Review #73: Night of the Wolf (2014)


This review was originally written in October 2019.

October Horror Movie Review #21: Late Phases: Night of the Wolf

This movie took me by complete surprise; I've had some difficulty getting ahold of some of the movies on my list lately and so when I found this one I wasn't super excited for what sounded like a typical werewolf movie. (I'm not sure why, but werewolf stories just don't interest me most of the time. So I felt predisposed to not like this one.)

But here's the thing: It's not a werewolf movie. Yes, there's werewolves in it (quick synopsis: a blind war veteran moves into a retirement village but then surprise werewolf) but that's hardly what this movie is about. At its core, it's a story about a grizzled, cantankerous old man who has had to live with the bad things he's done his whole life and when his own mortality is staring him in the face he needs to figure out what kind of a mark he wants to have left in the world.

Between scenes of trying to figure out this werewolf problem, we have some genuinely saddening scenes that give glimpses of the type of person our protagonist was; as a father, as a soldier, and as a human being. When the film first started I was immediately turned off by how bitter and rude this guy was to everyone around him- but as the movie went on, it became more and more clear WHY he was like this, and unlike the many movies where one person is a total jerk with no explanation and no consequences, his attitude clearly affected his life and the lives of those around him. With any other character this movie would have been laughable, but with this specific character everything fit together perfectly.

There wasn't a lot of action in this movie, and when there was action (particularly at the very end) it all wrapped up very quickly and conveniently. Also, aside from the incredible transformation scene, the werewolf makeup looked pretty bad whenever it wasn't hidden by darkness. In most movies I would count these as serious knocks against them- but if anything, their status in this film just reiterated what I already knew: This wasn't a movie about a badass soldier fighting horrifying werewolves, it's a movie about a poor blind man who has pushed away everyone in his life and he knows that soon he will have no chance to make things right.

To put this movie in different terms: It's so good that Lisa stopped what she was doing so she could come and watch it too.

I'm so glad this movie was recommended to me and I think you all should watch it too!

Overall rating: 10/10

Most Surprising Actor: Ethan Embry! I haven't seen him in forever. I was shocked at how old he looked but then I realized I'm picturing him from twenty years ago.

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