Rookie police officer Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy THE WALKING DEAD) sits in her car parked outside a police station on the phone with her fretting and worried mother. Loren's first day on the job is about to start and she is to watch over the police station that is all but closed; emergency calls are being routed to another station. Entering the station she is greeted by the oddly acting Sgt. Cohen (Hank Stone LEGION OF THE DEAD). The Sarge takes her on a tour of the station, there are no prisoners, no staff, no other officers, gives her his phone number in case of an emergency, tells her not to leave her post and heads home.
The set up is familiar to anyone who has seen John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (and you have seen it, right?). but LAST SHIFT doesn't deal with a gang attack on the station, it goes in a very different direction. This is the station where Loren's police officer father was killed when the members of a Manson like cult were arrested and brought in to be interrogated. Those past tragic events haunt Loren and all sorts of spooky and bewildering incidents drive her to panic. Furniture re-arranges itself, a silent homeless man somehow finds access into the locked building, an emergency call comes in from a young woman who needs help to escape from her kidnappers, and Loren has visions of the long dead King of Hell cult members.
Is the station haunted? Or is this an elaborate hoax being played on the rookie? Or is she loosing her mind?
Co-writers Anthony DiBlasi and Scott Poiley, with DiBlasi directing, manage to take a simple scenario and one location and ratchet up the tension. It's not all that often the proverbial hairs on the back of my neck stand up while watching a film. Lead Juliana Harkavy creates a character that is tough yet vulnerable and believable. It certainly adds to the fear factor of a film when we sympathize with and care about the main character.
The ending is a bit of a let down. The script and direction are smart and deft at treading the conventions of a horror film, so much so that I was expecting something other than the predictable 'twist' we have. But up until that point it is a spooky ride.
