Night Patrol – Movie Review (2/5)

NIGHT PATROL is a Vampire Cop Horror movie out in theaters. Starring Justin Long and Jermaine Fowler, I expected to like this one, but I didn’t really enjoy it. The premise is solid, and the plot sounds intriguing, but the execution is lacking. It even runs for way too long, so there is plenty I found myself struggling with. Read our full Night Patrol movie review here!

NIGHT PATROL is a new horror movie that often feels more like an action movie. Mostly because it takes too long to get to its actual vampire cop horror story. On paper, this movie should be right up my alley. Even the cast is full of actors I enjoy watching on my screen. And the cast still works, but the actual movie didn’t work. Not very well, anyway.

If you enjoy horror-action and don’t mind waiting quite long for the story to truly kick into gear, then check it out. It does have quite a lot going for it, but the parts that do work are not enough to make the whole project come together in a good way. The runtime is 1 hour and 44 minutes, which is at least a good 15 minutes too long.

Continue reading our Night Patrol movie review below. Find it in theaters from January 16, 2026.

The bad guys versus the worse guys?

The core story of Night Patrol is about an LAPD officer who discovers a sinister secret within the police force and needs to figure out how to fight back. However, this is grossly oversimplifying the story of this movie, as we actually deal with two cops who each have their own reasons to infiltrate the LAPD.

And yes, both have daddy issues – to continue oversimplifying the plot. One also struggles with his mom, but that’s a separate deal.

In Night Patrol, there really aren’t many good guys. One could argue that only Jermaine Fowler’s character truly wants to be a good guy. Of course, he needs to fight both his own bigoted LAPD colleagues and the street gangs of Los Angeles.

The two main cop characters are portrayed by Justin Long (Coyotes) and Jermaine Fowler (Appofeniacs), who both do what they can within this framework set up by the filmmaker. Apart from these two, I also want to commend RJ Cyler (Power Rangers) and Nicki Micheaux (The Shield) in their roles.

At times, all four actors have to say or do something ridiculous, but they get away with it more than anyone else. Okay, Dermot Mulroney also does a solid job and makes an impact, but he doesn’t have much screen time.

Vampire Cops vs. L.A. Street Gangs

Yeah, the above could have been the title, as the movie ends up focusing on this. And I don’t think I have to tell you that we’re not supposed to root for the vampire cops. Of course, I didn’t either, but that certainly didn’t result in me siding with the street gangs either. We’re dealing with the Bloods and the Crips, who need to work together against the vampire cops going after them.

Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense when you put it like that, right?!

I mean, if it were that simple, then surely those two iconic and infamous gangs would already be working together. Sure, L.A.P.D. aren’t full of vampire cops (as far as I know), but there are plenty of rotten apples on the force, which could and should have resulted in the gangs working together.

If it were that simple.

Working with this premise would have been more efficient if the filmmaker had made this a horror-comedy. Especially as someone suddenly appears to be some sort of Green Lantern character. No, not really, but you’ll definitely know what I refer to when it happens.

Watch Night Patrol in theaters

Night Patrol comes from director Ryan Prows ( Lowlife, V/H/S/94), who wrote the screenplay along with three others. As a rule, having four screenwriters is rarely a good thing. Unless it’s a Marvel or DC project, where many stories and characters are involved. And yes, there are exceptions to this “rule”, but this is not one of them.

Apart from director Ryan Prows, the other three writers are Tim Cairo (Dark Nature), Jake Gibson, and Shaye Ogbonna (God’s Country, The Penguin). All three also wrote on his Lowlife movie, but that one also had Maxwell Michael Towson writing. I can’t say whether he made all the difference then, or the problem is with the execution now.

However, I am very much leaning towards the execution being the problem. I honestly think Ryan Prows got a little carried away. He didn’t “kill his darlings”, and as a result, the first part is too slow, while the actors aren’t allowed to shine as much as they could in the final act.

The movie world premiered at Fantastic Fest 2025 and will be out on Shudder later in 2026. I can imagine it would be great fun to watch this in a packed theater. It may make the experience better and more fun. However, any movie should also be able to hold up to being watched on a smaller screen with no huge audience to set the tone. This one had so much promise, but didn’t deliver.

NIGHT PATROL is out in theaters from January 16, 2026.

Details

Director: Ryan Prows
Writers: Ryan Prows, Shaye Ogbonna, Tim Cairo, Jake Gibson 
Cast: Jermaine Fowler, Justin Long, RJ Cyler, Freddie Gibbs, CM Punk, YG, Flying Lotus, Dermot Mulroney, Jon Oswald, and Nicki Micheaux