Day Shift, a review.
I did not expect to enjoy this film as much as I did. I'm a big fan of comedy horror, throw in some decent action, and I'm invested. Jamie Foxx is his usual charming self, a family man who hunts the undead and is pretty good at it. The action is frantically paced, with impacts that feel real, and the vampires are impressively acrobatic and vicious. The relationship between Foxx's Bud and Dave Franco's Seth is one of the highlights, closely followed by Snoop Dogg's Big John. This is primarily a comedy action film with horror elements and has decent world-building, with the premise being built on vampires being a real menace and hunters existing to deal with them.
Bud is a hunter of vampires and does his best to manage his work with his family. The film opens up with Bud taking on an elderly woman in her house, shooting her moments after she confronts him about being in her home. After impacting the bathroom wall, she gets back up, her face changed, the hole in her torso begins to close, and Bud reloads his shotgun in readiness. What unfolds is a blistering fight between Vampire and Hunter with some awesome sequences, the agility and flexibility of the undead making this a spectacle. Bud wins, taking out a younger vampire with a well-placed silver wire and collecting the fangs. Bud quickly changes, using what is available, as he needs to cover his scent. Returning home, we see him use some powder in the shower, which seems to cause him pain. To his family, Bud runs a pool cleaning service, and his daughter dotes on him. Unfortunately, Bud and his wife are no longer together, and she lets him know she is thinking of moving to Florida and taking Paige with her. Bud is against them leaving, but Jocelyn says they can only stay if Bud can come up with $10,000 by Monday. So, with fangs in hand, Bud goes to see a friend, Troy, to sell the fangs. However, he won't get anywhere near enough to cover these expenses, and the only way to get the money is to go to the Union.
The Union is where the majority of vampire hunters work. It is an organisation that specialises in hunting the undead down and buying and selling their fangs. There are caveats with that, and Bud had already been kicked out from the Union before. His only way back in was with help from his friend Big John, played by Snoop Dogg. The Black Cowboy is cool, so cool that every woman wants him, and every hunter wants to be him. Snoop Dogg carries that off well, with his innate charm shining through, even if he says little. However, Ralph is the head of this branch of the Union, and he doesn't like Bud. He agrees to his return as a favour to Big John, but he must have a representative overseeing him. And here we get introduced to Seth. Seth is a bookish character, knowing all the lore but without field experience. Despite a poor initial meeting, they are paired up. Unfortunately for Bud, an Elder vampire, Audrey discovers that her daughter has been killed. Her daughter is the vampire Bud beheaded at the beginning of the film. Audrey is now on the hunt for Bud.
As the pair set on their first hunt, we see how unprepared for this Seth is, the poor man peeing himself and vomiting after his first run-in with actual vampires. The scene is played for comedy and works well. The pair are an oddball match, but Bud takes well to the younger man after some time. Franco is amusing and sweet as Seth, with a manic energy to him at times. Bud is weathered and cynical but loving and attentive to his daughter and wife, even with their separation. Unbeknownst to the pair, Audrey is closing in on them, and she is powerful, with a workaround developed so she can go out in the sun for short periods. She soon closes in, and we are rushed into a final confrontation that sees Bud, Big John, and a newly turned Seth take on Audrey with help from another vampire.
The film is fast-paced, with a great combination of action and comedy that amuses and captivates in equal measure. There is a great deal of lore scattered throughout, handed out in easy-to-digest pieces of dialogue, enough to get the interest of the viewer but not overwhelm them. The leads do a great job as ever, with Jamie Foxx working well with Franco. I would have liked to have seen a deeper look into the world of the vampires, but what we got was enough to make them interesting. The set piece in the house with the hive of vampires featuring the Nazarian brothers has to be my favourite in the entire film.
I'd give this 6.5 out of 10. It is enjoyable, with great action and more than a few laughs. I'd watch it again, especially on those rainy afternoons when you just want something fun to watch. This an easy recommendation to any fan of action comedy or comedy horror.
