Last Shift

Last Shift (2014)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Anthony DeBlasi

Starring: Juliana Harkavy, Joshua Mikel, J. LaRose, Natalie Victoria, Matt Doman

From: Skyra Entertainment

Here is a movie I have known about for awhile, and it happened to be set and filmed in a Florida town I had been in many times before. Read all the details about it from my Letterboxd review posted below: 

I have known of this movie since it came out last year. My biggest memory will forever be how due to its stylized logo, some people on a messageboard were literally confused as to whether it was Last Shift or Lost Shift, and I do understand the confusion. I heard mixed opinions about so I had no idea what to expect going in. There were comparisons to the awesome Assault on Precinct 13 (something I'll watch again soon so I can review it here) but those are really only due to the abandoned police station setting.

One reason for me to see this was that it was set and filmed in Sanford, Florida, a town only about an hour away from me; I had been through there or in there many times before, and in fact will be there tomorrow night to pick someone up from the medium-sized airport located in the city. The town is best known in America for the whole Trayvon Martin thing (those readers not in the United States who are not familiar with the case, I won't even get started on trying to explain that whole racial mess)... but I'll move on from that controversy and say they likely only filmed there because the city had an abandoned police station that could be used.

Why the setting? Well, the plot is that a lady cop who gets the pleasure of guarding a police station about to be abandoned (but has some biohazard materials that need to be cleared out by HAZMAT) and this is her first night on the force, and she's alone, and she experiences weird supernatural things... the only other thing I'll bring up is that a Manson-like family figures into the plot.

The story is on the ridiculous side, admittedly, and you certainly could nitpick various things. However, I tried to ignore those things. At first I wasn't sure about the movie; but, as it got going, I realized that I was enjoying what I was seeing. The one setting in one night thing is usually pretty intriguing to me. Much of the film you only see the lead on the character and if she would not have been interesting or the performance would have been bad, that would big a big problem. Thankfully the character of Officer Loren was always interesting, even if you don't know too much besides the basics about her and how her dad was a cop. Juliana Harkavy did a pretty good job in the role, especially considering it was typically only her on screen and the character had to go through a hellish experience.

Being vague, I will say that the ending which ties everything together, it was effective to me as I realized what the movie was all about and it not only explained some things but made the movie that much more disturbing. There are nice practical effects, creepy sights, an ever-increasing sense of dread, and overall while I know it is a movie which has gotten a mixed reception, to me it worked and I am glad I finally checked it out on Netflix Instant.