List of film and TV references

The following is a list of **films and TV series referenced** or parodied in the *What We Do in the Shadows* franchise.

## Vampire and Werewolf Movies

### *Nosferatu* (1922)

* Petyr bears a strong resemblance to Count Orlok.

### *An American Werewolf in London* (1981)

* Arjan wears an orange jacket similar to the one worn by David in *An American Werewolf in London*.

### *The Lost Boys* (1987)

* Viago, Vladislav and Deacon hypnotize Nick into thinking that his plate of spaghetti is actually worms, a prank they admit was inspired by a scene from *The Lost Boys*. Nick later tries this trick on Stu while he is eating chips, but it doesn’t work because chips don’t look like worms.
* ’Kiefer’ (Kiefer Sutherland) is an absent member of the Vampiric Council.

### *Bram Stoker’s Dracula* (1992)

* Jemaine Clement based his appearance and performance of Vladislav on Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Dracula.
* The scene introducing Vladislav bears resemblance to the scene in Dracula where Jonathan is seduced by Dracula’s brides.
* Nick’s projectile vomiting references the scene in which Lucy is killed with a stake.

### *Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)*

* Paul is played by Paul Reubens, who played a vampire in this film.

### *Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles* (1994)

* The title of the short film *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*.
* The tag line on the film posters is "Some interviews with some vampires."
* Viago’s appearance is based on Louis de Pointe du Lac.
* In a scene referencing Louis viewing the sunrise on a cinema screen, Stu allows the vampires to watch the sunrise via an internet video.
* Guillermo became interested in vampirism after watching Antonio Banderas portray the first Hispanic vampire in mainstream popular culture, Armand.
* ’Tom’ (Tom Cruise) and ‘Brad’ (Brad Pitt) were absent members of the Vampiric Council.
* Nandor, Nadja and Laszlo are sentenced to death by being exposed to sunlight in a well in a scene almost identical to one appearing in *Interview with the Vampire*.
* The final episode of Season 2 involves the *Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires*, a reference to *Interview with the Vampire*'s *Théâtre des Vampires*, both in name and in the style of the performance. Both depictions feature a narrator describing a series of theatrically comedic parables performed by actors, followed by a live onstage execution (an attempted execution in the case of WWDITS).

### *From Dusk Till Dawn* (1996)

* Danny is played by Danny Trejo, who played vampire characters in this film and its sequel.

### *Blade* (1998)

* Deacon insists that Viago dressing as Blade to the Unholy Masquerade would be inappropriate.
* One of the members of the Leather Skins is Wesley Sykes, a parody of Blade actor Wesley Snipes.
* Wesley is played by Wesley Snipes, and like Blade, is also a half-vampire daywalker who works as a vampire killer.
* Jenna suggests that she and Nadja use motorcycle helmets to protect themselves from the sunlight, like the vampires in *Blade*.

### *Let the Right One In* (2008)

* Laszlo is attacked by cats that cling onto him as he runs away, referencing a scene in the film in which this happens to another vampire.

### *Twilight* (2008)

* Nick resembles Edward Cullen, and at one point refers to himself as ‘Twilight’, much to Deacon’s annoyance.
* In anticipation of meeting Baron Afanas, Nandor wears body glitter on his face to resemble Edward Cullen.
* The Staten Island Werewolf Support Group express frustration at the stereotype of all werewolves supposedly being Native American, caused by the popularity of *Twilight*.
* ’Rob’ (Robert Pattinson) is an absent member of the Vampiric Council.

### *Only Lovers Left Alive* (2013)

* Tilda is played by Tilda Swinton, who also played a vampire in this movie. Her appearance in both *Only Lovers Left Alive* and the *What We Do in the Shadows* TV Series are very similar.

## Other movies

### *The Exorcist* (1973)

* Josephine bullied Jackie in school by encouraging others to refer to her as "The Jexorcist".
* Much of the behaviour Bazu'aal demonstrates while possessing others, such as projectile vomiting, spider-walking, turning their head 180° and insulting Minogue's mother, references that of the possessed girl from *The Exorcist*.

### *Star Wars* (1977)

* Nick attempts to hypnotise O'Leary and Minogue by waving his hand in front of their faces, only to be told that he's "not Obi-Wan Kenobi".

### *Sister Act* (1992)

* Viago previously attended the Unholy Masquerade dressed as Whoopi Goldberg’s character from *Sister Act*.

### *Titanic* (1997)

* When the Wellington Police Paranormal Unit and Parker are controlling zombies Donovan and Laupepe by radio, they demand they renact the 'flying' scene from *Titanic*.

### *Inception* (2010)

* Deacon and Nick defy gravity and bounce off the walls and ceiling when they fight in the flat, referencing the hotel fight scene in *Inception*.

### *The Babadook* (2014)

* One of the guests at the orgy is The Badabook, who also resembles the horror film's titular monster.

## Vampire and Werewolf TV Shows

### *Salem's Lot* (1979)

* Nick hovering outside the window (in both the short film and feature-length film) parodies a scene in which a vampire child hovers outside a window in this TV miniseries.

### *True Blood* (2008)

* Evan was played by Evan Rachel Wood, who played a vampire in this TV series.

### *From Dusk Till Dawn* (2014)

* In addition to appearing in the *From Dusk Till Dawn* movies, Danny Trejo, who plays Danny, was a character in this vampire TV series.

## Other TV Shows

### *Only Fools and Horses* (1981)

* Laszlo refers to Jeff Suckler as "Del Boy" due to the similar jacket he is wearing.

### *Seinfeld* (1989)

* One of Laszlo's pornographic movies he starred in, *Seinf\*\*k*, is a parody of this sitcom.

### *The X-Files* (1993)

* Minogue considers his partnership with O'Leary to resemble that of Mulder and Scully due to their personalities and appearance.

* Maaka is seen wearing underwear with a waistband saying "THE TRUTH IS IN HERE".

### *The Walking Dead* (2010)

* Maaka says he learned all about zombies from watching *The Walking Dead*.

### *Stranger Things* (2016)

* Confused about which room he is in at 23 Tukariri Street, Minogue wonders if he's in "The Upside-Down".

## References

Clement, Jemaine & Waititi, Taika (writers and directors) (19 January 2014). *What We Do in the Shadows*.
Lieb, Josh (writer) & Clement, Jemaine (director) (April 10, 2019). "Werewolf Feud". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 4. FX.
Clement, Jemaine (writer) & Waititi, Taika (director) (May 8, 2019). "The Trial". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 7. FX.
4. ↑ "'What We Do in the Shadows' Trivia" - iMDb
Clement, Jemaine (writer) & Waititi, Taika (director) (March 27, 2019). "Pilot". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 1. FX.
Scharpling, Tom (writer) & Clement, Jemaine (director) (April 17, 2019). "Manhattan Night Club". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 3. FX.
Robinson, Stefani (writer) & Woliner, Jason (director) (May 15, 2019). "Citizenship". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 8. FX.
Sarkies, Duncan (writer) & van Beek, Jackie (director) (April 24, 2019). "Animal Control". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 5. FX.
Yates, Paul (writer) & Clement, Jemaine (writer & director) (11 July 2018). "Demon Girl". *Wellington Paranormal*. Episode 1. TVNZ 2.
Smith, Sam (writer) & Clement, Jemaine (director) (8 August 2018). "A Normal Night". *Wellington Paranormal*. Episode 5. TVNZ 2.
Yates, Paul (writer) & Clement, Jemaine (writer & director) (15 August 2018). "Zombie Cops". *Wellington Paranormal*. Episode 6. TVNZ 2.
Sawyer, Marika (writer) & Woliner, Jason (director) (May 22, 2019). "The Orgy". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 9. FX.
Clement, Jemaine & Waititi, Taika (writers and directors) (2005). *What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires*.
Clement, Jemaine, Robinson, Stefani, Scharpling, Tom and Simms, Paul (writers) & Waititi, Taika (director) (May 29, 2019). "Ancestry". *What We Do in the Shadows*. Episode 10. FX.
Ward, Nick (writer) & van Beek, Jackie (director) (25 July 2018). "Things That Do the Bump in the Night". *Wellington Paranormal*. Episode 3. TVNZ 2.