A hard-working, blue-collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his quick-witted 8-year-old daughter. His mundane San Fernando Valley pool cleaning job is a front for his real source of income: hunting and killing vampires.
As part of a generation that grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, we were privy to some exceptional horror films. Depending on your particular taste, the ’70s offered “The Exorcist,” “The Omen,” “Carrie,” “Halloween,” and “Alien,” to name but a few. The ’80s had “The Thing,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Friday the 13th,” “The Evil Dead,” and “The Lost Boys.”
I mentioned “The Lost Boys” because it was labeled a horror film but with elements of dark humor. “Day Shift” follows closely in its footsteps, allowing its audience to be scared one moment and then laugh out loud the next. And obviously, they both deal with vampires.
Jamie Foxx plays Bud Jablonski, a “pool boy” by appearance, but in reality, a vampire hunter who uses his pool cleaner persona to sneak into vampire residences during the day and kill them while they sleep. Bud learns that he needs to earn more money as his ex-wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good) plans to take their young daughter Paige (Zion Broadnax) to Florida to be with her mother. As a vampire hunter, he makes a living by taking the fangs of the undead and selling them on the black market, but to prove to his wife that he can take care of Paige financially, he is forced to return to the vampire hunter union where he can make good money.
He calls on his old friend Big John (Snoop Dogg), a fellow vampire hunter revered at the union, who uses his good standing to advocate for Bud’s reinstatement. Having been fired long ago for his unconventional behavior and ignoring union rules, Bud apologizes to the big boss, Ralph Seeger (Eric Lange), and begs for one more chance. He agrees to rehire him, but on the condition that newbie Seth (Dave Franco), a brainiac from accounting, must accompany him on all missions to make sure doesn’t break any rules. Otherwise, he will be fired. Bud reluctantly agrees, and they set out on their first mission.
Bud likes to work alone and despises Seth’s forced partnership, but as they make their way throughout Los Angeles, killing vampires galore, they begin to form a friendship. When Bud discovers that a vampire he recently killed was the daughter of a powerful vampire who runs the city, Audrey San Fernando (Karla Souza), she kidnaps Jocelyn and Paige and threatens to kill them both in retaliation. With nowhere to turn and nothing to lose, Bud teams up with Seth, Big John, and his neighbor Heather (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and they make their way into the depths of the Los Angeles underground, locked and loaded.
“Day Shift” never takes itself too seriously, which is a welcome relief from the weighty horror films of today, but it also knows when to allow characters to have moments of contemplativeness. It successfully balances gravitas and humor and leaves you wanting more. Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco are absolutely perfect together. Akin to the relationship between Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in “Men in Black,” Foxx is Jones’s Kay to Franco’s Jay, the mentor and the student who initially despise one other but eventually become good friends and grow to respect each other.
Director J.J. Perry creates a playful atmosphere with a narrative that is so ridiculously over-the-top it really shouldn’t work, but Foxx, Franco, and the rest of the cast infuse their characters with enough endearing qualities it leaves you craving more. The movie is a great throwback to the horror comedies of the ’80s, and there’s also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to the aforementioned “The Lost Boys.” A lot of studios produce films with the sole intent of starting a new franchise, but many times, they don’t proceed according to plan because the greed factor takes over, and the films underperform because they are seen only as an entry point for more films and more money. While “Day Shift” most certainly has “franchise” written all over it, at least Netflix had enough smarts to let director J.J. Perry and his cast and crew tell a good story that would leave the audience waiting for the next chapter. I know I am.
Available to stream exclusively on Netflix Friday, August 12th
