Heard about that time I ended up in a horror movie?
Indie Video Game to Film Adaptation
This past weekend I attended a premiere for the new Puppet Combo, Night Shift film. If you're like me and haven't played indie horror video games from the 2010s, then I'll give you a bit more context: Night Shift was a video game where the player is a gas station cashier, named Debra, working the night shift. The game mostly consists her doing menial tasks assigned to her in a note from her manager, but takes a turn when some suspicious characters show up and is attacked in the store. Official announcement of the adaptation was made on March 16, 2025, with over 18k likes on Twitter/X alone.
Night Shift video game, game capture
Hometown Connection
The movie adaptation was actually filmed outside my hometown, in Ozark, Alabama. (I'm from Ashford, but typically I would say Dothan for people who might be more familiar with the peanut capital of the world) I was asked to play the role of a customer.
I had recently been on set with Sean Watson (playing the role of the Butcher) for the movie Weapons outside Atlanta and he gave my contact to the casting director when they had someone else bail out of the role originally.
That's show biz baby.
Last Moment Hail Mary
So here I come in, to save the day. I was literally out running when I got the call,
"Hey can you be here by 7:00pm?" Me: gasping for air, "sure".
Of course at the time I had no idea what I was getting into or anything about the film.
Here's the official trailer for the film, (which I am not in) I just vaguely resemble the lead actress.
Reviews and Reactions
I found a few reviews other people left of the film after attending one of the 30+ premieres across the US and Canada (23 of which were sold out) one of which wrote:
“Clerks meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre”
This quote is pretty amazing in my opinion. I've never seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre but I know enough to get the correlation.
Reflections from Set
I enjoyed being on set, everyone made it work with what we had and overall they made it all come together nicely. I loved getting to see how everyone's role fit together in the film. Of course I'm sure if I had actually played the game that it would be a huge dose of nostalgia and would love to see the characters brought to life. The movie poster is on point for the genre and the caption
Minimum Wage. Maximum Terror.
Which sums up the campy and cult following well.
When's the Release??
That's the big question, right? Currently, the crew is still making edits to the film and I'm under the impression it will be on the film festival circuit soon for about the next year and might have a release date around next Halloween (2026), but obviously that can change. I'll be sure to provide updates as I receive them. I know many of my friends and family weren't able to attend any of the premieres so I'll be on the lookout so that more people will get the opportunity to check it out as soon as we get the chance.
Have you played Puppet Combo's Night Shift video game or heard of it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts, if not maybe just grab coffee sometime and talk about what you’re working on next.
Talk soon,
Tabs
