"Day Shift" is such a fascinating piece of filmmaking not because it's necessarily good; it's far too uneven to be winning any Oscars. No what makes Netflix's latest an absolute delight is how flagrantly it modernizes "John Carpenter's Vampires," borrowing a bonkers plot and imbuing it with an unhinged energy that tip-toes between horror and satire so abruptly that when it fails to gel into something cohesive, it only makes it more interesting.
Jamie Foxx plays Bud, a vampire hunter who's given a daughter (Paige, played by Zion Broadnax) and estranged wife (Jocelyn, played by Meagan Good) because it makes for easy tension (doesn't take a vampire to smell a "kidnapping" plot coming). How he got into the business of undead slaying is never established, but his "loose cannon" methods lead him to be kicked out of the union. That's where the good money is, apparently, as their, um, agents(?) get their payday via the fangs they remove.
Why does he need the "good money?" Because of plot, Jocelyn is threatening to move to Florida, leaving Bud without a wife to try to win back or a daughter to be late picking up (because in Hollywood, there is no such thing as a "good dad"). This leads to the next arbitrary narrative punch: she gives him one week to pay for Paige's tuition and braces. (Teeth, vampires, get it?) How much? Ten grand, so a panicked Bud taps his old friend Big John Elliot, in a brief appearance by Snoop Dogg, who's able to get him one final chance in the big-leagues of wooden stakes and garlic.
But there's a catch! To make sure he plays by the rules, desk-job Seth, played by Dave Franco, is to accompany him and make sure he doesn't break protocol. The two have an instant chemistry, and even some uninspired dialogue by writers Shay Hatten and Tyler Tice about peeing one's pants is made charming by the duo. Did I ever laugh out loud? No, but I did smile, and it takes a lot to make a grump like me curl my lip.
There isn't so much mythology in the creature lore, outside some cave set pieces and talk about becoming "day walkers," but all that is window dressing for violent, cohesively filmed stunts. We get a solid chase, which goes in and out of buildings, from the streets to off-road, all the good stuff. But it is the individual fights that stood out, with a sort of brutal grace that wouldn't look out of place in a John Wick pic. Props to director J.J. Perry in his debut, a stuntman who goes to show that fluidity is the way forward in the genre.
The best and probably longest moment of action involved fellow hunters Mike and Darian, Steve Howey and Scott Adkins respectively. With bulging muscles and facial hair, they play a pair of twins who have this odd sibling closeness that I kinda wish they were more involved. That's the sign of good character building (and acting).
The same cannot be said about Snoop Dog, probably my biggest gripe overall. He's only in a few minutes of the runtime, and while he chews the scenes he never steals them. Haha, a rapper killing a vampire with a gun. Har-he-har-har. Oh he has a cowboy hat? Toss in a few more "har-hars" for good measure. He throws the tone too far towards parody, but he's never actually riffing on anything outside his own persona. Was that the intent? I doubt it- if they were really trying to go this route, they should have brought in his pal Martha Stewart; now there's an idea.
Regardless, "Day Shift" is nothing but entertaining, with more ideas introduced than it can properly explore. It leaves me asking my own questions about its cockeyed universe, like how do the residents not know about the vampires? Do they turn to bats? If so why don't we see any of that special-effect goodness? Maybe they'll answer those in the sequel, and even if they don't, I'll just be happy they made one.
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