Review: Last Shift

Last Shift was a film that initially I hadn't really looked into, or heard much about. I had randomly come across and read a few quick comments about how "Last Shift was creepy" and being a huge fan of creepy, I decided to check it out finally. I can now say that I was pleasantly surprised by what turned out to be a pretty solid horror film. The synopsis goes a little something like this :

"Rookie Police Officer Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavay - "The Walking Dead") has been assigned the last shift at a closing police department and must wait for a hazmat crew to collect bio-medical evidence."

That is all I will give you from the synopsis, because truth of the matter, when I watched it I had almost zero clue as to what it was about going in other than it was a rookie police officer alone in a station as I opted to not watch the trailers and just dive right in. We follow Jessica, whom after an awkward introduction to the on duty Sergeant, becomes acquainted with the sterile, and eerily empty environment of the soon to be closing department. Harkavay is instantly likable and sympathetic in a role that essentially carries the entire film, she plays it low key and believable with only a few missteps in her police procedure reactions that are more a fault with the script than the actress. Everything starts out easy enough for Officer Loren as she is just sitting at her desk passing time reading a book, that is until she receives a strange phone call from a woman in distress.

Last Shift is a difficult film to review without spoiling too much of the good stuff, but the best way I can sing the films praises is to compare it to one of my favorite horror experiences out there, the Silent Hill video games. Whether or not director Anthony Diblasi was inspired by the games or not ( I am going to have to ask him somehow) there is absolutely a heavy Silent Hill vibe here, and I mean the best parts of Silent Hill, not the stuff the movies focused on. The Isolation, Mystery, Creepy visuals, an effective score are all here to enhance the story of our protagonist who has a past connected to the malevolent presence manifesting itself in the now haunted Police department. The few other characters that Officer Loren meets throughout the film are even reminiscent of the other lost characters you meet throughout Silent Hill. The FX work is solid and there is enough red stuff to to satisfy gorehounds as well, even if that isn't the focus of the film. There are revelations that come later in the film that flesh out the why of the story that I will leave out for now in hoping to provide you a better viewing experience than having everything laid out beforehand. There are plenty of reviews that go further in depth if you want to read more about what happens.

Last Shift is definitely worthy of a watch this October as it is a well directed, well acted, and effectively creepy. It isn't perfect but I felt it was one of the better genre offerings in recent memory that really surprised me with it's execution. Kudos to Diblasi for the unsettling imagery seen throughout, I love stuff like that and this did not disappoint.  If you are looking for low key horror film that takes itself seriously, this one might be for you.