Warning: Contains spoilers for Day Shift.
Other than compelling action sequences, funny one-liners, and intriguing vampire mythology, Day Shift features a myriad of vampire movie references and easter eggs. Day Shift and its vampire lore is not a far cry from the common representation of the bloodthirsty creatures in classic literature and popular culture. However, what makes its vampire horror comedy special for the genre is its exhilarating fight scenes, hilariously entertaining performances from Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Snoop Dogg, Scott Adkins, and Steve Howey.
Day Shift's story revolves around Bud, who disguises himself as a pool boy to hunt vampires and sell their fangs for a daily wage. The stakes of his blue-collar vampire-killing endeavors go higher when he kills an ancient vampire's daughter. To ensure his family's safety and end the ancient vampire's world domination plan, Bud goes on a warpath against LA's bloodsucking denizens. Along the way, new and old vampire-hunting allies like Snoop Dogg's Big John, Dave Franco's Seth, and Scott Adkins and Steve Howey's Nazarians join forces with him.
In all of its one-on-one combats and gun-slinging, Day Shift features subtle references, from Scott Adkins Russian accent in Undisputed, to one of Albert Einstein's famous quotes, and even to Jamie Foxx's brand Brown Sugar Bourbon. Along with these, Day Shift is also jampacked with several nods and easter eggs that point towards renowned Hollywood vampire movies. Here is a detailed breakdown of all the vampire movies that Day Shift references to in its two-hour runtime.
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Abraham Lincoln Was A Real Vampire Hunter In Day Shift's Universe
In a scene where Bud (played by Spider-Man: No Way Home's Jamie Foxx) and Big John enter the vampire Hunter's Union, a massive portrait of Abraham Lincoln hangs right behind them. This is a nod to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, in which the 16th President of the United States is depicted as a badass vampire slayer. On the wall across the portrait, Frederick Douglass' picture can be spotted, which suggests that along with Abraham Lincoln, the renowned Frederick Douglass was also a vampire hunter in Day Shift's universe.
Day Shift's Big John Honors The Lost Boys' Grandpa
Towards Day Shift's closing moments, Snoop Dogg single-handedly dukes it out with an army of vampires and seemingly sacrifices his life to save the day. However, he later climbs out of a sewer, lights a cigar, and nonchalantly chimes, "That's what I love about LA: all the damn vampires." Snoop Dogg's climactic quote parallels The Lost Boys' final moment, where Barnard Hughie's Grandpa impales a vampire, casually draws a drink from a refrigerator, and then says "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach: all the damn vampires." Another clear callback to The Lost Boys appears in Day Shift at the 1:25 mark, where The Lost Boys is among the many movies scheduled to be played at the Chatsworth Mall's theater.
History Repeats Itself For Fright Night's Dave Franco
Day Shift is not the first movie where Dave Franco turns into a vampire before the credits start rolling. Almost a decade before Day Shift's release, Dave Franco starred in another vampire horror comedy, Fright Night, in which his character is initially a human but turns into a vampire towards the end. While this could be a mere coincidence, it is hard to ignore that Day Shift and the Fright Night remake share more than one narrative similarity. For instance, just like Day Shift, Fright Night's primary antagonist is an ancient vampire.
Brad Pitt... And Some Blood Raves.
Blade is infamously known for opening with a terrifying blood rave that sets the dark tone for the rest of the movie. Given the popularity of this scene, it is not surprising that it finds its way into Day Shift's many references. After Bud and Seth raid a house full of vampires with the Nazarians, Seth feels awful about being so brutal towards the creatures and wonders how they, too, were once humans. Bud, on the other hand, only perceives them as his daily paychecks and dismisses Seth's concerns by claiming, "[vampires] ain't Brad Pitt in a leather jacket and some blood raves."
By doing so, he not only draws a direct callback to Blade's iconic blood rave but also takes a dig at Brad Pitt's corny vampire character, Louis, in Interview with the Vampire. From a thematic standpoint, though, Day Shift is far cry from Blade and Interview with the Vampire. As Jamie Foxx pointed out (via Collider), Day Shift is more along the lines of Training Day because Bud ends up stealing money (fangs in this case) from the wrong people just like Denzel Washington's character does in Training Day, and consequently, lands himself in trouble.
Bud Has A Soft Spot For The Twilight Saga
While preaching about the real vampires in their universe and their contrasting portrayal in pop culture, Day Shift's Bud also mentions "Eclipse, New Moon, and Breaking Dawn Part One." Realizing that Bud has not seen The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, Seth tries to intrigue him by talking about how Bella gives birth to a baby in Twilight's final chapter. For a moment, Bud almost breaks his tough guy facade and curiously asks him "She had the baby?" However, he snaps back to his stoic demeanor soon after and lies about his daughter keeping him updated about the movies. Similar to all the other vampire movie references in Day Shift, this one has been cleverly delivered in such a way that it comes off as a narrative device that reveals a lot about Jamie Foxx's character.
Nosferatu's Legend Lives On
In traditional vampire lore, vampires are not allergic to the sun. Instead, their vampire abilities are either weaker when exposed to sunlight or they walk around as normal humans during the day and only turn into vampires at night. German film Nosferatu was the first to bring a twist to this trope by depicting that vampires are allergic to the sun. Day Shift reinstates Nosferatu's sunlight trope in its universe, but also introduces a sunscreen that allows vampires to survive in sunlight for 10 to 15 minutes.
Although Day Shift's representation of vampires draws its inspiration from many other vampire clichés, it spins some of its own comical yarn into them. For instance, instead of using wooden stakes to kill vampires, Jamie Foxx's Bud sticks to using "mpingo wood, the strongest African hardwood." Vampires are also classified into five distinctive categories: Juvenile, Spider, Eastern, Southern, and Uber. These vampire types are not explored to their full potential in Day Shift but effectively set the stage for Day Shift 2.