Last Shift - A Movie Review

It’s just one night. What’s the worst that could happen?

Last Shift is a 2014 film. On her first shift, Police officer Jessica Loren is called in to cover the final shift at a closing police station. During her shift, weird situations occur. Getting calls from a woman in trouble, Jessica suspects other supernatural tricks are at play.

One of the best parts about the Halloween season is discovering all the underrated horror flicks. Last Shift is a haunting story. I had some issues with the story's setup, specifically the climax, Last Shift makes you scared about being alone.

Daring and having an impressively calm demeanor, Jessica is in for a scary evening. Juliana Harkavy did an excellent job with her character. I like how she recites the police oath to keep herself calm in one scene. She is not a person who gives up.

There were moments where Harkavy could have been given stronger direction, such as her choice to leave the police station and her responses to the paranormal.

Harkavy has the screen for most of the film. When someone else appears, boy do they make you remember them. Hank Stone was my favorite. He had a good personality for the character. You need to do anything to make a small role memorable.

The backstory behind the paranormal ghosts should have had a more original idea. I don’t know much about the Paymon cult, but they’ve already been the subject of other films. Creating a more original idea would have made the film more enticing.

I take notes whenever I watch movies. No joke, my notebook almost flew out of my hands a couple of times! Man, the jump scares were excellent.

Last Shift is an effective horror film. Blinking lights are never a good sign in a horror film. The long hallways make for an uneasy feeling. Have you ever been alone in a place and you were afraid to peek around a corner? The horror in Last Shift is relatable. Sometimes being alone is not always a good thing.

Let’s talk about makeup because I am very surprised that makeup use is not discussed in the horror community. Gory, vile, and disgusting makeup was created for the film.

Anthony DiBlasi highlights a terrifying depiction of an officer on soul duty. He incorporated creative camera tricks. Since most of the focus is on Jessica, she has to be doing something every second to make this kind of story work. At one point, she actually falls asleep because she is so bored.

As the audience, we do a lot of following around as Jessica invests in the empty building. The camera switches to every end of the hall as Jessica becomes more frightened by the presence inhabiting the police station.

That gets repetive because she goes to the same places more than once. It’s a slow-moving horror film, but that’s okay. It’s well-paced. It increases the tension. All around there’s creepy editing and great acting moments. By the end, it becomes a little wacky, showing too much.

There were a couple of storylines that deserved sprucing up. Like the homeless guy. What was with him? I thought he was a supernatural entity, but then, later on, he is stealing important documents at the police station.

If you’re looking for a new scary movie this October season, look for Last Shift. It’s all the more suspenseful if you are watching it alone. Just be careful if you have popcorn. The bowl might fly out of your hands at the jump scares.