The 2nd vampire mockumentary

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2015)

I certainly don't intend to bash or talk too negatively about "What we do in the Shadows", but to all those die-hard fans who claim that it's a super-original, refreshing and inventive horror comedy I would just like to state clear that the exact same idea and concept had already been done before, namely in the sadly unknown but definitely worthwhile Belgian sleeper hit "Vampires" (Vincent Lanoo – 2010). In that film, which was basically a spoof/homage towards the legendary Belgian cult classic "Man Bites Dog", a TV crew gets the assignment of following around a family of vampires and shoot a documentary about their lives, habits and routines. "What we do in the Shadows" is identical, in fact, except that the action takes place in New Zealand instead of Belgium and that the vampires are not related to each other but house mates that originate from different historic eras. Viago is nearly 320 years old, Deacon almost 200 and Vladislav over 800. They share a little student flat in the center of Wellington and encounter daily issues, like whose turn is it for doing the dishes or who spilled human blood all over the floor. Oh, there's also an 8000-year-old Nosferatu look-alike named Petyr living in the attic! Most of the comic situations are related to the gigantic generational differences between them, especially when they reluctantly "welcome" the brand new vampire Nick in their midst. Nick doesn't really bother to keep his vampirism secret, but he does introduce the rest of them to interesting new technologies (like sunset videos on You Tube) and provides them access to hipster nightclubs. The humor in "What we do in the Shadows" is subdued and dry. Very, very dry In fact, the film works best as a pitch-black satire of the recent trend of "polished" vampire movie franchises and TV-series like the "Twilight Saga" or "True Blood". The vampires here are not stylish or attractive – quite the contrary - and there's absolutely nothing sensual about being bitten in the neck; especially when the victim's artery paints the entire room blood red. Definitely not all gags or puns are equally successful, but some ideas are extremely inventive and even downright brilliant, notably the nightly confrontation with the werewolf pack and all sequences involving Petyr. Recommended, but – please – make an effort to also check out the aforementioned Belgian pathfinder flick "Vampires".