Late Phases (2014) Horror Werewolf

Late Phases (2014) - A blind retired Vietnam veteran is moved by his son into a retirement community. Soon after he and his neighbors are attacked by a werewolf. Ambrose (Nick Damici) is not one to let his disability get in his way and starts investigating. What he learns is the monthly attacks at the development at the edge of town are seen as animal attacks. He is a competent man defined by twenty years in the army. Instead of hiding and hoping everything will be alright like some of his neighbors he takes action. Working his aging body into as much shape as possible while preparing for the next full moon by learning his surroundings and creating defenses. He is a man willing to make the sacrifices necessary even knowing he may not survive the outcome.
   It is also a story about the elderly and the perceived notion that they are a burden and disposable. After the first attack we learn that this is a regular occurrence in this neighborhood of Cresent Bay. Seen as animal attacks the police are less than enthusiastic about patrolling the area. The children of the residents are feel they either have no choice but to leave the parents in danger or are so disconnected that they are not participating with their parents in life, just when they are needed most.  The well defined issues between Ambrose and his son Will (Ethan Embry) speak to the time we may all have to face when our children no longer see us as vital in their lives. The isolation is necessary for the plot since this must be a community isolated from the world. Where no help will be coming, where the stories of the victims will be questioned as those of the old and incompetent. Will is worried about his father and the cracks in their relationship eventually ends in a way further isolating his father.
  The red herring in this story is Father Roger (Tom Noonan) at least for a little while when Ambrose smells the smoke on the killers hoodie. Since he knows that the minister smokes he is the one writer Eric Stolze wants us to think about. Problem with the writing is that its about three scenes later that the red herring is exposed and the real killer is revealed. The end of the second act, so it would have probably been better if the hints about Father Roger came a bit sooner in the story. It could have built to a confidence about the killer through the eyes of Ambrose and then dispelled with a turn. Instead it comes across as a bit anticlimactic. Instead the turn is that the killer is "in the know" as he sees Ambrose return with his silver bullets and appears to recognize the store name on the bag. Then things get interesting for the climax as the community is transformed for the final scenes. It makes the most out of the approach, where on one hand the reveal could have been more deceptive Stolze still turns the table a bit with an unconventional plan by the werewolf.
  Its a wonderful ending that this film pulls off, unexpected in scope and with nice effects. It is said of werewolf films that if you don't show at least one transformation then you have failed. This film does not fail although the length and action of the climax are limited by the handicap of the main character. Concern for his neighbors could be Ambrose's undoing in the final scenes of this film. The hilarity of the security guard's reaction to seeing a werewolf is very enjoyable and totally within character. The wonderfully ridiculous but at the same time believable final fight scenes between Ambrose and beasts could have been longer.
   Yes a blind man can fight back, of course we learned that the blind are not helpless years before with Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark, but still she did not fight a werewolf.  Sacrifice again come to the forefront and when all is said and done the viewer is left feeling like they saw a well crafted film. Well executed by one of my favorite directors Adrain Garcia Bogliano (Cold Sweat, Here Comes the Devil) who keeps the pacing lively and hits all the right beats.The acting is solid with lead Nick Damici pulling off playing older than he is. Certainly they needed an actor with the physical ability to deal with the role and in Damici (Stake Land, We Are What We Are) they got that (since Jack Palance is dead). Ethan Embry (The Guest, Cheap Thrills) also is good as the son with so many things to worry about when it comes to his father. Also of note is Noonan (More wonderful films than can be mentioned here.) who is a professional, competent presence and Lance Guest as the somewhat tortured soul and main bad guy.
  So a recommendation for this film not the most perfect but certainly very enjoyable werewolf story. 

Jug Face (2013) Horror Supernatural

Jug Face (2013) - Sometimes ideas for independent horror there is a crystal of an idea that has to be  cut and polished up to be a gem. When that happens the buzz is palpable in the horror community, with everyone seeing and reviewing, and others talking the movie up on their podcasts. When that happens even the smallest of film making companies might recoup the cost of their endeavor, hell they even might make some money for the next film. We love it when this happens, its what keeps the independent horror scene alive and vibrant. Unfortunately there is another side where that crystal pretty much stays what it was, its pretty and has its own value but there may never be a demand for it. This is the case with the film Jug Face, it has its solid structure and an idea worth exploring but it just never quite shines.
Soresport Movies may be in the minority when it comes to this film as there have been some glowing reviews on it after it came out last year. (looked after wrote this review so apparently saw this differently than many.) The film is a small budget affair and the gore a minimalist variety that get the point across without costing the film makers too much budget. Bloody water, sliced throat effects and some scattered body parts give the impression of horrible savage violence without actually having to show any. Cloudy eye contacts also make serve a purpose to cue the audience to what is happening. Advertized as a "character driven" story one has to wonder if the person who wrote that copy watched the film since the story arc of the main character is really small and centers around an inevitable decision to accept responsibility for her quite reasonable decisions. My daughter Joy joined me in the viewing as I have been trying to get her to watch horror in a way that would allow her to contribute to this blog. She watched but very quickly tuned out and played on her phone. Multitasking is a behavior her generation does but I was surprised at how quickly the tune out came. At the end of the film her first response was "That sucked." I tried to steer the conversation to what she liked or didn't. In the end the most I got out of her was:
1. You never see the monster and it is never explained what it is or why the people would make a deal with it.
2. The main character is not very likable, she fucked things up for everyone.
3. The special effects sucked.
  Now I agree with her to an extent but I also felt that there was some value to this film. The plotting structure is well done. It leaks the story of these people a bit at a time until at the third act you know what the full picture is. Some things did not make sense to me though, and maybe the second watching will clarify my questions. A pretty good cast Ada (Lauren Ashley Carter) as the main character, Sean Bridgers as Dawai the potter, Larry Fessenden as Ada father Sustin,   and Sean Young as her cruel mother.  First during the images accompanying the credits we see the story of this community, a group who has given up on the existing organized religion that was in place but now instead prays to a pit of muddy water. We see them sacrificing their minister to the pit and later images of community members bathing in the pool at the bottom of the pit. We learn later that in the past during a smallpox epidemic ( maybe the big one 1775 - 82?) the people figured out how to make a deal with an entity in the pool in exchange for a sacrifice every now and again the pit provides healing waters. Now this deal when you think of it as a solution in the 1700s seems reasonable and it truly did become the religion for these people. When a sacrifice is wanted by the pit it puts "the sculptor" into a trance and that person creates a jug with the face of the next victim. The community then gathers and sacrifices that person at the pit. Now though we see in the film that the people in those hills have trucks and cars and interact with the town nearby selling moonshine for cash. So although presented as isolated  the insular nature of the community does not cancel the fact that health care is readily available in the civilized world. So really the thing that keep the arrangement going with the pit is that it has become a sacred relationship. To me it seems that the arrangement of killing one of your own so others can be healed is stupid when you can drive in town to a hospital. Talk about death panels the pit is a one entity death panel.
  Second I question is around the choice to make the main character unlikable. Ada is the main character and the plot is driven by her decisions. I think as a way to define the hill people as isolated we see Ada and a young man playing in the woods and having sex. Then we learn they are brother and sister and the whole thing is fucking creepy. Not just that it perpetuates stereotypes about hillbillies but  come on really the film has to go there that early. Later when we see the size of the community you have to wonder if resorting to incest was really necessary or just a gimmick.  It all fits the plot though and like I said earlier the pieces of information are well structure so we learn more of the full story as the film progresses. Pregnant from her brother and promised to another man she finds the jug face of the next sacrifice and it is her. Her story arc is that she hides the jug face with horrible consequences for all. She must come to her decision to take responsibility before too many innocents are taken by the pit. Since escape  from this community is never presented as a achievable option we know what she will have to do, its just who will have to die before the guilt gets to her enough for her to act.
  Helping her along the way is a ghost who is trying to convince Ada to return her jug face. He is a shunned one, a soul that can't rest because it was taken from the pit and as punishment for not fulfilling a sacrifice. The device is to give expository dialog to fill in the mythology but I am not totally sure that it works since the "why" would it communicate question is never really explained.
It is not really a happy ending film and you really expect anything good to come out of it. Instead you can marvel at the hill freaks who believe stupid shit and suffer for it. I am not sure that I am ready to give this film a recommendation I am a bit on the fence. Written and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle,  It is certainly well thought out and the idea of an alternative religious centered group is okay. I just think that there was no outside the community characters to bounce the sanity of the belief system off so it just comes off as an acceptable way of doing things for these characters, when lets be honest it is not. I wished there was more money for special effects there is a problem when you have a monster but never get to see it. I wish the vague agreement this group had with the was more clearly explored because honestly the reasons for killing loved ones did not seem very strong. So I will pass on recommending this film. Note I am in the minority if you look around the internet.