“Do you want to poke her?”
Swift shot: Dry, dark and not half bad, this New Zealand mockumentary featuring everyone’s favorite Minion, Jemaine Clement, offers up a few delightful morsels. If you are a fan of Flight of the Conchords, you’ll dig this (pun intended) dark comedy that pokes fun (I can’t be stopped) at the vampire craze.
Shot as a documentary by a New Zealand film council exploring other cultures, What We Do In The Shadows focuses on an annual masquerade ball and four vampires who are preparing themselves to attend.
Each vampire is authentic in their own way, there is the Nosferatu vampire, Petyr (Ben Fransham) who is over eight-thousand years old. He keeps to himself in the basement and doesn’t socialize much. Your main tour guide is Viago (Taika Waititi) who was an eighteenth century dandy. He is the Felix Unger of the flat, always insisting that the others put out towels before their meals. He is probably the origin of eccentricity. Viago tries to keep the others in line using grace and charm.
Then there is Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) a ridiculously flamboyant, and super lazy twentieth century vampire that was turned by Petyr. He wants to dress well and make an impact, but that would be too much of an effort. Deacon prefers letting his familiar, Jackie (Jackie van Beek) a hapless human woman he has convinced he will grant eternal life to, someday, do all his dirty work. The dirty work of a vampire can be pretty messy! The master of the house is Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), he’s been around for a few hundred years, and is convinced his epic battle with “The Beast” drained him of his former virility. He’s hoping the ball will provide him a chance at sweet redemption.
Their lives are pretty dull, considering they are all immortal and could easily have anyone they want. I guess ending up in New Zealand might have something to do with the lack of verve in the flat, or the city. Did I mention this film was dry, as bones?
It isn’t until one of their meals gets away, Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer), who is also turned by Petyr, that things begin to get interesting and less expository in nature. Nick has a best mate, Stu (Stuart Rutherford), what can I say about Stu? He’s just the most awesome character in the history of anything! A lot of people know I moonlight as a critic; my “real job” is not that exciting by entertainment folks’ standards. Well, Stu has my “real life” job! For the first time in any film I have ever seen (and I have seen a shitload of films) there is a character who does exactly what I do! Stu is a computer analyst that prepares business requirements and test cases for software development. He’s the driest of them all, and normally he’d be dinner, but all the flatmates love Stu. He introduces them to the twenty-first century and hilarity ensues as vampires begin Skyping, poking and more.
Nick is such a novice vampire, he keeps going around and telling everyone in the city that he is a vampire. Nick’s flatmates are not amused and have to let him know he’s breaking a lot of vampire rules. His punishment for violating these rules is, well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
No great vampire movie would be complete without a little werewolf vs. leech, err I mean vampire, rivalry. Enter another Kiwi favorite (Rhys Darby) as Anton the leader of a local pack of werewolves. I love Rhys Darby as an actor, there is just something completely legitimate about him in everything he is in.
Eventually the vampires all get to the ball, and a confrontation between Vladislav and his nemesis, The Beast, provides the opening sequence for the final act. The ball is full of every type of monster imaginable . . . and Stu, the computer analyst.
Never straying from the weird, Co-Directors Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi deliver an oddly believable film about a group of vampires discovering new opportunities in the modern world. If dry and somewhat disturbing is your thing, What We Do In The Shadows is right up your dark alley. You’ll have a hard time not caring about these crazy undead flatmates and all the characters that randomly pop into their lives. It’s a great flick to watch if you are a bit sick of the sparkling vampires too!
