Ryan Prows’ “Night Patrol” is a hybrid of violent gang drama and horror film.
I wish I could tell you it works. Considering how Universal Pictures and Shudder collaborated on this one, it’s less an event genre film than an also-ran that fails to fully engage either genre it serves.
An L.A. cop (Jermaine Fowler) is eager to join a late-night crime-fighting task force called “the night patrol.” He has a colleague (Justin Long) who warns him that the unit is a rough one, though they both submit to the group’s corrupt demands and add to the trouble on the streets.
Later, we learn that the “night patrol” isn’t just full of crooked, dangerous cops but that there’s also something supernaturally evil about them.
It’s been fun to watch Long finally settle into a genre that works for him. I liked his leading turn in “Jeepers Creepers” (2001), was happy to see him give such a forceful performance in “Barbarian” (2022) and make a noted cameo in last year’s “Weapons.”
Clearly, he needs to avoid rom coms and embrace how good a fit he is in darker films.
Long’s performance here is excellent – he’s surprisingly convincing and commanding as a corrupt cop. I wish the rest of the film was worth the trouble Long invested in the role.
“Night Patrol” has one of those openers that suggests big things are coming, but it takes an hour before the horror elements finally come to the surface. Not only is it too long a setup, but the film lays an egg during its busy, overdone finale.
I won’t give it away, but the film is very late to the specific horror movie trope and crossover it thinks it invented. Another big problem? “Night Patrol” is heavy-handed, deadly serious, and offers no comic relief.
It’s highly profane, ugly and, once it finally embraces its pulpy intentions, extremely silly.
BLEEDING COOL INTERVIEW: Writer-director Ryan Prows (Lowlife) spoke to us about his latest supernatural vampire crime drama in RLJE/Shudder’s Night Patrol. #NightPatrol
— Bleeding Cool (@bleedingcool) January 18, 2026
Dermot Mulroney is strong in a supporting turn, and it’s been skillfully directed by Ryan Prows. The film still manages to overdeliver but also comes up way short. I kept waiting for it to finally run out of gas and wrap things up, but the story, like a stubborn undead creature, just refuses to stay dead.
When Rusty Cundieff’s “Tales from the Hood” (1995) covered much of the same material, he did it with flair and humor, knowing when to draw the line with overkill. I’m not saying that film is subtle either, but Cundieff leaned harder into Rod Serling-style social commentary, a smart move.
Prows insists on making this a supernatural “Training Day” (2001) but stumbles badly in the third act.
I like how the studio has promoted the film, as the posters and tag line (“Defang the Police”) are eye catching. Sitting through the entire film, however, is no fun whatsoever.
Also, I cannot think of a film where the characters utter the title more frequently than this one. If I had a dollar for every time someone on screen says, “night patrol,” I’d have enough money to see this at least four more times.
One Star
