offers a few potentials in a local priest (Tom Noonan), a quirky churchgoer (Lance Guest) and a headstone salesman who, if I’m being honest, is only a suspect because he’s played by Larry Fessenden. Ambrose also takes time to prepare weaponry, grow familiar with his home and continue to shortchange Will emotionally, and as the next full moon approaches everything turns red.

Damici is a hard-assed powerhouse here, and his character follows suit with smart moves and aggressive energy, but the supporting players don’t fare as well. The murders are erroneously viewed as animal deaths, but even so the non-reactions on behalf of the local police and other residents just feel poorly scripted and played too broadly. Much of it feels like attempts at comedy, but almost all of it falls flat. It’s a shame as these moments of misaligned tone interrupt the residual effect of some very cool sequences.

One thing that tone can’t diminish is the film’s central transformation sequence. Creative camerawork and some fantastic prosthetic work combine for a fairly stunning sequence the likes of which we haven’t seen in years. The werewolf costume itself isn’t nearly as impressive, but it works well enough.

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano‘s (Here Comes the Devil, Cold Sweat) English-language feature debut is flawed but easily his most cohesive and entertaining film. The premise is straight-forward and propelled by strong effects work, well-crafted scenes of suspense and a fun finale. It’s no lycanthropic masterpiece (An American Werewolf in London, The Howling), but it deserves a spot further down the shelf beside the likes of Silver Bullet. (That’s a compliment.)

Late Phases is currently available on VOD and opens in limited theatrical release on 11/21.

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AUSTIN CHRONICLE

Richard Whittaker 11/23/2014

Ambrose, the surly, blind, widower/werewolf killer of Late Phases, doesn’t get along with people too well. That’s maybe why Nick Damici liked playing him. “He’s kinda grumpy,” said Damici, “but ironically I agree with him a lot. I love people individually, but I’m not a fan of humanity.”

As an actor, writer, and producer of films like post-apocalyptic vampire nightmare Stake Land, cannibal family drama We Are What We Are, and the recent adaptation of Joe Lansdale’s Cold in July, Damici and his long-time directing partner Jim Mickle have become mainstays of alternative horror. In his first teaming with director Adrián García Bogliano (Cold Sweat, Here Comes the Devil), Late Phases adds a new twist to the lycanthropic trope. Instead of a vicious furry killer romping across mist-shrouded moors, this is a vicious furry killer limping around a retirement community, where no one seems too bothered when residents disappear. That is, until Ambrose, a grizzled Vietnam vet, and his guide dog Shadow move in.

Damici explained this film’s anti-hero: “He’s based in this reality of truth. His meanness wasn’t about making him feel better. It was just about, I don’t tolerate bullshit. It’s very much like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, who you could dislike if you wanted to. But if you look at him, you like the guy, even if he is a grumpy old bastard.”

Austin Chronicle: With films like Stake Land, you’ve gained the reputation as the guy who takes on hard-to-pitch horrors. Werewolves in a retirement community with a blind action hero continues that trend.

Nick Damici: I’m very attracted to stuff that’s outside of the box – if it’s outside that box in a good way, not just for the sake of it. This was an opportunity to do something that’s familiar, werewolf movies are familiar, but to do it with in this old peoples’ with an elderly blind guy as the protagonist, I thought was interesting. Normally it’s some coed, or a bunch of young kids on a camping trip in a cabin. I thought, wow, that’s interesting, at least someone’s paying attention to the old folks.

AC: You’re a good decade younger than Ambrose. Was there ever a point when Adrian went, no, we’re looking for someone older?

ND: He was. He was laden with me. Greg Newman, who produced Stakeland also, he hired me, so when Adrian came into the project, I was attached already. He didn’t really have a choice, so I felt kind of bad for him. But he was very gracious about it, and we talked about how I was going to play older. We brought in the special effects guy, Brian Spears, who’s a terrific, terrific makeup guy, and he got a big kick out of doing it because it was straight makeup, just doing age. On the first day, it took about an hour and a half, and I was the first one there. He did it every day and got it down to around 45 minutes.

AC: And you’re wearing those contact lenses all the time. How much of a pain were they, and dd they help with the performance?

ND: It’s not something I’d jump back into doing. I tried, I put them in a few times on my own, but they were just takin me so long and I irritated my eyes. I’m just not good with that. I wear reading glasses, but I can’t stand for anything to touch me eyes, so I just had to sit back and let Stuart do them. It was torture every time, and then getting them out was no fun either.

AC: How much could you actually see through them?

ND: They were opaque, so in medium light I was OK. I could see people. I couldn’t read or anything. But the minute it got a little dusky or darkish, I started to really lose things. And then if they put bright lights on me, which happens all the time when you’re making a movie, then I would basically be blind. The hardest part was doing the action that way, because, number one, I had the lenses in, and number two, I’m not allowed to focus my eyes, so I had this peripheral thing, so I couldn’t look at what I was doing. The poor kid playing the werewolf, the stunt guy, he was in the mask, he couldn’t see very well either. So two blind people fighting each other, it was pretty funny.

AC: No way that can go wrong. No prop shovels across the face?

ND: We did OK. A few knees in the groin on accident, stuff like that, but nothing too bad.

AC: You’re also appearing opposite a couple of big name in indie horror: Larry Fessenden (Beneath, Habit) and Tom Noonan (Manunter, House of the Devil).

ND: I love when you get drunk with Larry and he turns into a pirate. I met Tom, maybe 10, 12 years ago. I was good friends with a guy named Victor Argo, another actor, so I kind of knew Tom through him. Then I met him again – Jim’s sister knew him some how, so we went to a party at his house. He lives in my neighborhood, then I’d run into him at the bank, I’d say, hey how you doing, Tom, and the guy would never remember me. He was very polite, but he didn’t know who I was. So when we did teh movie, I was like, he’s not going to remember me again. And of course, he basically didn’t remember me until I started naming names and he went, yeah yeah yeah, I saw you with Jim Mickle.

I always thought he was very intimidating. He’s six foot four or whatever it is, and he’s got this giant head, and he doesn’t talk. He just stares at you and he’s quiet. But then I realized he’s just that kind of guy. He’s kind of reserved, but once he opens up he loves to tell bad jokes. My dad was a bar tender, so he knew a million bad jokes, so me and Tom would tell bad jokes in between takes.

AC: And now you’re working on adapting Joe Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard books for Starz. How’s that going?

ND: It’s green lit, we’re working now, and it’s a good thing. Joe’s so prolific, and a wonderful writer and so accomplished in so many other ways, and just a down-to-earth, no-bullshit guy, that when it came to Cold in July, he realized that Mickle and I were huge fans of his. We weren’t some big Hollywood producers coming and saying, hey, we want to turn this into a movie and being able to take it and do what they want with it. We were really going to try to do the best to do his book the best we could. He trusted us and we built up the relationship. Then the Hap and Leonard thing came up and said, well, if anyone can do it, you guys can do it.

AC: There’s a whole shelf’s worth of Hap and Leonard books. Are you hoping to adapt them all?

ND: All depending on the success of the series. At this point, we’re starting at the beginning and we’re going to try to follow the series. Whether we skip a book here and jump to another book, I don’t know. We don’t make all the decision. But at this point, that’s Jim and I’s intent, to try to mount the series in book form and take it from there.

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REPULSIVE REVIEWS

Rottin' Roger DeMarco 3/7/2015

Werewolves made their way to the silver screen with an unforgettable performance by arguably one of the greatest character actors of his time, Lon Chaney Jr., in the classic film The Wolf Man. Since its release in 1941, countless imitations and re-imaginings have failed to capture what made that film in particular so mesmerizing the first time we saw it. Whether it is the absolute terror we felt watching the wolf man stalk his victims or it was our fears of what was outside, just beyond sight, lurking in the darkness. I for one can’t really say what element of that film got to me the most; perhaps it was a combination of all of them. This is also why so many werewolf films come up short when compared to the original. Of course some exceptions can and have been made.

Landis’ An American Werewolf in London is an incredibly beautiful film with a simple story and characters you can invest in, as well as some of the best practical effects ever put on film. However, even genre heavyweights can churn out a truly awful experience such as Wes Craven’s Cursed. While it isn’t the worst of the bunch, it has a multitude of issues with it. It still remains a guilty pleasure of mine in sort of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type of way, but it’s still not a great film by any stretch of the imagination.

Werewolves had nearly gone the way of zombies over the past few years, dangerously close to becoming a pop culture fad and losing the frightening edge they once held. With films like Twilight and Warm Bodies taming our precious movie monsters, one could almost sense that the end was near. For zombies, films like The Ford Brothers The Dead give a new hope, but where is our werewolf salvation? I was losing hope this decade would be full of teen-love story/horror crossovers, which was enough to make me want to burn all Hot Topic stores to the ground. Then, something amazing happened — I saw the trailer for Adrián García Bogliano’s Late Phases and suddenly, I had hope.

Every article I read made me grin like an adolescent boy, each new thing I learned was like a Christmas present. The time finally came to watch it. Would I be as pleased as I expected or would it just be another imitation? The answer is this, Late Phases is truly one of the best werewolf films ever made. Period. End of discussion.

Writer Eric Stolze has created some of the best characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Each relationship has such a dynamic range, each character also seems to be hiding something. Behind the facade of the quiet retirement community are lies, good Christians with elitist attitudes, and murder. When Ambrose (Nick Damici) is introduced to the community, we aren’t greeted with any warm feelings of hope or security. Dread is sensed from the very first frame, which is similar to the feelings I get when the Creeds arrive to their new home in Pet Semetary.

Nick Damici’s performance of the blind, retired soldier, Ambrose, is as phenomenal as it gets. He was able to develop a tough exterior and an exceedingly dry sense of humor, while struggling with the loss of a close friend and a drifting relationship with his own son. All of this was done while also prepping to go to war with a werewolf. I could write about this film forever. Instead, I’m just going to tell you that you need to see it. I give this film 4.5 silver bullets out of 5.

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HELL NOTES

Brian M. Sammons

Werewolf movies are going through a bit of a renaissance it seems, and I could not be happier. For far too long, lycanthropes have been the red-furred stepchild of the horror genre. For every American Werewolf in London or The Hollowing, there is American Werewolf in Paris, The Howling part any of the half-dozen, half-assed sequels that followed the first movie, Animals (which is a real shame, as it is based off of a good book), Darkwolf, The Beast of Bray Road, Cursed (oh lord, don’t get me started on that Wes Craven stinker) and on and on I could go. But lately there have been some werewolf winners, and yes, this is one of those.
Let me clear something right up, the Blu-ray/DVD release of this movie has sort of done an Edge of Tomorrow, Live / Die / Repeat on use here. That is, they changed the name from Late Phases for its theatrical release, to now Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf for the home release. I guess they thought that for a werewolf pic, you really needed the word “wolf” in there somewhere, but that’s just silly, not to mention an unnecessary mouthful. Anyway, everyone got that? Good, let’s move on.
The always awesome to watch, Nick Damici, plays a blind, elderly, but feisty Vietnam vet, Ambrose, who moves into a new house in a retirement community. It’s just his bad luck that he does it on the day of a full moon and that there’s a werewolf living in the neighborhood. After meeting one nice neighbor, and a lot more nosey, nasty ones, there is a werewolf attack once night falls. The nice neighbor lady is killed, and so is Ambrose’s loyal guide dog, but our crotchety old vet survives. Not being an unbelieving dummy like most horror movies protagonist, he puts the clues together in record time and figures out that his assailant was a werewolf, even if he never saw it. He now has 30 days until the next full moon. 30 days to figure out who the werewolf is among his neighbors, and how to fight it and kill it, because he knows the wolf will soon be back at his door. He also knows he has to do this by himself, because no one would ever believe him.
What follows is largely a character piece focused solely on Ambrose, as the werewolf doesn’t show up again until the very end of the film. So the vast majority of this movie is firmly on the shoulders of Ambrose to carry and keep us invested and entertained enough to keep watching. Thankfully Nick Damici is more than up to the task. He is the reason to watch this movie, as he is simply amazing in it. That’s not to say the other elements in here are lacking. Well, one is, but I’ll get to that in a moment. But the direction is spot on, the writing is good, and the other actors all play their roles well, with Ethan Embry as Ambrose’s son and Tom Noonan as a caring priest being the highlights for me.
Now the one and only thing about this movie that I didn’t absolutely love is the look of the werewolf. I give this movie full props for using practical effects, even during the shape changing scenes, but the final product was far more silly that scary. That said, it is also a fact that in spite of that, I still really liked this movie, and it actually pulled off more than a few scenes of tension and horror. So if nothing else, that is a testament to how good everything else in this movie is, that even with a less than frightening werewolf it doesn’t ruin things.
So the movie is really good, the werewolf effects aren’t that great, how about the extras on this new Blu-ray from Dark Sky Films? First and foremost, there is a director’s commentary with Adrián García Bogliano. Next there also are a couple of featurettes. The first is 14 minutes long and is your pretty basic making of short. The second one is a FX featurette on making the werewolves that is oddly twice as long at 30 minutes. Lastly there is the trailer.
Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf (ugh) is a very fine fright flick. If you are a lycanthrope lover, you’ll really like this movie. If you like movies about strong, believable, unique characters, you’ll really like this movie. It gets a howling recommendation from me, and you can get a copy of this for yourself on March 10th.

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YES WEEKLY - PICK OF THE WEEK

There hasn’t been a good werewolf film in some time, but director Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s chiller, subtitled Night of the Lone Wolf, is a hands-down, claws-down winner.

A major reason is Nick Damici’s terrific turn as Ambrose McKinley, a blind, embittered Vietnam veteran newly arrived at Crescent Bay, a suburban retirement community that seems to have more than its fair share of fatal animal attacks.

After a fateful first night in which his neighbor (Saturday Night Fever siren Karen Lynn Gorney) and his seeing-eye dog are torn apart, Ambrose becomes convinced that a werewolf is at large, and determines the end the threat once and for all.

Eric J. Stolze’s crisp script offers a surprising amount of character development, elements of dark humor, and even works as a whodunit – until Bogliano delivers a surprise reveal of the furry fiend’s true identity. And horror fans can rest assured, there will be blood … and plenty of it.

The DVD retails for $24.98, the Blu-ray for $29.98.

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