Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf Blu-ray Review

I first saw this film last year at Toronto After Dark and was immediately in love with its Straw Dogs-with-werewolves vibe. With a sorrowful and intense score, it is a unique movie with one of the most layered scripts I have seen in the recent years of horror, and I have been eagerly awaiting this Blu-ray release for months. Although my prior festival review states that the only flaw I found in the movie is that the werewolf costumes are jarring because they look fairly schlocky, Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf is such an easy film to watch, that with repeated viewings even the over-sized Gremlins-esque monsters will grow on you.

Ambrose (Nick Damici) is a Vietnam War veteran who has lost his sight due to trauma in the field. His son Will (Ethan Embry) is often riddled with worry for his afflicted father, in spite of the fact that Ambrose remains as independent as ever, especially with his seeing-eye dog Shadow. Will suggests to his father the he moves into a gated retirement community called Crescent Bay so that he may rest easier, and Ambrose reluctantly agrees. Immediately after setting foot onto his new property and still as ‘with-it’ as ever, Ambrose introduces himself to his pretty and soft spoken neighbour Delores, and charms her with compliments before returning to his new home. That evening, multiple residents of Crescent Bay, including Delores and Ambrose, are attacked by a rogue animal, and although he survives the attack, he is left with a burning desire to settle the score with whatever is terrorizing his new neighbourhood.

There is always charm to a story with a well-written hero such as Ambrose. Alongside its several characters with depth to their personas, Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf is enormously re-watchable because there’s enough to pick up on in its script that may not be apparent in a first viewing. Viewers suspend disbelief that werewolves exist because of the inherent understanding that Ambrose has heightened instincts being a Veteran and a blind man, so he is to be trusted. The bulk of the narrative acts like a whodunit for figuring out who the werewolf is, and with carefully placed red herrings at every turn alongside even quieter foreshadowing, it is easy for a person to feel captivated by the story because they are granted an opportunity to be a part of it. Writer Eric Stolze also exercises a vast use of brushstrokes in the characters that could be analyzed and interpreted differently by each viewer, such as the fact that for the majority of the film Ambrose uses a shovel as a walking stick, which may be interpreted as him ‘digging his own grave.’ Regardless of whether or not this is intentional, it still creates a very memorable character.

Strong writing can always be thwarted by a lacklustre cast, but Damici in particular delivers Ambrose with complete believability. In spite of the fact that he is portraying not only a character who is much older than he is in real life, but a man who has lost his sight, which would be a large feat for someone with less talent than Damici. He shows no moments of weakness in his performance. Alongside the ever-enjoyable character actor Tom Noonan, who plays Father Roger, a priest with a vice for smoking too many cigarettes, the moments when these two men muse on life are arguably the best scenes in this film.

Late Phases: Night of the Lone Wolf is a must watch for those who appreciate a strong script. With so much that is interesting about how this narrative is executed, it can be enjoyed by horror fans and non-horror fans alike.