Last Shift

"And the commotion the next morning... I got a glimpse into their cell. And the bodies were gone. But...pure evil covered those walls."

My first thought after watching "Last Shift" was : "Damn, Jessica Loren surely deserves a medal for her perseverance". If I was in her shoes I would have abandoned that police station the first second while putting up my middle finger to Sergeant Cohen. I wouldn't stay there a minute longer. But despite all suspicious noises, apparitions and supernatural events, she remains loyal to her post. Is she afraid to fail in her task so she won't be allowed to join the force ? Or doesn't she want to be inferior to what her father meant as a police officer in the past?

I must admit however that it's been a long time since I've seen such an extremely creepy film, although everything is soberly portrayed and there's minimal use of special effects. A rookie is trapped in an office all alone without a living soul to keep her company. All she has to do is get through the night until a cleaning crew arrives in the morning to clean up abandoned evidence. The end result is a series of terrifying scenes, terrifying noises and disturbing images. The film even managed to scare the crap out of me sometimes. Something I'm normally totally immune for.

Despite it being a low-budget film and it all takes place in one place only, they still made very good use of (although well known) horror techniques to make a lengthy horror-trip out of it. Maybe that's already a minor flaw. It all took too long. But eventually it was scary and creepy with a threatening atmosphere and constantly ominous. Especially the gradual tension buildup was successful. The full story is patiently clarified. Although I'm sick and tired of paranormal movies, I was pleasantly surprised.

Juliana Harkavy carries the whole movie in a convincing way. The movie focuses practically entirely on her. Even the group of crazy devil worshipers who start to haunt Jessica can only be admired briefly. There was even a sort of "Sixth Sense" moment with the assistance of police officer Ryan Price (Matt Doman). I just wondered what the tramp actually had to do with it all. Did he just pass by in search of his shoes? A rather bizarre person who served as filling. And despite their brief appearance the three Paymon family members were convincing enough to conclude that this family was extremely insane. Bloodcurdling testimonies which leave nothing to the imagination.

Unfortunately, the end ruined it all again. Uninspired and in terms of originality certainly not of the same level as the rest of the movie. The rest was certainly of a high level. Both the structure of the story, the sound effects and the editing were excellent in this psychological terror film

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So I think most people's main beef with horror movies nowadays are that they just aren't scary anymore. Personally I never really cared whether or not a horror movie was scary since it's very rare that a movie freaks me out in any way. But this flick caught me off guard and had me feeling pretty creeped out a few times.

I haven't really been a huge fan of Anthony DiBlasi's past films but he really did an excellent job with this one. The movie is centered around one character alone in a police station, so we aren't really treated to any great dialogue or anything, it most relies on scares and creating a terrifying atmosphere. Some of the jump scares didn't really land on my but what really got me was just the overall creepy feel of the film, the majority of the film keeps you in a very dark and dreary place.

This wasn't without flaws though, some of the effects were a little overdone and a lot of the main characters action were very facepalm worthy, but most of them were understandable to keep up the pace of the film. Also the main actresses performance wasn't perfect, but luckily the movie really didn't need to rely on her acting.

I really enjoyed this, it was a very nice surprise and I am glad that I stumbled across it.

Last Shift was a nice little surprise, yes it's low-budget & straight-to-dvd but it's better than you would think.

Last Shift is about rookie police officer Jessica Loren (an really good JULIANA HARKAVY) who has been assigned the last shift at a closing down police station & must wait for a hazard crew to collect biochemical evidence. That crew will come at some point through the night & into the early morning hours & Jessica is told not to leave the premises under any circumstances but no one knew that the old police station would be a nightmare of horrific incidents that terrorise poor Jessica. I loved the simple setup, just like how great John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 was in a similar setup, but here the threat comes from inside the closing down police station & not from outside. Actress Juliana Harkavy is great & she is the main focus & the lead solo star of the entire film & she holds everything together & she's excellent to be honest. Juliana gives a strong woman performance but also has the vulnerable & emotional sides to be totally believable, a great actress that i had never seen before so she's an unknown new comer to me & a damn good one.

The scary stuff is all done so well by director Anthony Diblasi (a director that's new to me) & he crafted a psychological horror with the police procedural thriller & made a real treat. I love films set over a night shift (i really like The Possession of Hannah Grace) & someone who has to deal with strange happenings. There's creepy cult stuff going on here & horrific ghostly figures & lots of psychological torment that our rookie endures throughout this night shift. This is a slower paced horror that concentrates on building suspense & an atmosphere of fear & dread & uses its isolated setting to unnerve us, as we feel for rookie Jessica & want her to get the hell outta there. Last Shift makes for a great late-night movie.

I was pleasantly surprised by this little horror gem, a simple setup, a strong lead & a gory good time.

Will Jessica survive the night? Check it out.

My quick rating - 6,3/10. Another surprise low budget horror film that shows the amount of money you put in has nothing to do with the end product. The movie itself starts out simple (yet obvious) enough with a rookie officer, Loren (Juliana Harkavy) pulling last shift duty on a closing precinct. I use that word since the premise is awfully familiar with "Assault on Precinct 13". Anyway, that being said, the story similarities end there. I did catch a few camera shots and setup scares that also reminded me of John Carpenter style, but what is wrong with borrowing from a master? So the inevitable ensues and a story of a cult leader type figure killing a few of his followers and himself in the prison (the story is intermingled throughout via flashbacks and visions of old footage) turns into a living nightmare for Loren. Throughout the film it is hard to tell if she is imagining it, being taunted for being a rookie or legit is in a haunted police station. This is what makes the tension build and keep you watching. Their are some truly disturbing images in this movie that are subtle yet very effective to get under your skin. The highlight of this movie is just not being sure through the whole thing just what exactly is going on. This leads you to a fantastic ending that will keep you thinking after the credits roll. All the elements of a quality horror movie are here along with a capable cast of actors and some film devotion from director Anthony DiBlasi. Great Shocktober flick. Check it out.

Starts solid with building a creepy atmosphere but after 20 minutes it becomes "Jump scare on Precinct 13". Actually, I don't hate jump scares and I think if used effectively and moderately this scare tactic can be terrifying and entertaining. Many successful films like Jaws, The Thing or Se7en use it marvelously and sometimes mediocre movies like The Exorcist III can earn a legendary status with a well-made jump scare scene. Last Shift isn't terrible at using jump scares. Most of the time the build-up is fine and sometimes instead of loud noises and quick editing you just see something sinister crawling behind the actress, but there are so many scenes in this film where Juliana Harkavy wanders around. Without a jump scare in the end those scenes would be just pointless and boring. I wish there were more scenes with Officer Price or phone conversations with Monica. It would be much better than watching the protagonist on a loop, investigating the same type of noises and seeing the same creepy images over and over again. The movie also suffers from the clichés of the genre and tries to explain some of them like why she isn't leaving the station or call for back up, why she thinks there is a logical explanation for the things she has witnessed but I think those answers come a little too late. Last Shift is still not bad for a low budget horror movie and at least it mostly uses practical effects instead of crappy CGI and it has pretty decent acting in it.