Back to trending
Night Shift

Night Shift

Comedy · 1982

A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious neophyte partner who dreams of the "one great idea" for success. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbor complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night.

Movie details

Night Shift

“Ever since two enterprising young men turned the City Morgue into a swinging business, people have been dying to get in.”

1982 Comedy 1h 46m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious neophyte partner who dreams of the "one great idea" for success. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbor complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Night Shift?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Babes

Babes

Comedy · 2024

After getting pregnant from a one-night stand, a single woman leans on her married best friend and mother of two to guide her through gestation and beyond.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Comedy · 2013

86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.

Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer

Comedy · 2001

It's the last day of Camp Firewood's season, but there's still time for the big talent show, a little romance… and for everyone to be wiped out by the piece of NASA's Skylab that's hurtling toward Earth.

Fading Gigolo

Fading Gigolo

Comedy · 2013

Fioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his "manager", the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money.

Four Rooms

Four Rooms

Comedy · 1995

It's Ted the Bellhop's first night on the job...and the hotel's very unusual guests are about to place him in some outrageous predicaments. It seems that this evening's room service is serving up one unbelievable happening after another.

How High

How High

Comedy · 2001

Jamal and Silas, two ordinary guys who smoke something magical, pass their college entrance exams with flying colors and end up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.

Analyze That

Analyze That

Comedy · 2002

The mafia's Paul Vitti is back in prison and will need some serious counseling when he gets out. Naturally, he returns to his analyst Dr. Ben Sobel for help and finds that Sobel needs some serious help himself as he has inherited the family practice, as well as an excess stock of stress.

One Night at McCool's

One Night at McCool's

Comedy · 2001

On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...

Pink Flamingos

Pink Flamingos

Comedy · 1972

Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".

The Ambulance

The Ambulance

Action · 1990

One minute Josh Baker is meeting the woman of his dreams. The next, he's watching her whisked away by a mysterious ambulance that never arrives at the local hospital. Doubted by the police, Josh is forced to carry on a one-man crusade that leads to a discovery more frightening than his worst fears.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ron Howard

Written by

Lowell Ganz · Babaloo Mandel

Henry Winkler

Henry Winkler

Chuck Lumley

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Bill Blazejowski

Shelley Long

Shelley Long

Belinda Keaton

Gina Hecht

Gina Hecht

Charlotte Koogle

Pat Corley

Pat Corley

Edward Koogle

Bobby Di Cicco

Bobby Di Cicco

Leonard

Nita Talbot

Nita Talbot

Vivian

Court is in session

Put Night Shift on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Big-Idea Head

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.