Last Shift

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Anthony DiBlasi directs. Austin Schmidt behind the camera. Adam Barber scores. Anthony DiBlasi cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Released 12 years ago.
• 3Directed by Anthony DiBlasi, shot by Austin Schmidt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Adam Barber. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Anthony DiBlasi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Juliana Harkavy and Joshua Mikel and Hank Stone carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "All Hail the King of Hell".
• 8IMDB entry: tt2965466 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 11 themes, including "mask", "supernatural", "hell", "telephone".

The technical file

Cinematography

Austin Schmidt

Original score

Adam Barber

Editing

Anthony DiBlasi

Production design

Nicole Balzarini

Costume design

Beverly Safier

Makeup / hair

Lee Grimes

Sound

Lee Riley

Runtime

87 min · 1h 27m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Last Shift (2014) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

100% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

5.8/10 · 24,750 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Anthony DiBlasi

• 
  Her Last Will

  2016 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Malum

  2023 · ★ 5.5
• 
  Dread

  2009 · ★ 5.5
• 
  Extremity

  2018 · ★ 5.2
• 
  Wuthering High

  2015 · ★ 5.1
• 
  Cassadaga

  2011 · ★ 5.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• TheVidiot2022-05-17
  ★ 6/10

  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.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Skyra Entertainment

  US

Key crew

• Costume DesignBeverly Safier
• Makeup Department HeadLee Grimes
• Assistant Makeup ArtistElise Leutwyler
• Hair Department HeadMatthew Petty
• Key Makeup ArtistKim Pineda
• Production SupervisorKrystian Lagowski
• Post Production SupervisorMichael Orlowski
• First Assistant DirectorChristian Reynolds
• Second Assistant DirectorSamantha Ubeda
• Assistant Property MasterAndy J. Sipe
• Property MasterJoseph E. Stone
• Foley ArtistTara Blume
• Supervising Sound EditorDave Chmela
• Assistant Sound EditorKrishna Desai
• Sound RecordistNoelle DiMarco
• Sound EditorJoy Elett
• Sound Effects EditorColin Hart
• Assistant Sound EditorBrian Judd
• Sound EditorJeff King
• Foley MixerRyan Maguire
• Supervising Sound EditorMichael Orlowski
• Sound RecordistAndrew Raut
• Sound DesignerLee Riley
• Sound Effects EditorJames Rouse

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• mask
• supernatural
• hell
• telephone
• cop
• female protagonist
• police station
• hanging
• rookie cop
• jail cell
• cult leader

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2015-10-06R

Also known as

International titles

• PaymonUS
• Paymon: The King of HellUS
• Son VardiyaTR
• Последняя сменаRU
• El último turnoMX
• Ca Trực Kinh HoàngVN
• 라스트 쉬프트KR
• ラスト・シフト／最期の夜勤JP
• ラスト・シフト 最期の夜勤JP