At the initial first glance, and honestly, throughout the entire movie, Last Shift seems like it borrows heavily from other movies, with John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13th being the biggest inspiration. However, in Last Shift‘s case, instead of a grounded in reality thriller, we are thrown into a smorgasbord of spooks, chills, jump scares and WTF moments, all which build and build into a volcanic reaction of the viewer screaming at the TV as to why the hell this girl isn’t getting the F out of that damn precinct already. Is it a bad movie? Not in the least bit, but does the movie give you any sort of a backstory? Hell’s no, which is a damn shame, as the movie is a freaky good time. Read on to see what’s up…
PRODUCT INFORMATION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 97 min
ASPECT RATIO: 2.35:1
RESOLUTION: 480i
AUDIO: Dolby Digital 5.1
SUBTITLES: None
REGION: 1
RATING: 18A
PRODUCTION DATE: 2014
RELEASE DATE: Oct 20th, 2015
PLOT SUMMARY
A rookie cop’s 1st shift in the last night of a closing police station alone turns into a living nightmare.
MOVIE
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a movie that gave me some good ol’ fashion goosebumps and after witnessing the craziness of Last Shift, I’m happy to report the goosebumps have returned. Now, I could go into detail regarding the movie, but seeing how the flick is completely insane and all over the place, with a majority of the epicness coming from not knowing exactly what you are getting into, I will leave the plot details to the super small summary above and that’s all. I will, however, air some grievances with the flick, which isn’t a huge heaping amount, but enough to give a stern warning about.
Last Shift is all about the weird and strange, with scene after scene assaulting your senses. With each incredibly weird occurrence after another, the main character of Jessica Loren, played wonderfully by Juliana Harkavy, should be hightailing it out of that damn precinct, but alas, we wouldn’t have a movie otherwise. Of course, the movie does later on, give a reason why she can’t eventually leave, but earlier on there was plenty of options presented to her, but her stubbornness, in which she inherited from her deceased father, who plays a role in what is going on, keeps her there, spite all the crazy stuff that is going down. With all that being said, the viewer has to suspend their disbelief and just go with the flow in order to properly enjoy the flick for what it is, a crazy ride into hell.
A few nagging issues that keep picking at the back of my brain are the lack of backstory as to why all of this happening and the ending, which was extremely predictable, so I wished it would’ve gone another route instead. As for the backstory issue, it’s a larger issue, as the entire premise of the movie is based on this history, in which we the viewer don’t really get to see or find out much about. We get some tidbits of information here and there, but usually in the form of a spooky encounter, or an insane deformed monster from hell freaking the frak out of you. I think even just a few minutes of “hey, this is what’s going down and why” would’ve been a blessing. Nevertheless, with all that being said, Last Shift does what it’s supposed to do and that’s to raise the hair on the back of your neck and that it does surprisingly well.
DVD
This is one movie I wish I would’ve seen on Blu-ray, but for some reason, I can’t seem to find it in Canada. I did, however, receive the DVD from Anchor Bay for review. The DVD is serviceable, but there is nothing to write home about. I mean, a DVD is a DVD is a DVD. It’s looking alright and the audio is nice and loud. No special features. *Sad face*
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
- Boo! Nothing!
VERDICT
Last Shift was a nice jaunt into a cavalcade of insanity and convoluted stories. It freaked me out, which is a surprise, as I’ve become desensitised to most horrifying terror, unless it’s a spider, as spiders are the spawns of Satan. The story is lacking in regards to actually providing any sort of backstory and the ending was predictable, but overall, it was a worthy horror flick. If by chance you can find it on Blu-ray, pick it up, but if not, the DVD from Anchor Bay will satisfy your purchasing needs.