Transylvania meets California in the first trailer for Netflix’s Day Shift
Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, and Snoop Dogg star in the action-packed comedy about a Los Angeles vampire hunter
Aux News Netflix
Los Angeles: In theory, the backdrop for Selling Sunset would be the last place darkness-loving vampires would seek to settle down. Even her majesty Buffy Summers, the eponymous Buffy The Vampire Slayer, moved away from the California metropolis to fight bigger, badder crime in Sunnydale. But in the trailer for Netflix’s new action-comedy Day Shift, LA is the center of a thriving hidden vampire community—and hunting down the undead is a big business.
Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, and Snoop Dogg star in the new film “from the guys who taught John Wick to kick ass” (director J.J. Perry has done stunts for the John Wick series and co-writer Shay Hatten is a veteran of that franchise, plus series director Chad Stahelski is on board here as a producer.) The film follows Foxx as a blue-collar dad trying to support his daughter, and the only difference between Foxx’s character and your average John Mellencamp hero is that Foxx ekes out a living as a vampire hunter, a gruesome occupation he keeps hidden behind the front of a pool-cleaning business.
Foxx’s choice may be dangerous, but it’s financially sound. Not only are vampires seemingly a dime a dozen in the Sunshine State; they’re absolute cash cows. With hefty bills for his daughter’s braces and tuition on the horizon (and the possibility she and her mother may move to Florida looming large), Foxx sets out to come up with $10,000 in a week by taking out as many bloodsuckers as he can. “You know what I see when I see a vamp? A big ol’ dollar sign,” Foxx encourages a quavering Dave Franco, who dons glasses and a neck brace to embody the meekest of sidekicks (seriously, only halfway into the three-minute trailer Franco’s character wets himself in terror).
The vampires in Day Shift are far from the sensual Southern baddies in True Blood or the brooding porcelain-skinned bummers of Twilight (Foxx’s character makes that joke himself). These vampires have bodies that contort a-la-Abbey-Lee-Kershaw in Old, and they explode into dust once beheaded or staked through the heart. If anything, the Day Shift vamps take most after the ones that populated Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s SoCal: woefully out of touch with modern fashion and unquenchably bloodthirsty, but ultimately just trying to survive each day in LA—with the curtains drawn closed, of course.
Day Shift will be available for streaming on Netflix starting August 12.
28 Comments
Haven’t even seen an episode, but somehow am rooting for the vampires.Unless… the vampires here are a kind of metaphor for the vampiric predators the Hollywood industry is known for. Would a TV show dare to go there?
Edit: Movie, not TV show. Just got the vibe that it was a new series…
They’re a metaphor for gentrification, like Vampires vs. the Bronx.
I love how the big “emotional” crux that’s motivating Foxx’s character is that, if he doesn’t make a lot of money in a short amount of time, his wife and daughter will…move to Florida. Not that they’ll die of some disease or be killed by some big bad guy or something, just that they’ll move away from where he is. I can’t wait to see how the movie explains how him being able to quickly make $10k will somehow miraculously convince his wife that she should stay and keep putting up with whatever bullshit made her decide to leave in the first place.I know I’m sounding like a Negative Nancy over here but honestly the movie does at least look like it will be a fun brainless action/comedy flick. Watching it likely wouldn’t be the worst way to spend an afternoon.
A good father would do everything in his power to keep his loved ones from living in Florida.
And imagine if he gets the money and says “You can stay here now!” and his daughter is heartbroken because their new house would have been really close to Disneyworld.
You know California has a Disney park too, right? And it’s not sweltering.
Can you get an abortion?
Naw I’m a dude
I think these days you can be a birth-giving dude.
Yes, my bad, but not cis dudes, sadly. Kinda want to now to stick it to the man, but sadly it’s not in the cards for me.
This has “and I’ll take up smoking and give that up” energy, and I approve
Can you get an abortion?Not at Disneyland.Knott’s, though, they’ve got you covered.
But it’s not DisneyWORLD, which I know kids go more nuts for!
“Not that they’ll die of some disease or be killed by some big bad guy” – exactly what happens to people who move to Florida.
Found the person who watches porn for the plotline.
I mean, John Wick killed a bunch of mafia folks because they killed his dog.
The humour seems a little obvious. Like it would be immeasurably better if Franco’s character asks Foxx if he wet himself and he answered “Oh absolutely.” followed by a cheeky wink. In fact, all the jokes should be followed by a cheeky wink. “I hate vampires. They suck!” *cheeky wink*
Definitely has the Monster Hunter International vibe to it. Looks good.
Jamie is really wearing the hell out of that “Butcher” shirt in that top photo.
It’s crazy how so much of Southern California is cosplaying Butcher with their aloha shirts.
Just needs him saying the single word “Hughie” in five consecutive accents. Every Karl Urban line delivery is like a world tour.
Vampire hunters: Still a thing in 2022? The answer may surprise you.
It’s always weird when vampire hunters use strictly old timey weapons.It was cool when Wesley finally said “Fuck that” and started using guns in Angel.I get guns may not kill vampires/demons, but they can do lots of damage from a distance to slow them down so you can kill them with your old timey stuff.
I really feel like anyone who was fighting vampires on the regular would invest in ranged anti-vamp weapons immediately. Bullets coated with (or containing) holy water, or with tiny wood crosses implanted into the tips, or the like. I realize it’s less exciting than lots of stupid hand-to-hand combat, but it does start to wear thin after a while. (And we just rewatched all of Angel/Buffy last year, so this was on my mind too.)
Uh, was that Meagan Good? Because even if she’s in it for 5 minutes, I’m there for it.
“You know what I see when I see a vamp? A big ol’ dollar sign,”
There was a novel literally titled “Vampire$”. It was adapted into a movie by John Carpenter.
Looks fun enough. The basic concept of the movie reminds me of the John Carpenter movie, Vampires, based off the novel Vampire$. Basically hunting vampires is a business, vampires are less supernatural, and more animalistic.They even have a scene in the trailer similar to the John Carpenter movie where James Woods say how vampires aren’t sexy. Unlike John Carpenter’s Vampires, Day Shift isn’t taking itself serious which can make it more fun to see.