As with food, you’ll find me gluttonously babbling about a lot of movie genres. I mean, is there even a genre that’s not on my favorites’ list? That said, vampire and zombie movies are always on top of my priorities. Always. I remember watching Wesley Snipes exterminate blood-sucking vampires in and as “Blade” in VCR tape in the late 1990s. I started watching the “Underworld” film series in 2003 on DVD and then the later editions in the digital space. But why am I telling you this? Because I think Netflix’s latest vampire movie “Day Shift” also has the possibility of becoming a franchise. Also, if I didn’t read them wrong, there are plenty of little hints and signs that the film—directed by debutante J.J Perry—will at least have a sequel.

Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx) is a pool cleaner with a dark secret. He is actually a freelance vampire slayer (remember Van Helsing?) who hunts down vampires and sells their fangs for dollars. But the money is meager.

To save his estranged wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good) from taking away his daughter to Florida, Bud has to come up with $5000 for her tuition in a week. And how does he plan to get the money? By joining the vampire hunting union which will ensure he gets the location of vampires and also better pay. Killing vampires might be an easy task for Bud, but getting into the union is not. The union boss Ralph Seeger (Eric Lange) detests Bud, who was previously kicked out for his reckless behavior. (This here can become a prequel!) Ralph, however, cannot refuse Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg), the union’s OG vampire slayer and Bud’s close friend. So to make Bud’s re-entry into the union more complicated, Ralph assigns him a day shift only roster and pairs him up with rookie union rep Seth (Dave Franco) who is to keep an eye on him. Hooked yet? You will be because all this happens fast, with many action sequences in between. While the vampire movies I mentioned earlier were on the darker side, Jamie Foxx brings his wit and humor into the central character in this one. The film is categorized as action comedy and rightly so. The setting, the characters and the vampires all converge hilariously, sometimes borderlining on spoof. As Day Shift is a modern vampire movie about present-day vampires, their characterization is a bit different from what we’re used to seeing. The vampires are not royal or suave, unlike in the vampire classics, or cold and post-apocalyptic, unlike the movies in the 1990s and 2000s. The vampires in Day Shift are like us, normal and boring. They could be your middle-class housewives or young teenagers gaming all day. That is until they are provoked. Once their facade is revealed, the vampires take on a zombie-life appearance, but much quicker than the walkies. They are fast, smart, strong and lethal. While this is a vampire movie, the bloodsuckers do not get to hog the limelight here. They lack a strong villain and are not as threatening as they’re supposed to be. The film also classifies the vampires into different types and talks about this powerful leader who rules their world. This gives the audience a premonition of a sequel. In the first installment, however, the vampires are underwhelming. All that is compensated by Foxx’s action stunts and Lange’s comic timings. But without Snoop Dogg’s presence, the film would have been below average. The first time Dogg appeared on screen as John Elliot, I was completely unconvinced about his character as a legendary vampire killer. The gansta rapper, music mogul and evangelist of smoking pot could never be an action star in my books. Snoop is not fast, Snoop is not lethal. But in Day Break, the part-time actor does a full time job of looking badass, talking badass and killing vampires left, right and center without breaking a sweat. Snoop’s inclusion makes this fun film ever more delightful. Who should watch it? Day Break is a fun movie. But it is not something that’ll go epical and might not even go down well with vampire movie purists, if there are any. For the rest, I am sure anyone who likes action comedy flicks will enjoy it. Rating: 3 Genre: Action/comedy Director: J.J Perry Actors: Jamie Foxx, Meagan Good, Snoop Dogg Run time: 1hr 53mins