Review of What We Do in the Shadows (2014) by V H — 08 Mar 2015
Just when you thought vampires and their ilk had been done to death (har) out comes this mockumentary about a trio of vampires sharing a house in a Wellington, NZ suburb.
Outside their basic vampire characteristics - their ability to fly, lust for human blood, and aversion to sunlight - they're just regular guys trying to live amicably as housemates. They have "flat meetings" at which they discuss mundane topics like the shirking of chores (one guy almost never washes the blood-soaked dishes when it's his turn). They obsess over what to wear when they go out clubbing. One of them even knits.
They have occasional run-ins with their arch-rivals, a pack of werewolves, but these are rarely more than taunting and name-calling. Mostly, they're a nice, polite, group of guys who just happen to be vampires.
Things get shaken up a bit when they invite a young, newly-minted vampire to share the house, and he and his best human buddy, a taciturn systems analyst named Stu become one of the gang.
"What We Do in the Shadows" is the funniest film I've seen in ages. I rarely laugh out loud at movies, but this was a rare exception. From goofy sight gags to clever dialogue, the humor just keeps on coming. Not everything works - buckets of blood get old after a while and I'm not a big fan of fight or chase scenes - but things move along so quickly that even if one scene misses, another laugh is always just around the corner.
The big surprise here is that for a comedy about vampires, this movie is actually quite sweet. I left the theater feeling way happier than I ever do after seeing REAL "feel-good" movies.
Two bloody fangs way up!
This review of What We Do in the Shadows (2014) was written by V H on 08 Mar 2015.
What We Do in the Shadows has generally received very positive reviews.
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