LATE PHASES [2014]

Here Comes The Devil director Adrián García Bogliano makes his English language debut with the burly little werewolf film Late Phases.
Nick Damici is fantastic as a crotchety old blind man that moves into an old folk's community that has the tendency to get a little bloody every full moon.  The use of good ol' fashioned practical effects is a joy to watch but doesn't always work, especially when you see the man in the furry rubber suit that looks like a rabid version of Donnie Darko's Frank.  The tone of the film is an utter mess and there doesn't seem to be any real direction it wants to take.  Fortunately actors Damici and Tom Noonan have a wonderful chemistry together as they make the best of what they have to work with.  Something great was buried deep within the film but sadly it's never really found.

2½ iron lungs out of 5

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Travolta is an arrogant asshole in this 70’s disco dance fest. His blunt put downs of the women that flock around him are hysterical. And so was his dancing, it was piss-inducing funny. I couldn't take any of it seriously in the first half. Favourite moment: at the dinner table with his family JT gets protective of his hair.
I don’t dance, I don’t go to discos and I don’t like the Bee Gees, but strip all that away and there's enjoyment to be had in the character growth, even if there are threads left dancing in the wind all over the place by the end.

3 don't hurt your pussy finger out of 5