Last Shift (2014) is an American supernatural, cult-horror movie directed by Anthony DiBlasi. The storyline is very straight forward but many interesting details are hidden in the movie. Here we explained them and discuss theories.
Last Shift Movie Plot Story & Ending Explanation
* * * Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now! * * *
The movie starts with a rookie police officer Jessica Loren. She is on her first duty at the station. But she does not know this is going to be the last.
The police station is shifting to another location and this is the last night before permanently closed.
Loren’s mother pleads her not to go to the station because her father died in the same place. He was a police officer and was killed on duty. Loren avoids her and goes to the station.
She reports to her commanding officer named Cohen and officially takes the duty. Cohen briefs her in detail and left the building after giving her an emergency number in case of emergency.
Now Loren is alone in the building.
She was getting drowsy but woke up with a door-knocking sound. She doesn’t find anyone at the door, but she is surprised to see a homeless man come inside the hallway. She kicks him out of the building because he was peeing in the hallway, which was quite an unusual scene in the movie. But that’s just the beginning.
Read, The House That Jack Built (2018).
Loren gets a series of calls from a hostage girl named Monica. She says she has been hostage by a cult group, and they are going to sacrifice her.
She becomes confused because every emergency call has been rerouted to the new station. Therefore, no call should have come to the emergency line.
She hears noises from the storage room and finds the homeless man. He is randomly throwing things from the self. Loren becomes very angry and locks him in the holding cell.
Suddenly the door locks on its own and she locked inside. The electricity is gone and the lights go out. A distorted bloody face appears in front of her. In the contingency of events, she drops her flashlight. After a while, someone (or something) picks the flashlight up and taunts her face.
The electricity is back and everything is normal. The door is open but the corridor remains empty.
Loren is continuously hearing a humming voice singing, sees ghostly spirits & shadows, and furniture is moving on its own.
Suddenly she sees a lady named Marigold. She tells her a group of cult members committed suicide at the station one year ago to the day. After that Marigold leaves the place.
It’s the one-year anniversary of his death tonight.
A fellow police officer named Ryan Price arrives at the station to check her. She accuses him that a cult group is planning to perform a ritual. Price does not get attention to the point but says to her that he had served Loren’s father. He also informs her that the cult murders her father.
When Price moves around Loren notice a bullet hole back in his head and his brain is rolling from there. In the blink of an eye, Price vanished into the air.
Loren continuously faces supernatural incidents. She also sees a vision of cultists and their mass suicide events. Then she calls Cohen and wants to leave the building. But Cohen threatens her to fire the job. He says that Monica was the last victim of the cult ritual, but that was unfinished. Now after one year that ritual should be complete by sacrificing Loren. A living cult member takes her hostage to sacrifice Loren.
She becomes frightened and tries to leave but the doors are locked. She can’t open them; they don’t break even after several gunshots.
She is attacked by spirits, and she starts gunfire. That time, Cohen enters the place and shoots Loren.
A few moments later, Loren finds out that she shoots the HAZMAT team rather than spirits and kills them all.
In the last scene of the movie, cult members come to Loren and take her with them.
The overall story reminds me of another hell-related horror movie Drag Me to Hell (2009).
Does Jessica Loren Survive at The End of The Movie?
At the end of the movie Last Shift, Jessica Loren is shot by fellow officer Cohen. Because Cohen finds Loren killed several HAZMAT members by gunfire and she was mentally unstable. So, officer Cohen took a quick decision to stop by and shoot her.
What HAZMAT Team Doing in The Movie?
The police station is shifted to a new place, and this is the last night of the building. Here remains some old records and hazardous materials needed to be shifted. For completing that job a HAZMAT team visits the station at night.
Why HAZMAT Team Reach out At Night Time?
They have to move several toxic and dangerous goods which are very poisonous for general people. Since at nighttime roads remains empty compared to daytime. Hence, the HAZMAT team transfers these materials at night for the mass security of the people. In case any accident happens then fewer people will be suffered from the poison.
Read more, The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
What Happened to The Cult Members?
John Paymon, Kitty Paymon, and Dorthea Paymon are the top three members of the cult group in the movie Last Shift (2014). They worship a powerful demon named Paimon and try to summon it on the earth.
According to their ritual, they sacrificed several girls and in the final stage, they need four strong members to finally summon Paimon. But they lacked the last one.
One year before the same night, Loren’s father captured them and took the police station for investigation. But the cult members committed mass suicide inside the custody cell.
After the incident, the police station becomes haunted and lastly, it is shifting to a new place which is confirmed by the emergency controller room.
Who Is Demon Paimon in The Movie Last Shift?
Paimon (or Paymon) is one of the kings of Hell. He is the most obedient king of Lucifer.
Paimon is famous for his powers.
- He has a clear Knowledge of past and future events.
- He had two hundred demons under his rule. So he can use them anytime against any human.
- He can create hallucinations and clear doubts which makes these more real.
In the movie, the director used all of his abilities of Paimon in a good hand. His other minor powers such as his strong voice, keep remaining dead for a long time – also shown in the movie.
We see, that Paimon takes control of John and operates him. As the ritual was unfinished for one year. So, Paimon takes Loren as the last sacrifice.
Who Is the Outside Living Cult Member?
There is no clear answer about the outsider who arranged the whole situation for sacrificing Loren. But it could be Loren’s fellow officer Cohen.
Reasons
- At the reporting time, Cohen is found by Loren performing a weird shaping of his hands and body. When Cohen noticed Loren, he tells her not to see. This could be a part of opening an unfinished ritual.
- When Loren called Cohen for leaving the shift, his first tone was, ‘did anyone murdered?’ His approach looked like he was undoubtedly waiting for any murder news. That is not normal.
- In the last scene, Cohen could arrest Loren but he shoots her. That fulfills the sacrifice.
Last Shift Who Was the Homeless Guy?
The homeless guy in the movie Last Shift is played by J. Larose. But the backstory of this guy is unclear. In an interview the movie director & writer Anthony DiBlasi provides a hint about this mysterious character. He explains that the homeless guy was a father whose girl was taken and sacrified by the cult. He was coming to the police station on that day for help. But he did’t get that.
Alternate Ending Theory
There is an alternative theory that no supernatural event was done at that place. All of these are in Loren’s mind.
As we witness from the beginning her mother tried to stop her to accept the job but she did. This creates pressure in her mind.
Her father has murdered on the same date last year at the same place. This can equally cause psychological pressure.
Her father was murdered by a cult member. She knew it. When she starts her duty, she was alone and some kind of toxic chemical was there.
In a half-moving building, it is absolutely possible that these toxic chemicals leak.
Therefore at night, lonely middle of an abandoned building and with toxicity, she starts hallucinating.
This theory could be possible because the whole movie is seen from the view of Loren.
As a horror movie fan, I don’t like this alternate theory. It is more fun to expect demons and spirits are real in the film Last Shift (2014).
Conclusion
On the first night as a rookie police officer, Loren’s nightmare taunts viewers and makes the movie more enjoyable.
Summary
Original Title Last Shift
Genre Horror/ Supernatural
Runtime 1hr 28min
Original Language English
Directed by Anthony DiBlasi
Written by Anthony DiBlasi, Scott Poiley
Tagline All Hail The King of Hell.
Release date October 06, 2015 (USA)
Origin Country United States
Official Website Last Shift Website
Cast of Characters
| Actor/Actress Name | Characters Name |
|---|---|
| Juliana Harkavy | Jessica Loren |
| Joshua Mikel | John Paymon |
| Hank Stone | Cohen |
| Natalie Victoria | Marigold |
| J. LaRose | Homeless man |
