A Head Scratcher..."Last Shift"

Last Shift (2014)

Rated R

Starring Juliana Harkavy, Joshua Mikel,

Written and Directed by Anthony DiBlasi

The Story:

A rookie cop (Harkavy) is assigned the final shift at a police precinct that is closing the next day. She simply has to wait until a HazMat team shows up in the morning to collect and transfer some waste from the armory. Of course, there's a reason the precinct is closing...some really strange things have been happening ever since cult leader Michael Paymon (Mikel) and 2 of his followers committed suicide in the precinct.

Take John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, and change it so that it's ghosts that are attacking the station, not bad guys.

The movie, overall has an atmospheric and sometimes creepy vibe to it, but ultimately I found it annoying by the end.

Essentially, it's a Final Girl vs. The Bad Guy.

Unfortunately, the typical formula isn't followed and I was disappointed by the ending.

Harkavy does a great job carrying the film considering the focus is on her for pretty much the entire duration.

There were a few effective jump scares and some nice twists and turns along the way but otherwise, it gets hard to believe that our rookie doesn't just walk out that door and sit in her car for the rest of the night.

Harder still to believe that they assign a rookie to the station, considering what everyone else knows and they refuse to tell her. 

It's currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

I still can't get past the ending of the film, so I'm grading it accordingly. Your mileage may vary...

Final Grade: D+

Genre Mashing On The Cheap..."Daylight's End"

Daylight's End (2016)

Not Rated

Starring Johnny Strong, Lance Henriksen, Louis Mandylor, Chelsea Edmundson

Directed by William Kaufman

The Story:

A drifter (Strong) saves a cop (Edmundson) from an ambush that kills her partner. She takes him back to the police precinct promising him a car and all the gas/food he needs to be on his way. However, they are trying to escape to a sanctuary to get away from the bloodthirsty savages that lurk in the shadows.

File this one under wanting to make a budget horror end of the world film but they couldn't choose between zombies or vampires, so they kind of combined the two into one.

That way you can get the best of both worlds without working too hard.

Throw in a dash of Mad Max, Assault on Precinct 13, I Am Legend, videogames and just about whatever else you can think of, and this movie has got you covered.

Henriksen of course is the face and name you recognize.

Everyone else in the cast is competent, but no names or faces that I recognized.

It could have used a little more tweaking and originality and a bit less borrowing from everything else, but it was good enough to keep my interest.

Final Grade: C

Corruption In Detroit? Time For An "Assault On Precinct 13"

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Rated R - Violence & Language

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne

Directed by: Jean-Francois Richet


The Story:

It's New Year's Eve and a Detroit police station is going to close its doors one final time.  Sgt Roenick (Hawke) and a skeleton crew of police are holding down the fort when a prison transport carrying notorious mob boss Marion Bishop (Fishburne) arrives seeking shelter from a snowstorm.  Things go from bad to worse when the station is besieged by vigilantes looking to take out Bishop.  Imagine Roenick's surprise when he learns that those killers outside are actually cops, looking to take out Bishop before he can testify that there are dirty cops in Detroit!

Where's RoboCop when we need him??!!

"At Least They Aren't Remaking This Classic!"

I apologize, I've never seen the original version written & directed by John Carpenter from the 70s, so I am unable to compare and contrast the two films.

How Dare You Not Watch Our Version!

That said, I've watched this film on two different occasions.

I've enjoyed the film both times.

It's tightly scripted, well-acted by an impressive cast that also includes Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo and Maria Bello.

Someday I Will Voice An Animated Sloth And Become More Famous Than All Of You!!

It's a thriller that ratchets up the suspense with each passing moment.  The only hope the precinct has of survival is to arm the prisoners and work together to stay alive.

Of course, cops and robbers don't exactly trust each other, so it's an uneasy alliance at best.

Add to that the layer of intrigue by having the cops as the ones on the outside attempting to kill everyone inside, and you've got a pretty gripping tale.

It's a B movie that doesn't attempt to do anything but entertain the audience and tell a decent story.

On that note, it succeeds brilliantly.


Final Grade:  B

Would I Watch It Again?  Yes, it's entertaining and clips by at a decent pace.

Would I Purchase It?  I've had it on my wish list for almost a decade now.  Perhaps someday I will pull the trigger?