A rookie cop faces the ghosts of three demented serial killers
on her first shift alone at night in a closing police station. HORROR
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Last Shift (2014)Directed by Anthony DiBlasi
Written by Anthony DiBlasi and Scott Poiley Starring Juliana Harkavy, Joshua Mikel, Hank Stone, J. LaRose, Sarah Sculco, Kathryn Kilger, Matt Doman |
Anthony DiBlasi has been active in the film industry for a few years and was even a protégé of Clive Barker and worked as a producer on two film adaptations of Barker stories: The Midnight Meat Train and Book of Blood. He made his feature debut with Dread (2009) which was based on a story of the same name by the Liverpudlian author. Last Shift was screened at FrightFest in the UK in 2014 to some critical acclaim and then it would get released on VOD in October of 2015, which says a lot.
Finding inspiration in films like Assault on Precinct 13, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Manson (the 70's documentary about the Manson family) DiBlasi tries to weave a tale of ghosts and the past coming back to claim the present but, for me, ultimately fails as it relies more on jump scares than anything else to try and tell the story of a rookie cop (Juliana Harkavy) taking the eponymous shift at a police station that is closing. Things start slowly at first and ramp up to reveal a connection that Officer Loren has to events that happened to her dead cop father but the stakes just never feel that real. If you are citing films like I mentioned, then you better bring it because two of the three films do not even register to me as having any influence on what we're seeing on-screen. The ties to the Manson family are obvious because the cult 'family' that was taken in by the cops are cut and pasted facsimiles of that titular horde of maniacs. You have the 'father' figure in John Michael Paymon (played by the barely there Joshua Mikel) and his collection of concubines that aren't really fleshed out beyond being a stereotypical crazy cult complete with weird nursery rhyme songs. The scares mostly revolve around things that happen in the background or suddenly appear. While that tactic can be effective it has to be used sparingly otherwise it loses its power and DiBlasi really overuses it in this flick. Even when he's trying to be clever and not do a reveal when Loren turns a light on in a blacked-out room, you know something is coming because he has been telegraphing his moves for most of the film. There is gratuitous hobo action as the only real visitor Loren gets on the night is a crazy guy who announces himself by staring into space and pissing on the floor in the lobby. While I am all for being intentionally vague and weird, this character just felt slapped in there to serve another purpose. He could have been left out all together and I wouldn't have missed him. The face that there was exposition delivered by a throwaway character (or gratuitous sex worker if you know what I mean and I think you do) really shows you how much information we aren't getting that it has be given by a character who only serves that purpose. I remember trying to watch this film a couple years ago and couldn't finish it because the pacing is so slow and I'm not invested enough in anything that is happening. A film's biggest sin is to be boring and, for me, Last Shift is the equivalent of watching the clock tick towards quitting time and the minutes never seem to move any close. I just keep wondering "When will this end?" |
Last Shift plays up the fear of isolation and the borderline insanity that comes with being alone for long periods of time. There's potential here for an unforgettable psychological thriller, but it's frankly squandered in favor of jump scares and an abrupt ending that brings up way more questions than it answers. Despite a strong performance from Juliana Harkavy, Last Shift just doesn't have what it takes to stick with you the way a good horror movie should.
When Officer Loren (Harkavy) learns that her first shift as a cop will be guarding a closed police station overnight, she has no idea that the reason the police are moving out is because the place is haunted by the ghosts of three killers who hung themselves in the holding cells. What follows is a night of terror that tries too hard to be The Shining and ends up being more House on Haunted Hill. There are moments of subtle, smart horror, but they're overshadowed by the jump scares that seem to happen every ten minutes. The most interesting parts are the backstory on the Paymon Family, the killers who are haunting the station, but we never get enough info to know why we're supposed to be afraid of them. When I watch a movie like Last Shift, or anything that comes from Netflix's backlog of low-budget, indie horror flicks, I go in with low expectations. As I've stated many times before, horror is a very oversaturated genre that features ten bad ones for every one good one. I'd put Last Shift squarely in the middle. It's not unwatchable, but it's not particularly unforgettable. Horror fans might get a kick out of it, but if you don't watch it, you aren't missing out on much. |