Night Patrol Director Explains How Their Vampire Police Film Is Both Simple Fun & Thematically Deep

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Horror movie fans can now anticipate the release of *Night Patrol*, a new vampire thriller. The film stars Justin Long and Jermaine Fowler, and centers around an LA police officer who discovers a hidden, dangerous secret within his own task force—one that threatens the people living in nearby housing projects.

At Fantastic Fest 2025, Night Patrol director Ryan Prows and lead actor RJ Cyler spoke with TopMob about their new film. They discussed the challenges of creating a police story in the current climate and their goal of making a movie that’s both straightforward and thought-provoking.

Cyler explained that the movie wasn’t meant to be complex, saying they ‘just made a fun, over-the-top vampire movie’.

Prows explained that the movie offers both a deeper, thematic experience for those who look for it, and a simple, enjoyable thrill ride for everyone else.

I just finished watching the interview, and there’s even more to read below! I’m so excited for Shudder’s *Night Patrol* to hit theaters on January 16, 2026. And at Fantastic Fest this year, Shudder showed *Mother of Flies*, which sounds really interesting – it’s about a woman searching for a cure in some pretty unusual places.

On Telling a Police-Focused Narrative In 2025, With a Vampire Twist

“The Goal For Me Is to Make Something That You Can Kind of Revisit and Peel Back.”

  • TopMob: “I don’t think it’s a controversial take, obviously, to say that a narrative focused on cops in today’s climate is a hard sell for some. So, for this film, and you guys can both answer this, how do you feel like it’ll click with audiences despite that?”

RJ Cyler believes the movie’s appeal lies in its simple fun. It’s not meant to be overly complex or serious. Thankfully, the director didn’t try to portray the police negatively – he just wanted to make an entertaining film, which keeps it feeling fresh. The movie features cops as genuinely likeable and cool characters. Ultimately, it’s a movie you can enjoy without overthinking it. They really just set out to create a fun vampire movie, and they succeeded.

Ryan Prows believes the appeal of vampire movies, and horror in general, is creating a thrilling experience. While the films can explore deeper themes – and many do reflect current events – they also offer simple, enjoyable entertainment. From the beginning, the goal with this film was to be both thrilling and fun, providing both surface-level excitement and meaningful commentary.

  • TopMob: “Digging a little deeper, I think the way the movie utilizes the horror genre and vampires in such an awesome way to comment on these kind of serious, real-life issues. Stuff like corruption and generational trauma. Can you talk about bringing those heavy themes to audiences through the lens of fun vampire horror? Being like, there is stuff to look deeper if you want to, or you can just have a fun vampire.”

My aim is to create work with depth and layers that people can return to and discover new things over time. That’s part of what makes horror and genre films so enjoyable – they often explore deeper themes. There are probably things embedded in the work that even I, as the creator, didn’t fully realize, and I look forward to seeing what insightful critics discover and discuss.

We chose to make a horror movie because those films often explore meaningful themes and address deeper issues. It’s about balancing those important ideas with fun and entertainment – like hiding medicine in sugar.

The Tricky Morality of Night Patrol’s Characters

Moral Ambiguity Is Central to This Vampire Romp

  • TopMob: “The morality of these characters was so interesting. I’ll start with you first, Ryan. So many of these characters are very ambiguous in their moral values. They’re not one thing. One of the characters basically starts off doing something [heinous], but then the movie’s still like, but wait a second, he has potentially this moral goal. What is your approach in anchoring these characters, in creating the stories, and balancing how you want audiences to connect with them?”

Ryan Prows explained that their main idea was to create a film featuring heroes from a community rarely represented in movies. These are people who aren’t typically portrayed as the main characters. He added that exploring the complexities and moral gray areas of these characters – brought to life by actors RJ Cyler, Jermaine Fowler, and Justin Long – was key to making the story feel real and human.

What I love about filmmaking and telling stories is seeing characters transform – going from doing terrible things to making you laugh, because that’s just like real life.

TopMob asked RJ how he’s approaching playing a character who isn’t a good person, but is still the main character. They wanted to know how RJ plans to make the character someone the audience can connect with, while still respecting the original vision of the writer, Ryan, and not trying to make him a hero.

You know, watching that actor, I really felt like he captured something true about people. It made me think we all have this inner strength, this ‘warrior’ side, but thankfully we don’t have to show it all the time. Most of us don’t face huge conflicts daily, but that potential is *always* there, simmering beneath the surface. It’s just… a lot of us are a little afraid of that power within us, I think.

Sometimes I see similarities between myself and Wozzie – he reminds me of RJ. We’re not perfect, but we genuinely want the best in every situation. Wozzie always wanted something better, and it took him a while to find his path. He needed to let go of his pride and fears, and he really benefited from listening to his mother’s advice. Even that simple lesson – nurturing his younger self – is important. He’s like a little brother you always hope will mature, but who always stays young at heart.

I’ve noticed something similar, and RJ, as well as Justin Long, really showcase this. It’s fascinating to see characters grapple with difficult or terrible situations, yet still remain relatable and captivating. They manage to draw you in and take you on a powerful emotional journey – it’s truly impressive.

The full interview can be seen below:

Justin Long wasn’t just in *Night Patrol* at Fantastic Fest 2025 – he also faced off against deadly coyotes!

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2025-10-07 23:30