Have you ever wondered how vampires get ready for a big night on the town when they can’t see themselves in the mirror? How they settle fights when they can morph into bats and flee the scene? How they keep in touch with their old familiars overseas? And how they decide exactly who does the cleaning? If you have then wonder no more – the absolutely divine horror mockumentary from Kiwi master-mirth-makers Taika Waititi (“Boy”) and Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords”) will tell you all you ever wanted to know, and more besides.
Vampires Viago (Waititi), Vladislav (Clement), Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) and Nosferatu-alike Petyr (Ben Fransham) are bunking up together in a dreary house-share in a Wellington suburb. The wallpaper is peeling, there are bloodstains on the sofa and the washing up hasn’t been done in five years. But there’s good news – the vampires’ familiars ensure a regular troop of victims to the house, and there’s a big supernatural ball to look forward to at the end of the year, bringing together the crème-de-la-crème of Wellington’s undead. Following them around as they bicker, complain, reminisce, murder and make new friends are a film crew who capture all the mundane, gory details.
The element most lacking in horror comedies is affection – affection for the genre and affection for the characters. The “Scary Movie” films, for example, lay on the gags thick and fast, but it’s empty overkill without strong characters, and they fall flat. The best examples, such as “Young Frankenstein” and “Shaun of the Dead”, show genuine passion and understanding for the genres they’re poking fun at, and “What We Do in the Shadows” squarely sits in the same camp as those comic behemoths, giving equal care to the laughs and to the drawing of its (faintly ridiculous) characters. We’re laughing, but we’re never laughing with disdain.
Using all your favourite horror movie tropes – hypnotism, crucifixes, turnings, antagonism to werewolves (a hilarious, and welcome, appearance from FotC’s Murray), non-reflectiveness, bats and unworldly beasts – the film puts witty, real-world spins on the romantic, lurid visions in classics such as “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, or even in nonsense like “Twilight”. The biggest belly-laughs come from seeing well-trodden folklore translated to grim suburbia, utilised with deadpan grace by the wonderful cast whose guileless evil, simple desire to fit in, and hopes for romantic fulfilment resonate far beyond the purportedly narrow boundaries of the genre.
“What We Do In the Shadows” is a joy for genre-lovers, and should be a joy for all lovers of quirky, witty (occasionally bloody) comedy. It’s one of the most enjoyable treats of the year and should be sought out as a matter of the utmost urgency.
OVERALL SUMMARY
A documentary crew gains unprecedented access to a household full of vampires in deepest darkest Wellington, New Zealand and follows them around as they deal with the tough realities of modern life and flat-share arrangements.
