Review – Last Shift (2014)

If I was to see this on Netflix or Amazon Prime, I would most definitely scroll past it without giving it a second thought. The poster is generic, and seems to emulate every other exorcism film that appeared after the arrival of The Conjuring. I started to hear more about the film on reddit as people watched it and raves about how good it actually is. I was dubious, until last night, when I gave it a chance.

The film starts when rookie cop Jessica (Juliana Harkavy) is tasked with guarding a derelict and soon to be demolished police station until the morning when the hazmat team can arrive to pick up the rest of the evidence. Throughout the night, strange events begin to happen that echo a traumatic event in the stations past.

If you’re looking for a tense, nuanced horror film that knows how to set up its scares then this is it. There are countless scenes which build tension really well, with some solid scares in there as well. The way the plot is setup is amazingly simple, yet tantalising for the viewer and as strange things start to happen, we are sucked right into this world.

Harkavy is, like most things in this film, surprisingly good in the role and considering she is mostly on her own for a better part of the movie, really holds her own and makes us believe what she is going through. Her character sometimes makes strange decisions, but we understand because we know her character flaws.

The effects in the film are also great, showing a flash of something horrific makes it much more frightening from the beginning and we don’t fully know what is going until about halfway through. The scene where she is trapped in the holding cell is a fantastic scene in terms of building horror and tension. The film progresses into something much more Barker-Esque and I was getting some serious Hellraiser vibes towards the end, which is awesome.

Give this one a chance if you’re looking to scare your friends.

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