An endearing mockumentary about ancient vampires struggling with advanced - day infliction , What We Do in the Shadows boasts some of the most lovable repulsion - movie characters in recent memory . And by “ lovable , ” we mean raunchy , rude , violent , and hilarious .
The film has a very simple premise , as the most effectual drollery often do : in 21st century Wellington , New Zealand , a tetrad of vamps share a rickety old home . Their squabbles and shenanigans are captured by a crew of documentary filmmakers , soul who wear crucifixes for protection as they chronicle the months lead up to the heatedly - anticipated supernatural party of the year , the Unholy Masquerade . What could perhaps go wrong ?
First , we fit Viago ( co - writer / music director Taika Waititi ) , who set his alarm for 6:00 ( promethium , duh ) every day ; after he arises , he dutifully goes about the task of come alive up his flatmates . “ I wish to give ear out with other lamia , ” he shares in spokesperson - over . His zany enthusiasm — he jump out of his coffin bed with arm outstretched , grinning with glee at the camera — would make him a go - to focal point in any documentary , material or faux .
There ’s also Vladislav ( Watiti ’s writing and directing partner , Jemaine Clements ) , whose effete amativeness is modeled , comically , on Gary Oldman ’s Dracula ; Deacon ( Jonathan Brugh ) , the “ ill-affected young lamia ” ( he ’s 183 ) who exasperates his roomies by ignoring the household chore wheel ( he has n’t done peach in five years ) ; and the 8,000 - year - sure-enough Petyr ( Ben Fransham ) , who looks exactly like Nosferatu and is straight-out terrifying . Nobody get to Petyr about the job cycle .
All of these introductions happen before the gap credits , so by the fourth dimension the picture gets rolling , we ’re already fond of these misfits , who operate ( and disfunction ) as kind of a Real World : The Undead unit . ( Maybe The Young Ones is actually a better compare . ) At any rate , there ’s more to learn about these fang - handle fellow , who despite having dwell for centuries are still prostrate to social foible , not to cite awkwardness when it issue forth to negotiating their lamia trait with their desires for earthly pleasure .
The jokes in the movie take tremendous reward of this clash , as when the hombre complain about attempt to get ready to go out on the town when one does n’t cast a contemplation … instead have to rely on the stimulus and opinions ( and the casual portrayal sketch ) offered by others . They do n’t always get along ( “ There ’s tenseness in any flatting situation , ” Viago explain , laugh softly nervously as an contention escalates into a floating , hissing pissing competition ) , but these frenemies have known each other for centuries . They have each others ’ backs , and that ’s part of their charm .
shadow could muck around along as only a character study , but it prompt forwards with a couple of time shifts . After Deacon ’s hapless human familiar , Jackie ( Jackie van Beek ) , lures hipster Nick ( Cori Gonzalez - Macuer ) to the house for a “ dinner party , ” we bound ahead after a gory episode of events — for a blue - budget film , Shadows has some impressive special effects — to hear Nick has been turned immortal . Frankly , he is n’t get the well-situated time with it . He does , however , show valuable to his fresh housemates , schooling them in the wonders of the internet ( the guys center over photos of Virgin and … ooh la la , sunrises ) and avail them gain entree into nightclubs that previously would ’ve turned their gusty shirt - drape ego aside .
Later , after Nick causes a household dramatic event so severe he ’s kicked out of the categoric , we jump ahead a few more months , and everything comes to a head at the Unholy Masquerade . There ’s a momentum to this film that ’s novel . We want to see what happen , because we dig these cat ; they ’re complex and unpredictable , not to remark endlessly suspect . Longtime friends Waititi and Clement based the motion picture on a 2005 short they made before they break out with Eagle Vs . Shark and Flight of the Conchords , respectively , and their funniness personal appeal is undeniable . ( Shadows is the character of movie that only improves after repeat viewing , thanks to the layers of riffs hidden in its mostly ad-lib dialog . )
Along with A Girl Walks home plate Alone At Night and Only devotee exit live , What We Do In the Shadows is part of a young wafture of vampire films that prove the corniness of the Twilight series was n’t mighty enough to kill the genre . Like buff , Shadows depicts creatures of the Nox who ’re consecrated to sustain up with art and culture ( though only the wickedly ego - mindful Shadows lets its vampires enthral in making disoriented Boys references ) , and are also well - schooled in the risk of living eternally . They ’ve misplace mortal lovers , experienced extreme ennui , and must confront the wearing annoyance of having to sustain a score for decades .
Most importantly , Shadows is a deeply laughable clowning that work on multiple level . It ’s impertinent enough to experience that merely sin on vampire tropes is n’t enough to sustain a feature , and it delivers clever humor that both incorporates and jab fun at vampire traditional knowledge . It put up revulsion buff some vein - gushingly satisfying burden . Its characters are impudent ( “ We ’re not these mopey one-time creatures , ” as Viago would importune ) and winningly off - kilter . And while it ’s just scary , it delivers deadpan guffaw aplenty . This is the Spinal Tap of lamia film , a burlesque that stand on its own as genuine , memorable entertainment .
ComedyJemaine ClementMockumentaryTaika WaititiVampires
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