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I decided to lump “Last Shift” and “Malum” together in one post because they’re more or less the same movie. Both are directed and co-written by Anthony DiBlasi (“Dread,” “Extremity”) and follow the same storyline.

“Last Shift” (2014)
The first time I watched “Last Shift” was during one of many lonely days manning an empty storefront for a boss who was too busy being a dirtbag to give a shit about being a mentor. I’d made it a habit of watching anything and everything I could find (the weirder the better – “bad movie Tuesdays” were a thing) during the considerable amount of downtime. Casually scrolling whatever service it happened to be streaming from at the time, I decided to finally give it a shot, despite the corny looking title card. The movie hooked me pretty quickly and it’s since become one of my go to “actually kinda spooks me” movies. The emphasis put on sound design and how that helps put the viewer on edge makes it especially fun to watch in a creaky storefront or home, preferably at night (just not after eating an edible, as I learned during one viewing).

I don’t entirely understand why DiBlasi felt the need to essentially remake “Last Shift” less than a decade after its release, but I’m not the one making movies, I’m the one watching them. I hope he accomplished what he set out to, but I’m one of those infuriating people who will always recommend the original over the remake. I’ll give a brief (hahaha – we like to have fun here) rundown of each movie and then maybe talk about them together? We’re breaking new ground. This is my blog and I’ll do what I want.

“Last Shift” follows Jessica Loren (Juliana Harkavy), a rookie cop rolling up to her first night on the job. Jessica is following in her (dead) father’s footsteps by entering a career in law enforcement, much to the understandable chagrin of her mother. For some reason the police department finds it necessary to have someone watch the old police station even though all calls have been routed to the shiny new police station and the brand new cop gets to hang out BY HERSELF a year after her father was KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY while arresting CULT MEMBERS. That’s right! Officer Loren, Sr. perished while bringing in the Manson-esque John Michael Paymon and three of his hangers-on. Paymon and company hang themselves in their jail cell (aww cute they let them share) and ?curse? The cops? Unclear. What is clear is that this jail is haunted as a motherfucker.

Anyway, the sergeant Loren encounters explains that she gets to hang out by herself for however many hours because they’re waiting on a cleaning crew to remove a bunch of biohazardous waste from the station (the bathroom looks like a flock of geese with diarrhea exploded inside) during an extremely nebulous window of time. Shortly after her sergeant leaves, things start to get weird for Loren (nuh uh). A sobbing woman, Monica, calls the station from a pig farm in fear for her life; we later find out this is a *ghost call* from one of the victims of Paymon’s cult. A man pees on the floor. A sex worker pops in for a spell and recalls her time in the cell next to the wannabe Manson family. All of this is backed by a soundtrack of clanging pipes and spooky abandoned building noises that sound EERILY SIMILAR to a dickhead cat doing parkour around an empty house while SOMEONE is trying to watch “Last Shift” to write a post for their blog. Loren, bored as hell, explores the station. She finds her father’s old locker with an old photo of both of them still in it; This woman is surrounded by red flags but is determined to prove herself. Spooky shit continues to happen, and now the cleaning crew isn’t set to show up until 4am! Every alarm bell is ringing. Loren starts hallucinating (or does she?) cult members messing with her and creepy singing, but will! Not! Quit! For some misguided reason! Our perception of what is real and what is not warps right along with Loren’s until it doesn’t as the movie reaches its conclusion.

There’s a genuinely creepy vibe to this movie, I think it benefits from the grimy, lower budget-ness of it all, including what I very much want to be a nod to “Pulse,” a rad Japanese horror film from 2001 (which I’m sure will get a review at some point). The pacing keeps one engaged and there’s some legitimately disturbing imagery and “oh shit” moments throughout, even after multiple viewings. “Last Shift” is one of my favorites, and it gets a 5/5.
  
“Malum” (2023)
Did you read the above synopsis? Because it’s basically the same, but with new faces. In “Malum” the Paymon cult is now the Malum Flock; they sing the same creepy song of the Low God and live on a farm with pigs. Officer Loren (Jessica Sula)’s deceased cop father is said to have gone crazy and killed a couple of coworkers and then himself in “Malum” so she is met with less kindness from her superiors. More characters are introduced or given more of a backstory and there are some neat creature effects (although I can’t unsee Victoria Elizabeth Black’s cenobite look from season two of the horror-themed drag competition “Dragula” – WHICH I REALIZED CAME OUT BEFORE “MALUM” AND AM NOW CONVINCED WAS A DIRECT INFLUENCE /tinfoil). There are more jump scares and the music and sound isn’t as haunting, but there IS a twist in “Malum” that wasn’t in “Last Shift.”

“Malum” gets a 3.5/5. It probably would have gotten a higher rating had I never watched “Last Shift.”

Obviously I enjoyed both movies, and there were a few happenings in both “Last Shift” and “Malum” that I wanted to show some extra appreciation for. Officer Loren is often seen trying to self-soothe because holy shit why wouldn’t she be, and recites what could be a policeman’s oath like others would a prayer. It’s clear she idolizes her father, and defends his name against those who have nasty things to say (although I’m pretty sure I’d trash talk someone who killed some of my friends/coworkers buuuuut). Isn’t hero worship just kind of… cult lite? I’m probably way off, but again, my blog. There are also scenes in both movies where a dropped flashlight is picked up by a *mysterious* entity which is better executed in “Last Shift” but still effective in “Malum.” I also have to wonder if (the much wider released/well known) “Hereditary” (2018) had any influence in changing John Michael Paymon to John Michael Malum, “Hereditary” having brought Paimon (a king of hell, for the uninitiated) into the zeitgeist.

“Flock of the Low God” is a VR video game version of “Malum” and is available on Steam. Sadly I don’t have a VR setup but would totally give the game a go if I did. If you’ve played it let me know what you think!

As always, I recommend checking https://www.doesthedogdie.com/ for any triggers or things you don’t want to see before starting *any* horror movie.

All views expressed are my own, you don’t have to agree with them! I’m open to respectful discourse.

Feel free to leave any movie recommendations or anything you’d like to read a review of!