Hello, film fans and welcome once again to the House of Macleod movie review corner! Today we look at Netflix’s action comedy Day Shift (2022, R, 1h 53m) Starring Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dog, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Scott Adkins, Steve Howey, Peter Stormare and Eric Lange. Day Shift is one of those movies that could’ve easily been released in the 90s but that’s exactly what I loved about it. Foxx stars as Bud Jablonski, a Vampire hunter who has been kicked out of his union for breaking far too many of the rules and going renegade whenever it suits him. When he realises that his wife and kid are going to move to Florida unless he can come up with ten grand in a week, he has to kiss ass back at the Vampire hunters union, where he is paired with company Rep, Seth (Franco). Hijinks ensue. The movie mixes a whole bunch of winning formulas and makes it work. It's half buddy cop, half vampire flick, half comedy, half actioner with a nicely unique story thrown in for the mix. There were many things for me that stood out in former second unit director J.J.Perry’s debut flick, one of the top ones being the action. Although it has that glorious spray of blood you expect from a decent vampire movie, it has action that reminded me of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) before it got bogged down with those awful sequels and equally bad TV show. Day Shift combines this style of hyper-violence with some absolutely beautiful stunt work, that had me saying “Holy shit!” out loud more than once. It’s funny too. Don’t get me wrong, it's not a laugh-a-minute kind of comedy, it's more fun in the way that the likes of Lethal Weapon are funny. Surprisingly one of the standout comedy moments happens with Steve Howey and Scott Adkins as the brothers Nazarian. Two badass Vampire hunters who share maybe a little more than they should. Day Shift is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously but that’s a big part of its charm. From Snoop D.O double G playing a legendary Vampire killer (equipped with a minigun that has to be seen to be believed) to the idea that Vampire hunters get so much business they have to be unionised, proves this point exactly. The action is set perfectly to a classic Hip Hop soundtrack featuring music from Snoop himself and the likes of Tupac, Ice Cube, October London, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Body Count with a score by Tyler Bates. If you are in the mood to watch a film that doesn’t take any major brain power but is also a whole lot of fun, Day Shift is the film for you. So grab your silver wire, your stakes, your crosses and your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride. Dayshift is available to stream right now on Netflix.
Official House of Macleod Verdict: 8/10, a fun ride that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
