What We Do In the Shadows (2014) Review

What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Review

This month I’ve looked at a range of scary movies, nerve-jangling thrillers, and gory shockers, so for the last review of the month I thought I’d lighten the mood with the comedic New Zealand-produced mockumentary about vampires, What We Do in the Shadows. 

A camera crew follows the day-to-day lives of four vampires living together in a flat. There’s Viago, the primp and proper one, the dark and powerful Vlad, who is clearly inspired by Vlad the Impaler (who was also the inspiration for Dracula), Deacon, the touchy one with a human servant (who wants to be turned into a vampire), and Petyr, an 8000 year-old Nosferatu-looking vampire who lives in the basement. All of the characters are distinct and hilarious in their own ways. 

At the beginning of the film, there’s a brief intro to the four of them waking up just as the sun goes down, and showing how each of them interact, before their backstories are given. If you aren’t killing yourself laughing by the ten minute mark, this probably isn’t the kind of comedy for you. 

What We Do in the Shadows has a surprisingly complex lore, and gets into how these vampires live in today’s society. They encounter a pack of werewolves, who state “we’re werewolves, not swear wolves”, and the vampire-werewolf rivalry is one of the funniest aspects of the whole thing. As silly as the movie sometimes gets, it actually portrays a fictional reality that’s easy to buy into.

There are numerous clever nods and references to classic vampire films (and other horror films), but you don’t have to be a horror aficionado to enjoy this. Much of the comedy simply comes from the situations. Early on, Viago brings a woman back to the flat. She thinks her and Viago are on a date, but Viago really wants to suck her blood. He tries to do so, and the result is shocking and hilarious. It’s not an overly gory or scary film, though there are a few jumps, and this bloodsucking scene is bloody, but funny. 

I don’t want to give too much away. There are tons of jokes, many of which I missed the first time I watched it, giving it a high re-watchability factor, and hardly any of the jokes fall flat. It’s a low budget production, but it doesn’t look like it. The mockumentary style works perfectly, and the acting from everyone (but especially the leads) is totally believable. 

All in all, there isn’t anything about What We Do in the Shadows that I don’t like. It’s easily one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in years, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a clever and hilarious take on the horror genre.