Vampires have been chewing scenery and victims through the horror genre for what seems like forever, and making a new film with a twist is a hard thing to resist. Full marks to the creatives behind the camera in Night Patrol for trying something different in an area of horror that has quite simply been done to death. However, the film suffers from rough pacing and messy storytelling, making the final product less than it could have been.
The film starts with a bang, quite literally, when we witness an LAPD officer, Hawkins (Justin Long), commit a brutal crime in order to show he’s capable of joining the notorious Night Patrol. Hawkins already seems over his head with this group, but then he finds out they are all vampires, realizing this is likely a bad life choice.
It becomes Night Patrol versus gang members. This makes it tough to tell who the good guys are and who the bad guys are as the film marches towards a showdown in the final act.
Not only do we have a vicious gang of vampire cops, led by CM Punk, but we’ve got drama between gangs as well. Gang member Wazi (RJ Cyler), whose girlfriend is the sister of a rival gang member (Freddie Gibbs), causes all kinds of tension. Meanwhile, the cops are not without drama as Hawkins’ partner (Jermaine Fowler) is also Wazi’s brother.
Add to that Fowler being jealous of not getting a spot in Night Patrol, and you’ve got a lot of potential for chaos that is just waiting to burst. Let’s not forget Wazi’s mother (Nicki Micheaux), who is intent on using her ancestor’s Zulu magic to protect the community from the vampire-fueled Night Patrol.
Director Ryan Prows has the unenviable task of making this all come together into some sort of coherent film. To his credit, he does a decent job, setting the stage with a strong opening and laying out the characters and story in a fun and drama-fueled way. Vampire cops going up against gang members aren’t enough, however. With three writers credited, it is apparent that the film suffers from trying to keep all the storylines together and functional. In the last half, things start to fall apart quickly.
There are too many characters and too much is happening, including uneven drama and violence. While the film started off well, it quickly fell into the trap of pacing issues and messy storylines, creating a confusing jumble of events that makes no sense. The vampire’s strengths and weaknesses tend to change from time to time, from ridiculously overpowered to easily overpowered.
It also takes quite some time to get into the vampire part of the story. This is odd for a film that has the clever tagline, “Defang the police,” and fangs included in the marketing. It all makes for a rather bumpy ride to the end credits.
Long and company seem happy to dive into these roles, though, camping it up with the best of them and taking on the vampire-themed police film with abandon. There is some good blood and carnage along the way to help them. Still, the film’s heavy-handed approach to its messages sometimes weighs down the fun and leaves the viewer once again stuck in this weird no-man’s land, making you wonder just what kind of movie you are actually watching.
While Night Patrol struggles with story, identity, and pacing, there is some fun and gore to be had here. It takes some courage to take on the vampire mythology, let alone put it in a different setting, as witnessed here. The creatives should at least be proud that the final product was not a cookie-cutter, disposable effort, but instead a flawed, at times fun, attempt to put a badge on our favorite fanged undead and see what happens.
