‘Night Patrol’ Director on Including Social Commentary in a Vampire Cop Movie, and the Joy of Rappers Acting

In “Night Patrol,” now in theaters via RLJE Films and Shudder, two cops (Jermaine Fowler and Justin Long) work to protect the Los Angeles streets. But when Long’s officer is inducted into an all-white vampire cop squad, violence escalates in wild ways.

Ryan Prows, who directed the film and wrote it with Shaye Ogbonna, Tim Cairo and Jake Gibson, blends comedy, drama and real-life anxieties into this horror-action movie. Prows spoke with Variety about how modern concerns about race and policing ended up in a fantastical film.

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“How do you talk about something very current and real and scary?” he said. “If you’re making a horror film, but it’s what really scares you, you don’t want a soapbox. That’s the cool thing about genre and horror: You can still couch that in having fun and having the release valves in there. Hopefully, it’s a fun ride and you care about the characters and the tension is there, but afterwards you can grab a coffee and talk about what the movie meant or deeper stuff. But I make sure it’s still character first, then scenario, and obviously we’ve built this bigger point that we want to talk about, but not poke you in the eye with it.”

For a movie that throws a lot of complex ideas at audiences, Prows knew he needed a cast willing to push themselves and work in the film’s dark vibe. To achieve this, he mashed up a group of unique actors (including Long, Fowler, CM Punk and Dermot Mulroney) and musicians (like Freddie Gibbs, YG and Flying Lotus).

“You have these colliding forces from all these different worlds,” Prows says. “The strength of the film is that they’re coming from opposite ends. When we were casting and building out the film, the big thing to me was, ‘Are you committed?’ Everyone was game to show up and ready to throw in. Those are the folks you want to surround yourself with and bring into the film.”

Ultimately, all of these game artists were able to create a genre-shifting movie that aims to entertain and provoke discussion. Yet Prows says finding the right tone and tightroping genres was an exercise in trial and error.

“We’re writing the script, and it’s like, ‘Okay, we’re forcing the joke here a little too much,’ or maybe, ‘This feels a little too dry,’ or, ‘We’re kind of missing the mark here,'” he says. “But there’s not a big wide berth between the most heinous stuff in your life and when you’re laughing at someone who tripped and split their pants or whatever goofy shit. To me, that’s life.

“I think it also helps when you have no clue where the movie’s heading,” Prows continues. “As a filmgoer, I’m always excited about the ‘Wow, that did not end where I thought that was going to!'”

Watch the “Night Patrol” trailer below.