Film Review: What We Do In The Shadows

For my first official review at Motif, I couldn’t have lucked out more since What We Do In The Shadows is such a treat of a film. Brought to us by the creators of “Flight Of The Concords,” this horror comedy from New Zealand defies the limited expectations that come with the description “comedy horror mockumentary” and delivers a hilarious, but extremely well-made send-up of the vampire genre.

The film’s set-up is that a small documentary crew has been given access to a group of vampires who are all housemates in modern day New Zealand. We follow three main vampires, Viago, Vladislav and Deacon, with occasional appearances by their fourth housemate, Petyr, as they navigate their daily lives, which includes household chores, city nightlife, learning modern technology and encountering werewolf packs. Meanwhile, the group’s daily dynamic is thrown into turmoil when they have to educate and guide a new vampire and navigate the social politics of their semi annual ball, The Unholy Masquerade.

What We Do In The Shadows is definitely one of the funniest films I have seen in the past couple of years. The film is convincingly shot, well acted and wonderfully written, and I believe that this film will go down as a classic horror comedy since the humor is purely situational while not making fun of the genre. Clearly a lot of research into vampire mythology was done in order to create a well-rounded representation of the subgenre while offering nods to numerous classics of vampire films and literature. It is also worth noting that the comedy and horror moments are balanced wonderfully, which will make this an enjoyable viewing experience for fans of either genre. I recommend this for anyone who likes to have fun at the movies.

What We Do In The Shadows will be screening at the Cable Car Cinema starting Fri, March 6. Please refer to their website for times. Is it too early to proclaim this one of the best films of the year?

What We Do In The Shadows (2014); Dir: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi; Starring: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh; At The Cable Car Cinema.