Late Phases (2014) – Movie review

Late Phases (2014)

Directed By Adrián García Bogliano

Starring:
Nick Damici
Ethan Embry
Lance Guest

I often like small films with only a few characters that are story driven and don’t rely on big effects to move the plot. This is a cool low-key film that fit’s the bill. It has a well written script and a good message of honor, redemption and reconciliation.

A blind Vietnam Vet, Ambrose McKinney, is dropped off at his new retirement community home. He and his seeing-eye dog (and companion), named Shadow, are settling in. He is a hard personality, unfriendly to the neighbor’s welcome and stand off-ish to the community. He doesn’t want to know anything about any of them, until his neighbor is killed by something vicious in the middle of the night. He listens through the wall picking up sounds to figure out what is happening. The creature knows this and attacks him next. Shadow does his best to protect Ambrose and the dog is killed.

A werewolf mystery unfolds as Ambrose attempts to figure out who the shape shifter is before the next full moon. Though blind, he is quite capable and makes some headway to pin down the possible suspects. However the werewolf realizes what he is doing and makes some counter plans for himself. It all converges on the night of the next full moon. Meanwhile the cold relationship of Ambrose with his son grows even colder as the younger man attempts to discover why his father is acting so strangely. The werewolf transformation scene is nothing special but at this point, what could they actually show that hasn’t been seen already? Did I mention it also has a small part by Tina Louise…yes from Gilligan’s Island.

Wonderful acting, story and good characters drive the plot and make this a very good film. There may have been a few aspects that could have been explored a little deeper and the horror aspect was in low ratio compared to the drama of life and subject of getting old, but overall I think the characters felt real and that‘s what made this film watchable. It’s not the high action of most modern horror, but worth a viewing for those with a little patience.

Worth a watch for those who want good story and a break from all the overwrought effects in Werewolf films.

I give it 3.0 gnarly snarls out of 5 on the cantankerous canine carnivore scale.

Big Bad Wolf (2006) – movie review

Big Bad Wolf (2006)

Finally got to watch big bad wolf, a werewolf movie I had heard about many years ago. The set up was not so promising as a group of college students head to a remote cabin in the woods and settle in for a weekend of partying and sex. They’re not at the cabin long when the big bad wolf comes bursting in looking for flesh and blood. Derek, the nerdy kid whose step dad owns the cabin, and his friend, Sam, a tough biker-chick, manage to escape. When they return home we get a whole family dynamic with the mean step dad, the mom trying to keep their marriage together, and Derek, the son who is trying to find his place in this dysfunctional family. There’s also a back story about Derek’s real father and how he died under questionable circumstances. It’s a decent story for a B-werewolf movie.

The werewolf is a big gnarly half man/half wolf who is able to talk. He delivers some great snarky comments throughout his killing sprees. They don’t show a transformation scene which is quite alright with me (like I haven’t seen it a thousand times already). I actually like the werewolf design here. It’s standard makeup prosthetics, but nicely realized. The beast is powerful, tossing teens around like wet noodles after bludgeoning them considerably. There’s some great spook house violence in the film, a decapitation, legs being ripped off, and torn flesh galore with plenty of spraying blood.

After you get passed the cliché college kids in the cabin scenes, the plot adds some interesting and entertaining aspects. There’s some comedic scenes and funny one-liners from the werewolf and the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. It has a definite 80’s feel to it. It even has the requisite ’warning’ from the ‘old guy’ on the mountain road, this time played by Clint Howard, stating, “You don’t want to go up to that cabin…and if you do, stay in doors.” If you’re into 1980’s horror flicks you should definitely check this out despite the fact that it was made in 2006.

Good 80’s style werewolf flick for some nostalgic entertainment and cheesy comedic elements.

I give it 3.0 sharp claws out of 5 on the hairy horn-dog scale of werewolf horror flicks.

How ya’ like that, dirty dawg!

having a bad hair day!

beats rubbing up against some one’s leg

Got an itch, I’ll scratch it… oops

I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll rip your balls off!

Oh, Derek…save us!